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 It’s official! The Taylor city council has
passed an ordinance making TNR (trap, neuter and
return) legal in this small town east of Austin
and Round Rock. This is the result of six
months of coordinated effort by many dedicated
people, initiated by an email alert from Suzy
Swingle and led by the tireless work of Shadow
Cats volunteer Dawn Shepherd.
What began as a result of issues encountered
trying to help community cats led to an
awareness of outdated and inhumane practices
including gas euthanasia of unwanted animals.
But a public outcry led to a caring and
thoughtful response from city officials in
Taylor. Police Chief Jeff Straub was the
catalyst of change in this small Central Texas
community – he dealt with a wide array of
complaints and charges, gathered ideas and
suggestions from throughout the community and
surrounding towns and cities, and worked to
implement the best of those ideas in Taylor in a
way that benefited both the animals and citizens
of the community. He immediately ordered the
dismantling of the gas chamber that had long
been in use, and worked to improve all aspects
of the city’s animal control operations.
Shadow Cats Rescue was also instrumental in
helping create this change in Taylor. Dawn
Shepherd spearheaded our efforts, and other
volunteers helped to meet with the police chief
and animal control officers to help the city
develop and implement more effective and humane
practices. Dawn established the Taylor Animal
Welfare Committee (TAWC) and since its creation
no feral or community cat has been euthanized –
all have been sterilized, vaccinated and
released back into their environment through TNR
programs. TAWC has worked diligently to educate
Taylor home and land owners about the benefits
of TNR programs. Grassroots efforts resulted in
an outpouring of community concern expressed to
the city council and provided the impetus and
support for them to write the TNR ordinance
which they voted into law on January 14, 2010.
The Taylor animal shelter is being given a face
lift and an influx of new volunteers has made a
significant difference in helping their cats and
dogs find adoptive homes. If you would like to
volunteer at the Taylor shelter, or are
interested in either fostering or adopting a dog
or cat from them, you can contact them at (512)
352-5551 or visit their website at
http://www.ci.taylor.tx.us/index.aspx?NID=404.
They are located at 600 East 4th
Street in Taylor. Designated donations to the
Taylor Shelter will be used specifically for the
welfare of the cats and dogs there and donations
are tax deductible according to Police Chief
Straub.
Shadow Cats has several volunteers who live in
Taylor and we are working continually to improve
the lives of community cats. If you would like
to participate in the TNR program and help make
a difference there, contact us at
feralfriend@austin.rr.com.
Thank you to all the great volunteers at Shadow
Cats and throughout the community who are
helping every day to make such a huge difference
in the lives of animals in Central Texas, and a
special thanks to Chief Straub and the Taylor
city council members. The big changes in
Taylor are a wonderful example of how concerned
people, working positively with responsive city
leaders, are able to make great things happen!
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