Mayor Parnell Vann officially unveiled the city’s new dog pound Thursday afternoon at the former site of the wastewater treatment plant at the end of Caldwell Street.
“This is the old city property. This was the Magnolia wastewater plant,” he said. “I have to thank the men of the Magnolia Street Department and Magnolia Fire Department. They helped work this,” he said. Vann acknowledged the help of District 5 State Rep. David Fielding. “This was all done with grant improvement funds, GIF funds. We have to thank Rep. Fielding for his work in making this happen.”
Vann said the city received a grant in February and had been “trying to get over here” but city crews were busy with spring mowing, street department work and other duties. “There’s just not enough time in the day,” he said.
“We’re excited about where we’re at,” he said. The property has a large drive-through shop/garage type building with concrete flooring. Dog kennels are set up inside, with a large industrial-type fan for cooling in the summer. Doors are open on both end to allow ventilation. Vann said the doors can be closed in cold weather.
On Thursday afternoon, there were 10 dogs there.
“The grant helped us paint the outside,” the mayor said. “We were able to put new kennels inside. We’ve got a floor drain; we can keep everything washed out and keep our property clean.”
Vann said he is trying to “get away from bleach” and use cleaners and disinfectants more environmentally friendly to the dog and the public to keep things clean. “Doggie cots” have just been delivered, similar to Army-type cots that the dog can sleep on to keep them off the concrete flooring. “Our grant bought these cots, we’re ready to go for winter,” he said.
Plans are to install a run out on the side of the building “so we can bring the dogs out during the day and let them exercise, try to keep their spirits up while we look for homes.”
“That’s probably the biggest thing that we need help with, finding dogs homes,” he went on. “You can look at our Facebook page. When we pick a dog up, that dog is going to be ready for adoption immediately unless we have a city tag where can identify that dog and get him back to his owner. That’s what we want to do is get the dog back to his owner.”
While the city’s animal control officer position is currently vacant, Vann has been helping out. “I’ve been catching dogs on and off now for a month,” he said. He believes the number of animals running loose has decreased. “There’s a few strays out, but I can’t devote all day to catching a stray. It seems to be a decrease.”
He said that most dogs found to be running loose are pit bulls. “There seems to be — what I’m seeing — an overpopulation of the breed in town.”
Dog owners in the city limits of Magnolia are required to keep their dogs contained. “We have a leash law. We’d like your pet on a leash, in a fence,” Vann said. “Strays cannot run loose in the city limits of Magnolia.”
“You need to have a city dog tag,” he added. “That just simply gives your pet a free ride home. We don’t want the dog; we want the dog to get back to its owner but when there’s no identification — most of the dogs in this pen have no identification — we don’t know where to take it to.”
In the event a person’s dog gets loose and is picked up in town, and can be identified by a tag, the owner is contacted and the animal is returned to them. “It’s a free ride home,” Vann said. “It’s not a tax, it’s just a service the city provides to help get your pet back to you and that’s what we want. We need to keep the streets safe and take care of our pets.”
“We need responsible pet owners. If you have a pet, take care of your pet.”
“There’s been great feedback from the community,” Vann said. He acknowledged the efforts of Kay-Kay Davis, Deborah Young, and Katie Petito in helping get a pet adoption plan going. “They sat down with me and helped get a plan started to adopt dogs. That’s the biggest problem the city has — once we pick the dog up, is getting them adopted to a good home. Without those ladies, we’d still be doing it and I have to give them credit for helping us.”
Vann said he is open to suggestions from the community. Donations are welcome, as well. “We can always use dog food,” he said.
Young Braylon Srebalus recently had a birthday party and asked guests to bring dog food so he could bring it to the pound.
“Volunteers, we can always use them to come out and walk dogs,” he said, “but our problem is we don’t know where the dogs come from. I’d hate to have the public out here and a dog attack. We just don’t know. The biggest thing we need is — go to our Facebook page and help us find a home for these dogs.”
Asked about the chance of the city forming a partnership with the Columbia County Animal Protection Society, Vann said he had talked with Ginger Hurst, president of the CCAPS Board, “and we’ve looked at that. There’s been some talk of how we can place our dogs with CCAPS until they can find a home.”
However, Vann said, his understanding is that CCAPS is full. “I have not been to CCAPS. Just what I’m told, CCAPS is full. We have been full.”
After the November election, Vann said he plans to sit down with the Magnolia City Council and discuss the issue. “We’ve got to come up with a way to control the dogs, encourage people to help us, the pet owners. We’ve got to have responsible pet owners.”