I’m writing this because this is something I care about deeply and it won’t happen without the support of people like you. Starting a petition isn’t something I would normally do, but I was moved to do so because companion/domestic animals are suffering in our community and unnecessarily. I know I’m not alone and together we can make this change happen. Please sign and share!

The “Mason County Animal Shelter” in Maysville, Kentucky was built way back in the 1950’s to house “domesticated/companion animals” for a “simple 5-day hold.” After that “five days” they could euthanize them if they wanted. That happened plenty and some of the things that happened were quite horrific. Those were the “Dark Ages” of the shelter and we do hope to move on from that. In “recent years” county employees, volunteers, and the public have helped the shelter “foster” a new attitude, title, and reputation of “no-kill” which is a “loose term” in the “animal advocacy world” for a place that has a “survival rate” of over 90% (while in the shelter’s custody). The shelter has managed to reach that “percentage,” which is a “dream come true” for many/most of us. HOWEVER, our shelter was originally built to be a “high-kill one,” which means the population could be controlled by euthanasia  due to “lack of space” and “behavior.” The twenty small kennels at the shelter are only “2ft x 6ft” and are WAY “out of date.” The chain-link gates and fencing are destructive to the dogs’ teeth and much of that fencing is damaged “beyond repair.” So much has happened because of the age of the fencing. MANY dogs have escaped, fought each other, killed each other, and even attacked staff because of this “mid-20th century design” and the shear age of the metal and everything else. If you like scary or sad movies you don’t have to spend any money. You just drive down that lane and go inside. It’s a concentration camp and a prison with “single-dog cells.” Because the kennels are so small and the shelter doesn’t offer the much-needed “double compartment kennels with guillotine doors” (accessing the outdoor “runs” with the indoor kennels), staff can’t safely/humanely put two or more animals in each small kennel. These dogs are already stuck in a little cell, are laying in their own urine and feces by themselves all night and for much of the day, and getting this excrement in their eyes 24/7. We need LARGER “double-compartment kennels” like the “surrounding county shelters” all offer, because being a “no kill shelter” means these animals have about a 99.9% chance of staying in there much longer than “5 days.” If we had a “regional shelter” like Rowan, Fleming, and Bath Counties have at the “Tri-County Shelter” in Clearfield (Rowan County), Kentucky we could not only accommodate more than 20 dogs, but we could also serve cats, rabbits, ferrets, reptiles, and other domesticated/companion animals that are sometimes left as a result of death, poverty, mental health, incarceration, and other “extenuating circumstances.” As of now, we have a very primitive “dog pound,” because cats and other pets are “NOT allowed,” even though there are pictures of a cat on both sides of our “Animal Shelter sign” at the entry of the road leading to our shelter. Mason County and its county seat (Maysville) are not only the most populated of the counties and towns in our area/region, but we are supposed to be “leading the way” in technology and “over-all general competency” (in most eyes around here). The surrounding counties are a little more rural and wouldn’t be capable of hosting a “regional facility,” but WE can. Over the past several years MCAS has been considered and referred to as a “no-kill shelter,” which is, again,  definitely what most of us want. During the “Pandemic” our citizens leaned on the “comfort of these animals” while we were quarantined and confined to our homes. Now, we must live up to our commitment to love these animals until they die of natural causes, not “throwing them away.” We’re better than this “barbaric mindset” of “let them fend for themselves” and “they’re just cats/dogs.” Our shelter has not only turned away countless companion animals in the past few years, but has told local law enforcement agencies (which includes the Animal Control Officer) not to pick up any animals due to “lack of space.” This is dangerous and presents a public health crisis for adults, children, the sick, the feeble, the elderly, and even our own animal population. Disease can and will be spread, as it already has been. Currently the feral cat population is infected with upper-respiratory illness, eye-destroying diseases, injuries due to attacks, fleas, and a plethora of other health problems. Not to mention, the feral cat population has at least QUADRUPLED since they (the cats) have been “banned” from the shelter. We “volunteers” have “given until it hurts” by spaying, neutering, fostering, and rescuing these helpless “sentient beings” and are not only “tapped out” on money and out of room on our properties, but we have found ourselves at odds with the very government workers who’s salaries we pay! We have been “scolded” by staff for bringing in strays when we are not only trying to do a good deed, but we are the tax-payers (the bosses) and they are the public servants (the help). Our government really tends to get things backwards around here. We are desperately DEMANDING a new shelter for the “good/benefit of all involved.” It can even generate new jobs. The current shelters in adjoining counties can be used as “cat shelters, outposts, and/or satellite branches” to “pull from the main center/campus.” Please sign this so we can take responsibility for this problem before it gets any worse. Locals have literally been taking cats to Ohio and letting them go to get them out of their neighborhoods. This is getting “unruly.” As it stands, we community volunteers have taken well over 1,000 animals to other counties and states in just the last year or so. This is an “Underground Railroad” of sorts, which is really beyond disgusting, embarrassing, and dangerous. It’s downright shameful! Thanks a million!!!

The Mason County Fiscal Court needs to act now! If they don’t make plans on building a new shelter immediately literally tens of thousands of cats, dogs, and other domesticated animals in the Buffalo Trace Area/Region will suffer and die like they are already doing and we can’t let that happen. I started a petition because I knew if we all came together we could address this overpopulation caused and initiated by the “Pandemic”! Things will never be the same and we now have an over-abundance of animals for AT LEAST the next 15-20 years. Please take just a minute to sign and share today!

https://www.facebook.com/100067948956894/posts/pfbid0ycNSWrN1qN6A68LS2B29b4j7GhMjLtQyF9yFdsuHufmkQHc55CDyboeMYqswfFj9l/?mibextid=cr9u03

Sincerely yours, 

Bryan Dale Helphinstine

(606)584-8010