Longview Task Force Seeks Animal Shelter Solution

LONGVIEW — An 11-member Animal Shelter Task Force put together by Longview Mayor Jay Dean has met for the first time. According to KETK and the Longview News-Journal, the group is tasked with finding a solution to the city’s unwanted animal overpopulation problem. Dean said he and city council members have unsuccessfully wrestled with the issue for three years. The task of finding a solution now rests with veterinarians, animal rights activists, a businessman, a former city councilman and representatives from the Humane Society of Northeast Texas. “The charge is real simple, we want to save the animals,” Dean said.

More unwanted animals, from Longview as well as surrounding communities, are routinely dropped off at the Humane Society of Northeast Texas. Because of overcrowding, each month about 700 of the 1,000 animals abandoned there are euthanized. Dean said he would like to see that trend reversed. He vowed to back away and let the task force determine how to make that happen, but directed the group to make a recommendation in 60 to 90 days.