20 named to Columbia’s new Animal Services Blue Ribbon Committee

Columbia City Council took steps this week to work toward becoming a “no-kill” community for homeless animals.

Twenty people have been selected to serve on a new Animal Services Blue Ribbon Committee, which will help set practices and procedures aimed at lowering the community’s euthanasia rate, specifically at the city-run animal shelter.

Former City Councilwoman Anne Sinclair will chair the committee, which has representatives from a broad swath of the community, including public and private agencies and other citizens.

Along with the creation of the Blue Ribbon Committee comes a resolution passed by Council that outlines goals including increasing adoption and foster-home efforts, increasing animal rescue partners around the country and creating a program to allow feral cats to return to their home territories after being spayed/neutered, vaccinated and treated.

These measures come several weeks after council rejected a memorandum of understanding proposed by Pawmetto Lifeline, a non-profit, no-kill shelter, regarding changes in practices at the city-run shelter.

Pawmetto’s executive director, Denise Wilkinson, and board chairwoman, Deloris Mungo, will serve on the Blue Ribbon Committee.