FORT WORTH -- The city has raised more than $300,000 toward the $1 million it needs to build and open a veterinary ward at its crowded animal shelter, the city's code compliance director said.
The city needs $650,000 in hand to start construction and wants to line up the remaining $350,000 by February, Brandon Bennett said. The addition would enable the shelter to isolate sick animals and likely reduce the number of animals it has to euthanize."This facility is not set up to do any type of short-term or long-term care," he said. "We need a place where we can keep pets for a few weeks to bring them back to health."The city's goal is to build the ward and open it by the end of 2013.The 3,300-square-foot veterinary ward would more than double the size of the 3,000-square-foot shelter, built in the 1990s at 4900 Martin St. in southeast Fort Worth.More than 20,000 animals come through the shelter annually, and more than 1,500 could be saved from euthanasia through the veterinary ward addition, the city estimates.The city is seeking a contractor interested in donating some time and expertise to the project. The ward would be built with private contributions raised by the city and then donated back to Fort Worth, speeding the construction process, Bennett said.That model is similar to one the city pursued this year when it secured the help of a private foundation to repair the closed Forest Park Pool, which is scheduled to reopen next spring.The city has been seeking private donations to fund the veterinary ward project since the City Council approved the concept a year ago. Several large prospective donors were already interested in talking to the city about contributing to the shelter in some way, Bennett said.The city has been working with a Fort Worth community foundation. Late this year, the city launched a private donations page on its www.fortworthtexas.gov website, seeking gifts toward the veterinary ward, shelter care, and the city's partnership with PetSmart Charities. Donations are tax-deductible.And the city has trotted out a black Labrador/chow/pit mix named Henry -- an easygoing shelter dog saved from euthanasia a year ago -- to become its marketing mascot in presentations.Prospects of funding the veterinary ward through public financing weren't good, said Bennett, who takes Henry home at night and brings him to the office.Although the city is preparing to bring a bond package to voters, likely in May 2014, most of that money will be needed for streets and other infrastructure, Bennett said.Next year, the city expects to broaden its effort to raise money for the veterinary ward, looking into fundraisers such as a "Poodle Ball," walks and brick sales, Bennett said.Brenda Silcox, a member of the city's animal shelter advisory committee, said she plans on holding a walk or run fundraiser in March for the veterinary ward."It'd be a blessing for us," said Silcox, wife of the late Fort Worth Councilman Chuck Silcox, an animal lover whose name is on the Fort Worth shelter. "We really need someplace to isolate sick animals. That many more can be adopted."The shelter classifies animals at three levels: healthy and adoptable, unhealthy but adoptable, and unadoptable. The shelter says it hasn't euthanized a healthy adoptable animal since April 2010.The shelter's "live release" rate -- the percentage of shelter animals either adopted or sent to rescue groups -- is now just under 70 percent annually, Bennett said. It has risen dramatically from 30 percent in the last three years, thanks largely to the partnership with PetSmart in which the shelter offers animals for adoption through pet stores at 2901 Texas Sage Trail and 4800 SW Loop 820.The veterinary ward and new Fort Worth ordinance regulating feral cat colonies are expected to boost the live release rate even more, Bennett said.Scott Nishimura,817-390-7808Twitter: @JScottNishimuraHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
