City funding for MCAS comes in lower than hoped

Maury County Animal Services' request for a $100,000 budget increase was denied, and they were granted $20,000 – the same amount they've been receiving yearly since 2003. This happens even after the exponential growth of Maury County. At least half of the homes in Maury County contain one animal; more than 50% of the welfare checks, owner surrenders and stray intakes that MCAS deals with on a monthly basis are from the city of Columbia!

LSP is in full support of any municipal shelter being provided the resources they need to adequately serve the needs of their community. This situation does, however, force us to look at the bigger picture and ask, "how much is the county investing in prevention so the shelter doesn't need to continually ask for such a a budget increase?"

To see the complete census for Columbia, TN, click here.