BECKLEY, WV (LOOTPRESS) -The issue of animal overpopulation has been an ongoing one for some time in Raleigh County, with local businesses and organizations holding frequency events to promote the spaying of pets and neighborhood strays.
Nearly all of these overpopulation issues fall to the Humane Society of Raleigh County for addressing, despite the fact that the Humane Society has been operating over capacity for some time now.
The lack of additional support has been an issue on the radar of the Raleigh County Commission, who have been discussing the construction of a new shelter since at least March.
Progress does appear to be underway, however, as at Tuesday’s commission meeting a motion was passed for the assessment which could lead to the construction of a new shelter within the city.
“The county and the city, we’re going to [conduct a] joint venture to have an animal assessment service from out of Colorado come into Raleigh County and do an assessment on a new animal shelter and give us their opinion on what we need to do to build an animal shelter,” said Commission President Dave Tolliver.
Tolliver also revealed the cost of this assessment to be $8,600, a figure which will initially be incurred by Raleigh County, and will be reimbursed for half the cost by the City of Beckley.
“Like I said the city and the county will split the cost on this, and they will be in town next month,” Tolliver continued. “They will be here in September to do an assessment of the Humane Society’s new animal shelter. The county will pay [the $8,600] and the city will reimburse at half the cost.”
Additional LOOTPRESS coverage of this week’s meeting of the Raleigh County Commission can be found here, and more information on the Humane Society of Raleigh County can be found here.