Before you read this, go to the refrigerator or 
an ice chest and grab your favorite beverage. 
It’s time to toast our accomplishments in 
Rockwall County, especially if you’re a “pet 
person” like me. Thanks to the Rockwall City 
Council, our animal shelter has been saving 
the lives of over 94% of its homeless pets 
for five years.

The council voted in August 2011 – 
County Judge David Sweet was mayor 
at the time – to set a minimum lifesaving 
goal of 90% at the shelter. It’s obviously 
been a huge success.

And in Royse City, thanks to City Manager 
Carl Alsabrook and Police Chief Jeff 
Stapleton, its animal shelter has been 
equally adept at finding new families for its 
homeless pets since the summer of 2012.

It’s an impressive accomplishment, but it 
didn’t happen overnight. Just 10 years ago, 
the Rockwall shelter was little more than 
a glorified barn. The dilapidated building 
was covered in rust, and it was swelteringly

hot during the summer and often frigid during 
the winter.

The shelter was so ramshackle that few 
people went there to adopt a pet. As a result, 
only a small percentage of dogs and cats 
got out of that building alive.

That changed when voters in the 2005 bond 
election approved a transfer of leftover 
funds totaling $1.3 million to build a new 
animal shelter. (Voters also approved road 
improvements, the construction of John King 
Boulevard, the renovation of four parks 
and the building of two new fire stations. 
A proposition to build a $2.7 million animal 
shelter failed during that election.)

Here’s where the nostalgia kicks in. 
At about this same time, I began writing a 
pet column for Dawn Redig, the publisher of 
this fine publication, when she was an editor 
at the Dallas Morning News. We both thought 
a regular column would help to promote 
Rockwall’s homeless pets, helping them 
find new families.

The new animal shelter opened in June 2008. 
Coupled with the new media promotions we 
were doing at the time, more animals found 

homes than ever before. A little more than 
half of all the pets entering the shelter found 
new homes during 2009, the first full year of 
the new facility. But as the newness began to 
wear off and people stopped coming to the 
shelter, more animals began to die.

Enter the proverbial unsung hero. Jeffrey 
Widmer, currently a building official with the 
City of Rockwall, saw the need for innovation 
at the struggling shelter. He patiently listened 
to every wild idea we threw at him, and 
eventually implemented an array of programs 
that were considered cutting-edge at the time. 
From regular promotions to adoption events 
held away from the shelter, these programs 
later became mainstream nationally.

More importantly, it worked. The Rockwall 
shelter went from finding homes for less than 
50% of its homeless pets in June 2010 to 
placing over 86% of its pets just 10 months 
later. After the city council vote in August 
2011, the shelter’s success rate shot up to 
97% and they never looked back.

Five years later, Rockwall still finds homes 
for around 96% of its shelter pets, and it 
continues to be an inspiration for other 
shelters across the country. So hoist that 

beverage high as we propose an anniversary 
toast to the Rockwall City Council and its 
animal shelter. Here’s to five years of success, 
and here’s to thousands of happy pets and 
happy families. 

If you’ll permit a personal note, this is my 
last column for Blue Ribbon News. Pam and I 
are moving to Portland, Oregon this summer, 
another proud No Kill community that saves 
the lives of over 94% of the shelter pets in 
the entire metro area (but Rockwall did it 
first!). I’m forever grateful to Dawn Redig for 
inviting me to share my love of pets in these 
pages and online. Thanks for reading!

Story and photos by Blue 
Ribbon News guest columnist 
Michael Kitkoski, co-founder 
of Rockwall Pets and 
No Kill Solutions.

See the annual statistics for the Rockwall 
animal shelter at http://nokillsolutions.org/
Rockwall_Statistics_Annual.pdf.

Read about the Rockwall City Council’s 
August 2011 vote at http://blueribbonnews.
com/2011/08/rockwall-city-council-mandates-
no-kill-status.

Read more about the 2005 Rockwall bond 
election on the RockwallYES! blog (yes, it 
still exists) at http://rockwallyes.blogspot.com.

GOOD PETS

16

Summer Edition 2016

BlueRibbonNews.com

Manny Salazar surveys the play yard under 

construction at the new Rockwall animal 

shelter in March 2008. 

Homeless pets at the old Rockwall animal 

shelter shared space with rust and debris.

The new Rockwall animal shelter attracted quite a 

crowd during its grand opening on June 28, 2008.

Erin Atkins

sponsored by:

(972)771-4110

Pet of the Week

Rockwall 

celebrates 

YEARS OF

HAPPY PETS 

FIVE

5