County Mayor Mike Foster and the county commission met with members of the Joe Black Effort Thursday night at the county complex to discuss the state of the local animal shelter.
The Joe Black Effort is a “no-kill” rescue run by a volunteer conglomerate of local people who place abandoned animals in foster homes until permanent homes can be found.
The organization is in the process of fiIing for 501(c)3 status as a non-profit.
The Effort is run on a strictly volunteer basis.
Joe Black representative Rene Stufano came before the commission Thursday,  asking that a coalition be formed to address the county’s animal problem.
“From our standpoint it isn't Smithville's problem. It's a county problem,” Stufano told the assembly.
“I think it’s important to come up with some kind of agreement with the county, with the city of Smithville, with the city of Alexandria, and with Dowelltown and Liberty,” she continued.
“The way I see it right now, everything is being dumped on the Smithville pound, which is a little closet, disgusting building with nothing good to say about it,” Stufano shared.
“I really feel like DeKalb County can do better than that. The animals go there, they're fed, they can keep them two days and wait for them to be claimed and then be euthanized. That is not acceptable for me or for a lot of other people,” she said.
Stufano offered a temporary fix, telling the mayor and commissioners that Effort volunteers are willing to man the animal shelter, care for the animals and keep the pound clean and safe until the animals can be placed in foster or permanent homes.
“In the few months that we've been running, we have more than 50 members,” she said. “We have 30 foster homes right now with animals in them, and we're accommodating 100 animals.
“We've been taking care of their medical needs. Dr. Burke, Dr. Wheeler, and Dr. Little are all working with us. We charge a little bit of an adoption fee, and we're doing fundraisers so that we can pay our medical bills.”
Stufano made it clear that she would ultimately like to see the Effort open its own “no-kill” shelter.
“Our goal is to have our own rescue. We'd like to get a no-kill shelter,” she said. “I am aware that there are times animals have to be euthanized, but it’s not appropriate for every animal.
“I would like to see us create a DeKalb Coalition for the Humane Treatment of Animals. Members of the coalition need to be the mayors, the commissioners, aldermen, the people who run all the cities and the county, and the veterinarians,” Stufano opined.
According to Stufano, all the volunteers involved would sign a disclaimer releasing local government from responsibility for any injuries incurred while working at the shelter.
“The Joe Black Effort volunteers would like to offer a temporary solution,” she told the commission. “We would like to sign a waiver. Vester Parsley would write that up so that the county and the city are not responsible. If something happens to the pound we're not responsible, and to allow our volunteers to temporarily assist in the treatment of the animals that come into the pound.
“We are willing to take care of their medical needs and take them out and put them in the Joe Black program,” Stufano said. “If they need to be euthanized then we can have that done. A permanent solution would be to have a building and a real rescue. I think to have a real shelter, something nice and clean, have an adoption center, having the animals taken care of, would really uplift our county. I think the less animals we see on the streets, the better,” she concluded.
No action was taken by the commission Thursday, but it was suggested that the county animal control committee meet to discuss the issue in detail.
Foster asked the Joe Black Effort members be patient, saying that the problem is not one that can be solved overnight, and to continue working on obtaining a 501(c)3 non-profit status.
Stufano sent out an email Friday morning, saying that she felt the meeting went well, but that the Joe Black effort has a great deal of work to do.
“Last night’s meeting went well,” the correspondence read. “We had good representation, all three veterinarians were there.
“Basically we introduced the idea of a new rescue, and also the idea that this is a county-wide issue,” she wrote. “The poor solution that is in place now is antiquated, inadequate and needs to be torched.
“We talked about a coalition and doing something as a county. The county has really dumped this issue on the city and rationalized it by saying the city has more of a problem because it has a denser population. As we all know, animals are dumped all over the county so that argument doesn't hold water.”
At the regular meeting of the county commission Monday evening,  County Mayor Mike Foster mentioned the issue again, saying that once the organization obtains 501(c)3 status he hope some agreement can be reached.
“We hope we can form a group, especially so they (Joe Black Effort) can help with adoptions, education and spaying and neutering,” Foster said. “We need to encourage people to do that so we don’t have so many stray dogs to deal with. I think that is a big issue that we need to look at.
“They still have to get their 501(c)3,” the mayor continued. “I think when they get that, and we meet back with them, we can explore the possibilities of trying to do some things with them.”
The Joe Black Effort has announced a community meeting at the county complex on Oct. 23 at 6 p.m.
The public will have an opportunity to discuss the issue in depth, and everyone is invited to attend.