City Gives Up On Opening Its Own Pet Store After ‘Too Much Whining’

By David Crowder / El Paso Inc.

The El Paso Health Department has dropped the controversial idea of setting up an Albuquerque-style retail pups, dogs and cats.

?Too much complaining and whining,? Health Director Mike Hill said when asked why. ?The city just decided to stop listening to it and find another way to go.?

Hill told the city?s Animal Welfare Advisory Committee of the decision at its meeting last Wednesday.

The next day, the committee?s former chairwoman Rebecca Rojas, challenged Hill reasons.

?What whining? It was a bad idea, and we called him out on it,? she said, referring to herself and other leaders of animal adoption organizations.

Rojas runs the New Hope Alliance adoption program at the Health Department?s Animal Services Division on Fred Wilson Road. She was in the audience for Wednesday?s meeting.

From January through last month, the city solicited bids or proposals to run a city-financed adoption store five times but got no takers.

Rojas and others said the big problem was the city had not found a site for the store, and no organization was willing to submit an offer without knowing the location.

They also complained that there was no business plan and that Hill hadn?t consulted with them or the city?s Animal Welfare Advisory Committee or the state-mandated Animal Shelter Advisory Committee.

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