About three years ago, Don Meiners tried to reach the city of Jackson animal control to advise him on a squirrel in his house, but he never had any luck getting anyone on the phone.
The problem solved itself when the squirrel ran out of the house on its own.
He tried again on Jan. 12 to reach animal control but for a more urgent matter: He found a dead deer in his backyard at the Country Club of Jackson, which backs up to the Pearl River levee, and needed animal control to dispose of it.
“I’ve had two experiences several years apart, and I couldn’t get animal control on the phone either time,” said Meiners, retired president and CEO of Energy-Mississippi.
Meiners called a number for the city of Jackson administration and one for animal control that he found in his phone book but got nowhere. He then turned to fellow church member Ashby Foote, who represents Ward 1 on the Jackson city council, for help.
Foote got the matter handled. “I called the chief of police about it,” Foote said, noting that animal control falls under the jurisdiction of the police department.
Someone from animal control showed up to check out the problem and returned the next day to pick up the deceased deer.
The service animal control provided was good, Meiners said, but the difficulty was getting in touch with it.
Jackson Police Department Commander Jay Coleman, who is over the administrative division that includes animal control, said the phone number for animal control, 601-960-1775, has been down.
A Jackson resident in need of animal control should call 601-906-9503, which is the number for Marquett Allen, animal control manager.
The city no longer houses animals at the Jackson Animal Shelter at 140 Outer Circle, near Hawkins Field in west Jackson; it was closed last October because it had no running water.
There are still seven animal control employees, Coleman said. One of the seven employees is on military duty, he said.
Telephone problems have plagued Jackson animal control for quite some time, making it difficult for residents to reach animal control when they need to, said Debra Boswell, longtime executive director of the Mississippi Animal Rescue League (MARL) at the end of 2021 and shift her duties to focus on animal cruelty case and donor relations.
“This is a long, long, long, long problem,” she said. “Our phone rings all day long every day with people trying to reach animal control.”
Many residents in the city end up calling the MARL and other shelters in the metro when they need to reach animal control, she said, but they do not provide animal control duties such as handling stray dogs.
Boswell would like the city to add a recorded message on the Jackson animal control phone line, providing instructions about who to call for animal control. She would also like animal control to forward the phone number to one that a city employee would answer.
Coleman said he would consider having information about how to reach animal control put on the city’s website or its Facebook page.
It would have been helpful if the Mississippi Animal Rescue League and other shelters in the area had been informed about plans for animal control when the Jackson shelter closed, Boswell said.
“We’d love to have a written directive, saying these are the numbers the public needs to call directly for animal control,” she said. “That information needs to be displayed on each phone so that police dispatch has that on their screen when someone calls.”
Boswell would also like to know when the Jackson animal shelter will reopen. “I have no idea about the game plan or timeline for repairs,” she said.
Several months ago, Best Friends, a nonprofit, national animal welfare organization, provided a written report about what needed to be done to improve the shelter and offered to provide free help with some repairs and operation of the shelter. The group’s offer amounts to $100,000 to $300,000 in free services.
Best Friends is still waiting to hear if the city will accept the offer.
City Council President Virgi Lindsay, who represents Ward 7, believes city officials are still in conversation with Best Friends. “Best Friends has made a generous offer to help the city of Jackson improve its animal shelter,” she said.
Lindsay has volunteered at the shelter and has seen the neglect of the shelter. “It’s past time for us to address the issue,” she said.
She has received many phone calls from Jackson residents about the shelter.
“I have been the council person that folks have contacted about this. It’s really important,” she said. “We have to step up our animal shelter services.”
Foote would like the city to take advantage of the help Best Friends is offering.
“We need to have partnerships with nonprofits and organizations that share our goals and want to improve Jackson’s quality of life, whether it’s addressing the city parks, the zoo or the animal shelter,” he said. “I appreciate their interest.”
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