Council Approves City-Run Shelter Proposal

"The space is smaller than Bowie CLAW originally envisioned, but Bowie CLAW feels this is a sufficient compromise," Kelley-Baker said to the council.

Originally, Bowie CLAW had been hoping to see a 1,500 square foot standalone facility constructed or converted for use as the shelter. However, it became clear that the cost of such a facility would be much higher than the $100,000 Bowie CLAW was donating to fund the shelter. 

Under staff's proposal, the current short-term holding facility would be doubled in size with the addition of an adjacent storage area. There will be enough room to hold approximately four dogs and eight cats once the space is fully converted.

Councilman Dennis Brady (at-large), who has been a long-time supporter of a city-run short term shelter for Bowie animals, was pleased with the staff proposal.

"I’m glad we’ve been able to come up with a compromise in the facility. The end goal is to provide a facility to residents to pick up their stray pets without having to leave the city," Brady said.

Once the facility is operational, which could take two to three months, stray animals collected by Bowie Animal Control will be brought to the short-term shelter and kept until owners can come to retrieve them. Animals will be housed and cared for in the shelter by city staff for a maximum of five days before they are transported to the county animal management facility in Upper Marlboro.

The shelter was the cause of some contention among council members during budget season last spring. City staff recommended that the shelter be moved to the Capital Improvement Budget for one more year to allow for studies to be done to assess the need for such a facility in Bowie. 

Some council members took issue with the long-term costs associated with a city-run shelter, and questioned if there was a real need for a city facility when the county facility was so close. 

Shelter supporters, led by Brady, prevailed that night, and the shelter was moved into the Fiscal Year 2014 budged in a 5-2 vote.

Now, seven months later, the short-term facility should be operational sometime in the first quarter of the new year. 

"I think in the end, the people who will benefit are the residents," Brady said.