The animal shelter in Texarkana needs dog food again! I know it is frustrating but please help if you can. The shelter has hundreds of animals that need to be fed daily.

You are not alone if you are wondering why the City of Texarkana, Arkansas is not taking care of the dog and cat food needs. They also do not purchase hay or grain when there are horses at the shelter. Why is that?

I sent the following Facebook message to Mayor Wayne Smith to find out why the City of Texarkana, Arkansas is not providing food for the animals at the shelter. He sent a quick reply to let me know that he was going to get the answers to my questions. I have included his response below.

Hi Mayor Smith - I am currently doing a dog food drive for the shelter. I have done many requests for food in recent years and some people have taken notice that this is a reoccurring problem. I am getting a few questions from folks that have donated in the past. They want to know why the City has not budgeted for the dog food needs. That has me wondering the same thing now. The City has been in charge of running the shelter since December 2008 I believe. Are there any funds allocated for food? Many of the people that donate are Texarkana, Texas residents. Some have discovered they would be charged $90 to leave a dog at the shelter. I cannot account for all of them but several of those people I know are not surrendering a personal dog but rather a dog they picked up off of the city streets. I enjoy helping animals but what can I say when people ask me why the City is not taking care of the dog food needs of the shelter?

Here is the response that I received from Mayor Smith: "I received you message. I will get back with you, just want to make sure I have all information to asnswer you question and address your concern."

I will update our website once I get a response from the mayor. In the meantime, the shelter is going to run out of dog food today if we do not act fast.

To donate Food for the Animals:

Please take dog food directly to the shelter at 203 Harrison, Texarkana, Arkansas. They are open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Or you can purchase gift cards from Tractor Supply Company on State Line and volunteers will take the food to the shelter. Tractor Supply gives a discount to the shelter when they use the gift cards.

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