Marlin: New animal control facility finally opens

MARLIN, Texas (KWTX) - The city of Marlin is finally getting a new animal control facility to address the ongoing problem of long-term care of lost, abandoned and dumped animals.

In the last two years, KWTX has reported incidents where animals have been locked in city offices in deplorable conditions. Prior to that, they had no reliable animal control at all.

Mildred Wilson, who helped fund the project, says she helped contribute more than $14,000 to make sure stray animals have somewhere safe to go.

“I’ve had a couple of dogs that’ve been attacked and that’s not fun when you find your dog that’s got ripped skin and everything,” she said.

“So, it’s important to us that our animals are taken care of. It should be important to everybody.”

An issue that mostly stemmed from the city moving any lost animals to the Waco or Rosebud facilities, and in some cases, leaving found animals in unsanitary and unsafe environments for days. Mayor Carolyn Lofton says the situation got to the point where the city and neighbors said enough is enough.

“We recognize that we have a problem, but in order to resolve it, we had to take steps to alleviate it ourselves,” she said.

“So, today is the realization of a dream to where we can control our animal population within the city of Marlin without having to rely on outsiders.”

It took the city and donors to contribute around $50,000 to build the facility, which includes 20 kennels, clinic offices, food, water and four acres of land ready to expand in the future. Animal Control Officer William Hunt says what’s most needed at this point are volunteers and extra supplies.

“We’re always gonna need dog food,” he said.

“Just small contributions would really help. Dog beds, especially blankets could go a long way cause you’re gonna use a lot of them when you’re working a shelter like this.”

Even with the new facility officially open, Wilson says it will take a community-wide effort to keep it running.

“It’s something the city’s needed for a long time and I hope the citizens really help keep it going,” she said.

“We should not have a facility like this just last for a couple of years and then it goes away.”

If anyone would like to volunteer or make a donation, they can either visit the city of Marlin’s website or call (254)-883-1450.

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