After several months of delays, the Meridian City Council approved residents’ appointments to the City of Meridian Animal Control Advisory Board.

In its October 4 meeting, the city council named Allison Anderson, Jo Anderson, Terry Sims, Deke Renae Cross-McDade and Natalie Purvis to serve as representatives of each ward on the advisory board.

Mayor Jimmie Smith was also tasked with appointing two at-large members, selecting Elizabeth Hall and Amy Wilson as representatives for the city as a whole.

Efforts to form an animal control advisory board began in March after the city council, responding to residents’ complaints, sat down with animal control and Meridian Police Department to address some of the issues.

Members on the advisory board will be tasked with helping Meridian Animal Control improve its services by helping locate vendors, fostering community involvement and suggesting improvements in both the departments services and equipment.

Animal control, which falls under Meridian Police Department’s authority, has been plagued by staffing issues and deteriorating infrastructure. Police Chief Deborah Naylor Young previously told the council there were four animal control officer positions but only two were filled.

In March, Councilman George Thomas said having residents dedicated to the well-being of animals to lead the charge on rebuilding the city’s animal control department would both take some weight off the city’s overworked animal control officers and create opportunities for community involvement, grant applications and even fundraising.

In its October 4 meeting, the city council voted to amend a 1990 ordinance pertaining to the advisory board to remove language requiring a representative of the Lauderdale County Humane Society as the organization no longer exists, and eliminated a spot for Lauderdale County Animal Shelter, which relocated to its own facilities in 2021. The two seats were replaced by the Mayor’s appointments.

The ordinance also calls for veterinarian, a representative of the police department and the animal control supervisor to sit on the board. While involved with the advisory board’s discussions, MPD’s representative and the animal control supervisor do not have voting power.

With the appointment of the advisory board, the council hopes to improve the city’ animal control response, expand its capabilities and help bring the animal control officers and the community together to create better outcomes for the animals at the city’s animal shelter.