Sardis city board tables plan to allow rescue group access to pens

By Rupert Howell
A license agreement between the Town of Sardis and North Mississippi Animal (NMAR) Rescue was tabled until next month after Alderman Jo Jo Still questioned if  the holding pens could also be used for cats and other aldermen questioned what to do if police officers captured vicious dogs and needed a holding pen.
NMAR President Yvonne Taylor had met with the board of mayor and aldermen at their previous monthly meeting when The Panolian reported the organization wanted,  “. . . to take over Sardis’ dog problems and tentatively got the go-ahead at Tuesday’s meeting when aldermen agreed with their request to get the city’s two dog runs in shape to use as holding pens.”
Taylor told board members at the October meeting that a donor would pay for a concrete pad and roofing materials and asked the City to donate the pens and install a water line.
Taylor said she would be responsible for daily care of the animals until they were fostered.
But when the board met for their November meeting Tuesday with contract in hand, something changed.
The NMAR president had earlier explained that the city-owned runs would be used to house dog “rescues” for four to six days while a foster home was being arranged.
NMAR is a dog placement non-profit that rescues dogs, fosters them for a short period before sending them to adoption homes usually in northern states.
“I’m having more complaints with cats,” Still noted.
Taylor explained that the organization had recently sent 25 cats to rescue homes but that it was harder to transport cats compared to dogs. She noted that four kittens had been adopted this week.
She also explained that cats have health issues such as respiratory diseases that easily spread stating, “You have to be real careful with that.”
Concerning vicious dogs captured by Sardis police, Taylor said the pens could still be used but that she nor anyone with NMAR was trained or certified to deal with vicious animals.
The NMAR president also said the best way to deal with feral cats is to, “trap, neuter and release.”
Taylor left the meeting immediately after aldermen voted to table the issue until the next board meeting.