editor Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 BARC Announces Facilities Improvement PlansThe City of Houston's Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care today announced plans for a proposed $3.3 million renovation of its current facility."We are committed to progress at BARC and these plans, coupled with changes we are making in how the facility operates, will help make a positive difference," said Elena Marks, Director of Health and Environmental Policy in the office of Mayor Bill White, who is helping direct the reorganization of BARC.The existing BARC facility, at 3200 Carr in the Fifth Ward, includes two kennel buildings completed in 1990 (North) and 2004 (South). The property also includes an administration building and a warehouse.The proposed renovation plan calls for: (1) replacing the kennels in the North building with a new facility similar to the South building, with 200 appropriately sized cages; (2) adding a new modular facility for cat housing and renovating the first floor of the North building to include cat "condos"; (3) renovating and enlarging the surgery area in the North building to enable a higher volume of spay/neuter services (up to 50/day); and (4) improving public access by adding a new public parking area. Some $3.3 million has been secured in the City's CIP (Capital Improvements Plan) to fund the work. The new modular facility for cats will be in place within 30 days, and the construction of the remaining improvements is expected to be under way in June 2010.To see preliminary drawings of the proposed renovations, go to http://www.houstontx.gov/barc/renovation.pdf.BARC also plans to construct a new facility, to be named the Ann Young Animal Center, including an adoption program, a veterinary clinic and a dog park in Gragg Park, 2999 South Wayside at Wheeler. This facility will be made possible in large part by the generous bequest left to BARC by Ann Slemons Young, who died in 2007. Her dream was for BARC to have a state-of-the-art adoption facility to enhance the ability to find homes for the 25,000+ dogs and cats brought to BARC each year. The preliminary plans call for a 30,000-square-foot building and the dog park on a 5.5 acre tract across the road from the Houston Parks and Recreation Department offices. More details about this proposal will be announced at a later date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thGenHoustonian Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 You can give them a bunch of money, but you can't make them care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 You can give them a bunch of money, but you can't make them care.Which one of them doesn't care about animals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 The ones who don't secure a drainhole where a puppy falls down into and dies, the ones who don't feed the animals, it would seem that there are many. The volunteers have ratted them out many times, and these criminals often don't even get prosecuted for animal cruelty. The Houston Press had a great compilation of decades' worth of Houston officials all essentially saying "Well yeah, we know there's serious problems at the animal shelter, but hopefully we've got the right solution now and this terrible abuse of the animals can stop." Yet it never seems to end and the horror stories continue to come out of BARC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thStDad Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 The ones who don't secure a drainhole where a puppy falls down into and dies, the ones who don't feed the animals, it would seem that there are many. The volunteers have ratted them out many times, and these criminals often don't even get prosecuted for animal cruelty. The Houston Press had a great compilation of decades' worth of Houston officials all essentially saying "Well yeah, we know there's serious problems at the animal shelter, but hopefully we've got the right solution now and this terrible abuse of the animals can stop." Yet it never seems to end and the horror stories continue to come out of BARC.I didn't know BARC was also responsible for sewer/drain maintenance. That might explain where all the time and money went that they should be spending hunting down the infamous Heights 6-pack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 as long as they're not by fiesta they should do ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 I didn't know BARC was also responsible for sewer/drain maintenance. That might explain where all the time and money went that they should be spending hunting down the infamous Heights 6-pack.I'm sorry, I thought most people here had been reading the Houston Press articles on this. It was a drainhole in the kennel. They put puppies in a cage for big dogs. http://www.click2houston.com/news/20199452/detail.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Here's the BARC Sucks article http://www.houstonpress.com/2009-01-29/news/barc-sucks/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.