Taxpayers not responsible for Arkansas dogs

By Carrie A. Mizell

News that six dogs from Arkansas would be housed in Gilchrist County Animal Services’ new facility brought both acclaim and criticism from local residents.
Ariel, Jewl, Muffin, Rock Star, Sammy and Zena had been staying at the Animal Services’ facility since they arrived in Gilchrist County on December 16, but were removed over the weekend.
While some local residents were overjoyed to hear that Gilchrist County had taken on the dogs after they were removed from overcrowded and unsanitary conditions near Hector, Arkansas, other residents questioned if local tax dollars were being spent to house the animals.
According to Tanya Rippy, coordinator of Gilchrist County Animal Services, the animals have been medically treated and only required a follow up worming and constant care when they arrived at the Animal Services’ facility.
“We knew that the outcome for these dogs would be adoption regardless of time,” Rippy explained. “Because the animals were being fostered and not here as strays, time isn’t an issue.”
While Rippy said she fed the animals every morning that they spent in the care of Gilchrist County Animal Servies, volunteers from Animal Rescue Friends (ARF) fed the animals each afternoon and took the dogs on walks.
“All of the food and wormer given to the dogs was provided by ARF,” Rippy said.
Gilchrist County Animal Services’ new facility had more that enough room to house the six dogs. According to Rippy, the facility has 48 dog cages and only three dogs are residing there currently.
“We had plenty of room for the animals,” Rippy said.
At press time, Rippy said she knew that one of the six dogs had already been adopted. Efforts to refurbish the old gym began in earnest in 2003-2004 when the Gilchrist County School Board received their first historical preservation grant for the old gym in the amount $50,000, which helped fund the gym relocation effort. The first grant also opened the door for the school district to apply for a special categories grant of up to $350,000, which has been applied for every year since. Unfortunately, the project has been turned down multiple times by the State of Florida’s Division of Historical Resources.