Strong Criticism of the Colbert Shelter

 

Presenting a special blog from a former member of our team, Trader Connections:

For Years The Colbert County Animal Services has been treated like a "Red Headed Step Child".

This is a direct statement to the Colbert County Commissioners and Council Members of Tuscumbia, Sheffield and Muscle Shoals. In this statement, I want to recognize some of the Shoals area citizens who are working in the Shoals area on their own time and at their own expense.

You should give Collie Barker of Sheffield a key to your city. She and her volunteers have and continue to demonstrate how and what you have to do in order to provide ADEQUATE PROTECTION and RESCUE OF OUR FOUR LEGGED CITIZENS IN COLBERT COUNTY.

Over the years, they have saved the county and your city thousands of dollars and asked for nothing in return. Meanwhile, while they were out in heat and extreme cold, saving abandoned animals you were sitting in your easy chairs at meetings arguing for weeks over a 15 cent raise to protect our 4 legged citizens...

Most of you never showed your carcass at the Animal Service building. Question: You are responsible for the welfare of not only the care of animals turned in, but also the financial security of the employees and adequate funding so they can do their job adequately...

How can you do this without going to the shelter yourself to see what is needed and how much. You claim to be a leader and the citizens gave you that opportunity. So far you have failed them when it comes to the shelter.

Don't you think it's time to show you're what you convinced your supporters you were? I could name who you are, but for now I am going to see if you are going to do what you are supposed to do.

Have you met the standard the Colbert County citizens expect of you in regards to funding of the shelter ? The answer is a loud. "Hell No."

Now ! let's step back to the pitiful 15 cents, that is 10% of a glass of tea that costs $1.50. Then, when you passed that embarrassment of an increase in funding, you gloated over it and pounded your chest instead of hanging your heads in shame. As for me, I was highly disappointed in you and if you have any pride in performing your job well you should be disappointed in yourself.

To the Citizens of Colbert County, you need to know for the past 20 years, the Colbert County Commissioners and City Councilmen of the Colbert County area have kicked the can of adequate funding down the road. They have lied to you repeatedly. They said we don't have the money, but that is not true. You see the real reason is the suffering and pain of their four legged citizens was not important enough to raise the priority scale to be funded so they could provide better service for you.

When complaints came in about the Colbert County Animals Services not answering calls within what you thought was a reasonable amount of time, some of them used the shelter employees as their scapegoat. Yep! they covered their butts for their failure to fund the animal services as they should have.

Commissioners and Councils, the Citizens of Colbert County need to know you are directly to blame.

You have not adequately funded the Animal services for medical needs, you have not funded the Animal services for equipment needs, you have short changed the employees in financial support, by starting them at poverty wages and for years never gave them a raise at all.

As of this date, I still hear other things are more important than providing adequate funding for Colbert County's 4 legged citizens.

I want the new commissioners and new councilmen to recognize, It's time for the county commission and the cities to own the inadequate funding of the past.

It's time you acknowledge the funding has been skimpy at the least and anemic at the best. It's time you recognize your method of funding the shelter has done nothing but caused the problems because of your refusal to change how you fund.

Then it appears you scratch your heads as you can't figure out why you keep getting the same financial problems ever year.

It's citizens like Collie Barker in Colbert County and citizens like Chapel King, Diane Michael and others in Lauderdale County, that without them you would be subject to being charged for neglect and cruelty. Why you ask ?

Because it is your duty by law to provide what is adequate shelter and medical treatment for all animals taken in. You as a commissioner or Councilperson are not exempt from being charged if you have not adequately taken care of the animals brought into the shelter by your citizens.

You have nothing in your budget about medical costs. You have for years depended on the shelter employees and other volunteers to do bake sales or yard sales to raise money for the medical bills and other costs.

They have done this on their own free time and without compensation of any kind.

They do this for the their love of our 4 legged citizens and have for years done this without a thank you or any assistance from you.

Its time to rethink how the shelter is funded. It's time to stop repeating the same funding procedure every year, because it is within itself a failure and does not achieve what the shelter needs.

The issue of how to fund the shelter is going to be presented. How you respond is going to be revealed to your citizens. I hope most of you are open minded enough to realize it's time to stop the band-aid financial management style.