Two former Dallas Fire Stations are on a list of three city-owned buildings being considered for overflow animal shelters, NBC DFW has learned. Some neighbors are howling.
The three Dallas locations are --- 5221 South Westmoreland Road, 1735 Ewing Avenue and 6742 Greenville Avenue.
According to a neighbor, the Westmoreland location was to be an adult business before it wound up in city ownership. The legal description of the property includes the name "Red Bird Video." The neighbor said dogs might be better than an adult business there. A manager at a medical clinic next door to the Westmoreland building took a message but had no immediate comment.
The other two locations are both former Dallas Fire Stations. The Ewing Avenue building is close to homes and resident Curtis Evans said an animal shelter would annoy neighbors.
"They'll be barking, making lots of noise, so I truly believe it would be a bad idea," he said.
The Greenville Avenue location is across the street from the Park Lane shopping center. The Vickery Meadow Public Improvement District is hoping to lease the former fire station from the City of Dallas as a community center, according to Executive Director Barry Annino. He said the organization intends to house several charity groups along with city and county offices at the old fire station.
"It's the gateway to the neighborhood," he said. "It's an awesome place and I'm a big fan of the dogs. However it's not a place for the dogs. I think we've got better places in the city for the dogs. This place needs to be for the community."
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Dallas Animal Services Director Jody Jones said the discussion about additional capacity is "very preliminary" and no decisions have been made. The Dallas Animal Shelter Advisory Commission will discuss the issue at a Nov. 12 meeting.
The extra locations could be necessary if the city's current shelter on Westmoreland Road at I-30 becomes overcrowded in a new crackdown on stray dogs beginning this week.
The crackdown, announced last week, starts in an eight square block neighborhood along Overton Road and then rotates to other areas.
Animal Control Officers will conduct intense patrols looking for strays instead of just answering calls for service from residents.
According to city records, the Overton Road neighborhood had 83 requests for Animal Control service in the past six months. Many strays could still be seen roaming that neighborhood Monday.
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