It only takes a couple of aggressive, medium-size or larger dogs to maim or kill an adult human. Even a solo dog can cause serious injuries, so it’s understandable that people in Godley have been unnerved to see two dozen stray dogs roaming in a pack. The Johnson County town, about 40 minutes southwest of Fort Worth, has only a few thousand human residents and no animal shelter.
Parents are worried about their children, and our best advice, in the long term, is to collaborate. Godley is too small to support an animal shelter. Some cities in the county already have shelters, but they serve only their residents. The best solution would be for the county and its smaller communities to collaborate on an animal shelter.
The Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area is sprawling in all directions, so the need in Johnson County will only increase.
In small towns and unincorporated areas, law enforcement agencies typically handle animal-related calls. As their populations grow, cities add animal services divisions or departments, but they don’t all open their own shelters.
Opinion
Fast-growing Frisco, a city of about 244,000, has repeatedly declined to build its own animal shelter, despite the determined efforts of local animal welfare activists. The city relies on the Collin County Animal Shelter in McKinney to house animals picked up in Frisco.
Balch Springs in southeastern Dallas County, with about 28,000 residents, has long supported its own shelter. On its Facebook page, a flyer shows the facility took in 256 animals during the first six months of this year.
The best model for Johnson County and its smaller cities is the Tri-City Animal Shelter & Adoption Center In Cedar Hill. The three cities it serves, Cedar Hill, Duncanville and DeSoto, have a total population of about 150,000 — less than that of Johnson County.
In the early 1990s, leaders of the three cities realized that, if they shared the cost, they could build and operate a better-equipped facility than if each acted alone. The shelter opened in 1996 and is in Cedar Hill, but each municipality appoints a member to its advisory board.
The Friends of the Tri-City Animal Shelter formed to develop private support for the facility. The organization raised $500,000 several years ago to build a surgical suite for the shelter, which means no animal is adopted out without being sterilized first. The successful collaboration has spurred others around the state.
Johnson County and Godley officials have met with the Humane Society of North Texas to try to resolve the short-term problem. We hope they agree on a plan, but there’s no need to stop there. The county’s population is growing, and its animal problems will, too. Officials should prepare for the long term now.
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