UPDATE - To donate to support the MCAS, please donate to the 501c3 dedicated to financially supporting the shelter, the link to donate can be found by clicking here. 

PLEASE DO NOT DONATE TO CHANGE.ORG

The Marion County Animal Shelter provides an essential public service by caring for abandoned, lost, neglected, and homeless animals. However, the current shelter does not provide the safe environment, adequate space, staffing, or resources needed to properly care for the number of animals it houses.

This petition is intended to show Marion County Council and county administration that the public cares deeply about this issue and wants it treated as a serious priority.

The shelter is located in an area that is vulnerable to flooding. A facility responsible for protecting animals should not itself be placed at risk whenever severe weather occurs. Flooding can threaten the animals’ lives, damage equipment and supplies, interrupt shelter operations, and create dangerous working conditions for employees, volunteers, trustees, and visitors.

The shelter also needs significantly more space. Overcrowding places additional stress on animals, makes sanitation and disease prevention more difficult, and limits the shelter’s ability to accept and properly care for animals in need. Marion County deserves a facility with enough room to safely separate, house, treat, exercise, and prepare animals for adoption.

Just as importantly, the shelter needs adequate staffing.

Two full-time employees cannot reasonably be expected to manage the daily care of a large number of animals, maintain the facility, handle intake, assist the public, coordinate adoptions, clean kennels, provide food and water, monitor medical concerns, and respond to emergencies without becoming overwhelmed.

Trustees may provide valuable assistance, but they are temporary workers serving assigned time. They cannot replace a stable team of trained, permanent shelter employees. The shelter needs enough dependable staff members to ensure animals receive proper care every day, including weekends, holidays, emergencies, and periods of unusually high intake.

Current employees are also putting in long and demanding hours for wages that do not reflect the difficulty, responsibility, and emotional strain of the work. People entrusted with the care and safety of vulnerable animals should not earn less than workers in many entry-level positions. Fair compensation is necessary to retain qualified employees, reduce burnout, and build a reliable shelter team.

We are asking Marion County Council and county administration to:

• Prioritize a safe facility outside of a flood-prone area
• Provide adequate space for the number of animals housed
• Ensure safe, sanitary, and humane conditions
• Provide enough trained, permanent employees
• Offer fair and competitive wages
• Develop a realistic public plan, budget, and timeline for improvements

This is not a request for an extravagant facility. It is a request for a shelter that is safe, functional, humane, properly staffed, and capable of serving Marion County responsibly.

Every signature on this petition represents a resident, supporter, taxpayer, or community member who believes this issue matters. We want county leaders to see that the public is paying attention, that people care about the animals and employees at the shelter, and that residents expect meaningful action.

The animals housed at the Marion County Animal Shelter have no control over the conditions in which they are kept. The employees caring for them should not be expected to compensate for unsafe conditions, overcrowding, understaffing, and inadequate pay through exhaustion and personal sacrifice.

You do not have to be an animal lover or a pet owner to support this effort. We should all be able to agree that animals deserve basic respect, humane treatment, and a reasonable standard of care. This petition is about showing Marion County Council and county administration that people in this community recognize the need and expect it to be taken seriously.

Please sign and share this petition to show Marion County Council and county administration that our community supports a safe, adequately sized, properly staffed, and responsibly funded animal shelter.