April 2026
Jones County in
Mississippi is facing a
very challenging problem that will, if not solved, directly
impact a large
number of our county residents. The ever growing volume of
pets that local
residents can no longer support for a variety of reasons is
increasing every
month. Pets of all types are being dropped by the side of the
road or at the
three local shelters (Laurel and Ellisville), many whom are
already beyond
their capacity limits.
If
a family or an individual wants to
surrender their pet or perhaps one they found, they must try
to find a shelter
or another family with the space to house that animal and to
take care of it
before it finds a new final home. This is not an easy task and
why it is common
to find abandoned pets on the side of the road where they are
often killed by
passing cars.
Our
county sheriff has indicated in a recent
press release that it does not have the human or financial
resources to provide
any form of animal control function to the county residents.
While the City of
Laurel does have a team for animal control, it cannot respond
to incidents
outside the city limits of Laurel.
A
group of people from the Jones County area
met very recently (7 April 2026) to begin organizing support
for the potential
of an "open intake" animal shelter in Jones County. The
proposed role
of the shelter is to be a "one stop" location to drop animals
before being
moved to available space in the existing shelter system.
The
goals are very important:
a.
Decrease the numbers of unwanted animals
b.
Decrease the animal cruelty and
suffering, promote humane
and compassionate treatment for the ones euthanized
c.
Supports law enforcement and allows
current laws to be
enforced and those violating the law punished
d.
Protect city and county residents from
dangerous animals
e.
Promote a beautiful city that draws
tourists and visitors
In
a time of social media and increasing isolation
- people who care sitting in the same room, deciding together
that this
community deserves better and that they are willing to do
something about it
isn't as common as it used to be. Remember that you are the
infrastructure that
will make this possible.
The
next steps are:
a.
We welcome
assistance with research.
Finding information on budgets, funding, how they were able to
get community
and governmental buy in, etc.
b.
Please talk to
friends, family, and
neighbors about the benefits of this proposal. The more people
who hear from
supporters, the better. The ONLY way this happens is with
community support.
c.
Petitions proving
community support
are welcome.
d.
Contact your
councilman/supervisor to
express support for this project.
e.
Be willing to be
involved for the
long haul. This won't be a fast or simple solution. Approval
for the project is
just the beginning. We will need the community to pull
together and help create
a vision that works for the people and animals of Jones
County.
f.
We can do this.
There will be
pushback, that is normal. Don't be discouraged by it. Everyone
should have a say
in what happens in their community. We feel confident there
are more people who
care and want to live in a kind, compassionate community.
This
mission will take effort, but it is
absolutely achievable. Other communities in Mississippi have
done this and have
done a great job of it. Our county can too and with people
like you at the
table, we are already further along than you might think.
For
help
about the web site only: Please contact us by sending us a
mail at
webmaster@cellmail.com!