Fur flies over incident at Montgomery County Animal Shelter

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas - The fur flew Monday as an incident that occurred at the Montgomery County Animal Shelter played out in the social media. According to numerous posts and photos on Facebook, donations to the shelter were discarded in a dumpster, leaving many donors in the community angry that the items weren’t passed on to other shelters and animal sanctuaries in need.

A post on the Montgomery County Animal Shelter Facebook page read…”All this posting about donations being thrown away is being blown entirely out of proportion. Yes, it happened and it was a bad call by an employee. It won't happen again and all this publicity is very harmful to the animals we all work tirelessly to save. Minda”

This did little to get the public to draw back their claws. Residents continued to bare their teeth in post after post on Facebook. Many were questioning whether privatizing the shelter was a good idea.

March 1, 2013, the Montgomery County Animal Shelter transitioned from a county-run facility to a privately owned business run by Care Corporation, owned by Amy and Tim Holifield. While serving as Montgomery County Precinct 3 Constable, Tim Holifield had overseen the operation of the shelter, so when the Commissioners Court awarded a contract worth $1.3 million to Care Corporation in November 2011, Holifield passed on seeking re-election after serving for 16 years to run the shelter. The annual budget under county supervision was approximately $2 million, making the decision and immediate and positive impact to the county’s budget.

According to sources, the shelter has changed hands this year. Reportedly, the Holifields sold the shelter to Dr. Aubrey Ross II. The sale was effective Jan. 1, and Ross officially took over Feb. 1. Unfortunately a call after hours does not provide an opportunity to leave a message for a return call, so additional information is pending.

Operating with significantly lower funds, the shelter desperately relies on donations to provide for the 22,000+ animals that are dropped off at the shelter annually. If the shelter is to survive and provide for the discarded and strays in the community, they’ll need the community’s ongoing support. Withholding donations, whether they be monetary or otherwise, will worsen an already overwhelming problem.

The old adage…”If you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem,” also applies to the media sources. So, this is what the Digital Texas online news sites can do to be of assistance. We can share this essential information with the public…

The Montgomery County Animal Shelter is located at 8535 State Hwy 242, Conroe, TX (77385).

Hours of operation are:

Weekdays: 8 am - 5pm, adoptions start at 10 am
Weekends: 10am - 4pm
Closed Mondays

To make a monetary donation go to Donate to MCASociety.

We suggest before taking donations to the shelter you view the shelter’s ‘Wish List’ on the same donation page link Call (936) 442-7738 during working hours to see if there is a need for items you wish to donate, that are not on the ‘Wish List.’

For more information about the Montgomery County Animal Shelter, see the additional links provided.