(Seguin) — Guadalupe County Sheriff Joshua Ray is calling for the county to end its taxpayer-funded animal shelter program. Sheriff Ray made his comments during Tuesday’s meeting of the Guadalupe County Commissioners Court. Ray told commissioners that he’s proud of the work being done at the sheriff’s office, but says it’s becoming clear that it’s time for the department to get out of the animal shelter business.
“Over this last year, we have made incredible strides at the sheriff’s office in both modernizing what we do and our effectiveness and efficiency. It honestly would take me a whole lot longer than five minutes to talk about the accolades of the men and women of the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office over this last year. I’m extremely proud of them. But one topic of discussion, which has generated a lot of rhetoric and, in some regards, misinformation on social media during the last several weeks, has been that surrounding the animal shelter,” said Ray.
Ray says they have tried to maintain the operation of the animal shelter facility, but conflicts with former volunteers at the shelter and other challenges have made it difficult for the sheriff’s office to provide these services.
“The animal shelter is not a statutory requirement for the county sheriff. And I think everyone can agree that what has been done and what is being done is pretty much not working for anybody at this point. So, when I entered office, there were already discussions of potentially expanding that shelter that had gone on. We’ve had those meetings and discussions over the last year. When I first evaluated it, despite what some individuals may think, we have made considerable progress over the last year within the funding and resources that we have available for that particular responsibility,” said Ray.
Ray says when he took office, he looked at how the county could improve the animal shelter’s operation, but he says it has become clear to him that it is not something his office should be responsible for in Guadalupe County.
“We were not adequately providing a similar shelter that looked like other governmental agencies in the surrounding areas. So, we weren’t quite up to the standard of expectation of some of our constituents. I was hoping we could increase it to that standard, but through these conversations that I’ve had in meetings with both animal advocates and constituents throughout Guadalupe County, I’ve gotten a varying set of perspectives on that particular issue. And I’ve formed the opinion that I don’t think that we are going to be able to put enough resources into it to make a certain segment satisfied with the services that we are going to provide, nor do I think we should. I think it would be a waste of taxpayer funding,” said Ray.
A rift between the county’s animal shelter operation and a former group of volunteers there at the shelter has made it even more challenging for the sheriff’s office to oversee the service.
“This is a cause — this animal shelter. It’s a particular cause that people are passionate about, but the question that has come up with other constituents that I have discussed this with is whether or not it should be a taxpayer-funded cause. I particularly don’t think it should be. And if we continue to invest money into this, it’s going to end up becoming a bottomless, taxpayer-funded pit. With that being said, at this point, I’m not going to support us expanding the animal shelter any further, because I think what’s going to happen is we’re going to end up with more kennels that we’re going to fill, and we’re going to have the same problems that we already have. We’re just going to have a bigger shelter,” said Ray.
Ray says he no longer sees this as a viable shelter operation for his office.
He says the county should not be shouldering this burden alone and should be looking at other options moving forward.
“I think we have to start investigating other alternatives to how we’ve done it in the past. When I campaigned, I talked about a public-private partnership. We’re currently working on a potential public-private partnership that I think might help everyone. It might make some happy with some of the services that are provided that are better than what we are providing, but it also might lessen the burden on the county taxpayer. I don’t want to get too deep into the details on that. We’ll do that in future discussions. There’s also other alternatives that are available that this commissioners court will need to discuss. I do not think those other alternatives will benefit the county taxpayer,” said Ray.
Ray says the Sheriff’s Office already has a lot on its plate, and he believes it’s time for the county to end its animal shelter program.
“We’re going to need to formulate a solution during this fiscal year, because October 1st of this year, I have no intention of operating an animal shelter, because I do not believe it falls within the statutory responsibilities of the county sheriff. I think the county sheriff should be concentrated on preserving the peace, protecting the people of Guadalupe County, and managing a growing inmate population in the jail,” said Ray.
Ray made his comments during the Citizens to Be Heard portion of Tuesday’s commissioners court meeting. There was no discussion by the court because the item was not officially on the agenda. The issue is expected to be placed on a future agenda for formal discussion and potential action by the court.