Opinion: Tippah County’s lack of animal shelter a growing problem

On any given day on any backroad, side street or even main route in Tippah County you can stop and see unattended to animals of the homeless variety. Herds of them, even.

Just this last week on social media we have counted 14 “abandoned animal” posts. There are more, certainly, dogs and cats that have been dropped off or have just been in the “wild” their entire life.

Make a call to surrounding shelters and they are past capacity. Animal workers are pleading, begging even, for animal foster families.

“Everybody is just so overrun this time of year. I wish I kept a talley of the calls I’ve had to turn down lately. It’s heartbreaking,” local veterinarian Dr. Elizabeth Smith of the Animal Clinic of Tippah County told us recently.

Apathy in this instance outweighs the empathy of a dedicated few who do what they can when they can, going above and beyond.

So what are we to do? For every stray that doesn’t get spayed or neutered the problem grows exponentially. A drain on citizens who have abandoned animals dropped off on their doorstep.

Worse: a sad reflection on us as citizens of Tippah County.

What are we to do? It’s easy in theory: build a shelter and let the professionals there worry with it. But funding such an endeavor is the key that private citizens and local governments are going to have to work on together.

In the meantime: spay and neuter, adopt your next pet, volunteer to foster until a rescue can be found.