Community forum Tuesday on the future of stray animals in Jackson County – Ashland News

County officials, meanwhile, are gauging support from communities in the animal service district to fund construction of a new shelter

By Buffy Pollock, Rogue Valley Times

A community forum on the future of the Jackson County Animal Shelter — and stray or unwanted dogs and cats in general — is scheduled for Tuesday at the Medford Library.

The 5:30 p.m. event is organized by an informal group of community members and shelter volunteers who are concerned about the events of the past year at the regional shelter between Phoenix and Talent.

County Administrator Danny Jordan and Health and Human Service Director Stacy Brubaker both indicated they do not plan to attend Tuesday’s forum. The library is located at 205 S. Central Ave., Medford.

Denise Krause, a shelter volunteer and a Democratic primary candidate in the race to replace retiring Jackson County Commissioner Dave Dotterrer, is teaming up with Applegate resident Laura Ahearn. The women, who are both involved in the “Jackson County for All” initiative, created a Facebook group last year called Jackson County OR Shelter Info.

Krause said the focus of Tuesday’s meeting is to discuss the shelter’s current status and to allow community members and local animal protection groups — including other shelters and rescue groups — to gather information and voice their concerns.

The meeting follows a recent announcement that the county will present information to several cities to gauge support for an animal service district that would fund construction of a new shelter and future operations.

County officials announced earlier this month that the regional shelter was full, with more than 120 dogs. The shelter was built for 86 dogs. County officials warned in an April 3 news release that the shelter would have to euthanize animals for space if numbers rose. were not reduced quickly.

Local rescue groups and residents responded by adopting and transferring dogs from the shelter over the next 24 hours. Shelter officials and community members, including Friends of the Animals volunteers, reported that between 12 and 17 animals had been euthanized “for space,” but county officials said recent euthanasia had not been ordered for space.

The past year has brought a slew of changes and challenges for the county-run shelter, starting with a policy change last March that prevented Friends of the Animal Shelter volunteers from walking dogs on Mondays, when the shelter was already was closed to the general public.

Volunteers appealed to Jackson County commissioners during weekly meetings through most of 2023, expressing concerns about the Monday policy and other issues, including cleanliness and overcrowding at the shelter.

In December, Sky Loos, executive director of Friends of the Animal Shelter, announced that FOTAS was “dropping the S” and expanding its mission statement, which had focused on the provincial shelter since 1991, in favor of a more regional focus.

In late February, Loos announced that provincial officials had rescinded the “no Mondays” voluntary dog ​​walking policy, stating that volunteers could begin participating in Monday dog ​​walks again starting March 4. Loos announced her resignation just a few weeks later to do ‘whatever is necessary’. the best for myself and my family.” Her last day as director of FOTA was April 5.

Krause said Tuesday’s forum aims to discuss the current state of the shelter, explore alternatives and “involve the community in the process.”

“We want to show some possibilities of what we could do. We want to get people’s input. We are going to give each stakeholder organization some time to say what they are doing here in the valley and how they think it can be improved,” Krause said.

“We have no concrete plans at the moment. The only option on the table is a service district, which we believe is the worst option. So we basically have a clean slate, a blank canvas, so let’s give people who do this kind of work every day and people who invest in animals a chance to think and dream about what could be.

Krause said county officials had not received a special invitation to the forum, but she hoped they would choose to attend. Krause said the group of community members facilitating Tuesday’s forum is organized informally for now.

“Right now it’s just a bunch of concerned citizens, but we do plan on coming up with a group name, which we’ll talk about on Tuesday,” Krause said.

“For now, we’re just going to try this little thing where you actually involve the public as part of the decision-making, which is something we haven’t seen from our county officials yet. … I don’t think they realize it, but they’ve stepped into a hornet’s nest because people in Southern Oregon really love animals.”

Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.