[1/14/05]The search for a new and larger animal shelter is still ongoing, said the president of the Vicksburg Warren Humane Society.

Georgia Lynn, president of the society since 2003, responded to a question from a member of the Vicksburg Rotary Club Thursday by saying the group hopes to reach a decision on whether to continue looking for a new location or to do something with the present shelter on U.S. 61 South.

In October, elected officials from the City of Vicksburg and Warren County were looking at a building at 720 Porters Chapel Road as a possible location for a shelter where the society’s and the city’s animal shelters could be combined. The idea was dropped because that building is in a residential area.

Otherwise, Lynn said the society took in 1,981 cats, dogs, kittens and puppies in 2004 from normal society channels and another 221 as a result of the animal control ordinance passed by Warren County Supervisors in late 2003. The present shelter is only about 1,800 square feet and woefully inadequate to take care of that number of animals a year.

Vicksburg officials have said they wanted a shelter to be centrally located somewhere inside the city limits. But, she said, there will be problems.

“Basically, there is no perfect spot,” Lynn said. “If you think about it, in Vicksburg, it’s going to be an ordinance problem or a zoning problem.”

In addition, she said, even people who praise the society for its work don’t want an animal shelter near their homes.

“We all want it centrally located, but where?” she asked.

The present shelter is 13 to 14 years old, the kennels are tearing up, the roof leaks and it needs to be larger.

“We’re going to give it another 30 days,” Lynn said.

Responding to a question about how someone can help, Lynn said she plans to hold a second open house at the shelter from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 29 and invited anyone who wanted to help to attend. Last year, more than 200 people showed up.

Also at the meeting, Lynn said the society will have its required annual meeting at 1 p.m. to elect members to the board of directors.

In discussing the shelter’s operation, Lynn said last year 460, or 23 percent, of all the animals taken in were adopted, slightly ahead of the national, 20 percent rate. Of the 221 animals taken to the shelter as a result of the county’s animal control ordinance, only 10 were redeemed by their owners. If not redeemed within five days, the animals became the society’s property and subject to adoption or euthanasia, which she referred to as a necessary evil.

The society receives $120,000 annual funding from Warren County, supplemented by memberships that vary from $10 per year for students to $500 a year for corporate or business members.

If the society’s shelter is ever merged with the city’s animal shelter, as Mayor Laurence Leyens has mentioned, the county funds could be augmented by city funds. The city presently spends about $200,000 a year on its shelter and animal control staff.