Marion County Humane Society receives second chance at levy for fall election

MARION COUNTY, W.Va (WDTV) - In the Primary election in May, the Marion County Humane Society had a levy featured on the ballot. The levy was for three years and would raise approximately $1.4 Million with the intention to fund operation costs like staffing and pet programs. Unfortunately, the levy came up short, receiving 58% of the necessary 60% of votes needed for approval. The result was a surprise to not only Jonna Spatafore, the Shelter Director but also to the community, who quickly offered support.

“People were calling, messaging our Facebook saying, ‘We thought you were going to win. How can we help you?’ Just that in itself is encouraging,” said Spatafore.

Luckily, the shelter’s request for a new levy ballot in the fall was approved at Wednesday’s Marion County Commission meeting. The levy in question will be the only one on the fall ballot. The President of the Marion County Humane Society Board of Directors, Donna Long, looks forward to the second chance levy. Long expressed how important a shelter, that is on pace to bring in over 700 animals in just this past year, is to Marion County.

“Every 12 hours, we bring in a new animal to the shelter, so it’s a real need to the community,” said Long. “Animal control is state-mandated, every county must have animal control and ours does a fine job, but they can’t handle owner surrenders and they don’t take cats at all. The boots-on-the-ground staff deal with heartbreaking stories every day and they do it with grace and compassion. I think the community would really miss it if it were not here.”



https://www.wdtv.com/2024/07/19/marion-county-humane-society-receives-second-chance-levy-fall-election/