Roodhouse Council shoots down Animal Welfare and Support Committee

By Editor | March 5, 2026 |

By Carmen Ensinger

A horrible animal hoarding situation was brought to the attention of the Roodhouse City Council at their Feb. 25 regular city council meeting and was the perfect preface for the need for an Animal Welfare and Support Committee, but even that wasn’t enough to convince the council to support the committee.
Sherry Hopkin, wife of the city’s animal control officer, Tom Hopkin, showed photos of the latest situation being dealt with in the city. Apparently, just off the Roodhouse Square there is a house where more than 20 dogs had been housed. The individual who had been taking care of them, according to Hopkin, became overwhelmed.
“This gentleman decided that he was done feeding them and had been done for several days and he just let them out,” she said. “So, all of these dogs were just running amok throughout the city yesterday, about 20 or 25 of them, all starving because they hadn’t been fed in several days.”
Hopkin said when they arrived at the residence, they found dogs with broken legs, feces everywhere and her first call was to Mayor Jim Riley.
“The Mayor was there within five minutes and he stayed there helping us clean up the poop and helping us gather up these animals,” Hopkin said. “There was also a mother dog with four, four-week-old puppies which we now have down at the pound.”
Hopkin said this situation has been going on for quite some time and literally right off the Roodhouse Square and there are probably dozens of other situations similar to this going on throughout the city and the main reason for animal hoarding situations is that animals are not spayed or neutered. They keep reproducing and owners can’t find homes for them. They do their best to care for them for as long as they can but they eventually reach a point where they run out of resources at which it becomes everyone else’s problem.
It is with this in mind that Hopkin, along with fellow animal advocate Jennifer Day, brought before the council an idea of forming an animal welfare and support committee.
“Other towns have done something similar to this and there would be absolutely no cost to the city, we would just need someone from the city to be on the committee,” Hopkin said. “Myself and Jennifer would be on the committee and we have a veterinary technician who is also interested in being on the board.”
So, what would the purpose of this committee be?
“What we could offer this city with this is to help with situations like this and to kind of keep an eye out that situations like this don’t keep popping up,” Hopkin said. “We could also offer an animal food bank. We have the ability to go to St. Louis once a month and for $300 buy enough dog and cat food to fill up half this council room. Instead of letting these dogs and cats starve, we can set up something like the food pantry does.”
Hopkin cited examples where some people might actually offer an animal a home, but they simply can’t afford to feed them or care for them, which is why a lot of them get dumped in the first place.
“There are a lot of people, especially the elderly, that have animals or would want animals, but can’t necessarily have them or take care of them,” she said. “We could help them with food and I talked with our vet tech and veterinarians have expired medicines like flea medicines that they are more than happy to share with us that we could give out. So, what I’m saying is, these animals are here guys. They are here no matter if they are taken care of or not. There are animals all over this town.”
Hopkin told the council that they have the power to choose to have these animals taken care of or just forget about them.
“Jennifer and I and a few other people are willing to do this on our own time and on our own accord and have done all this research on our own to help the city help these people take care of these animals instead of us having to see on Roodhouse Residents everyday about a loose dog killing cats or chickens,” she said. “We can’t solve the problem immediately, but there has to be a starting point and I don’t want to see this tabled like our offer for the dog pound was. Let’s take the first step.”
Mayor Jim Riley was totally onboard with the formation of the committee, but the council, as usual, balked at the idea.
City Comptroller Amy Hacker asked if there was a way they could do it on their own without the city’s involvement.
“You know, if we do this on our own, we are fodder – I tried to do it on my own about a year ago and I got dragged through the mud on Roodhouse Residents for things that were totally ridiculous,” Hopkin said. “Things like, ‘oh, she’s up to something’ or ‘she’s poisoning cats with the food’ or crazy stuff like that. But, if we’ve got the city behind us, they are less likely to say anything.”
Jennifer Day agreed.
“By the city coming onboard, it gives it an officiality that is completely lacking right now,” she said. “Right now, we are all out here on our own, just spinning in the universe, spending our own time and money to be part of the solution.”
After a 30-minute discussion about what they wanted to accomplish and how it would cost the city nothing, the Mayor and Rusty Henline were the only members of the council who were on board with the proposal.
Alderman Steve Pope voted no, saying he thought they needed to “dig into it more” and have a special meeting about the findings.
Alderman Steve Speeks agreed.
“I want to clarify that that is the reason that I voted no as well,” he said. “Because there has not been any discussion, other than right now.”
Hopkin said she was ready and willing to answer any and all questions any of them might have.
“I’m nervous because you could potentially open up a whole can of worms,” Alderman Gage Giberson said. “If we have all these people knowing that, well the city’s going to take care of it. Next thing you know we got from having this pool of animals to this pool of animals and now we are taking care of everyone’s animals.”
Hopkin asked Giberson what part of their discussion did he not understand. They are not going to be taking anyone’s animals to take care of them and the city is not going to be doing anything at all, be out any expense, and the only thing really needed from the city is their backing to be able to collect donations.
“With your backing, we would be more open for donations and fundraisers, like the ‘Show Me The Money’,” Hopkin said. “We could also go out and do different programs on spay and neuter during Greene County Days or even in the schools. No disrespect to Gage, but you are saying we will make this a problem, honey, go walk the streets, go drive the streets, and you tell me how big this problem is and if you think us getting on board to spay and neuter what is out there will make it a bigger problem – well, then I don’t think you understand the actual problem.”
Giberson said he gets nervous with the feeding aspect of it.
Hopkin said that would be very regimented as far as they are not going to be just handing out food to just anyone.
“It is going to be for people who have had their animals spayed and neutered and gotten their shots,” she said. “We are going to make it like a food bank for those that are taking care of their animals and might need a little extra help because things are expensive. Older people on disability, sometimes they just need a case of cat food to help them get through the month so they don’t shove that cat outside like it doesn’t exist anymore.”
Hopkin said she is looking for support at the State level as well.
“We actually have a luncheon scheduled with State Senator Jill Tracy and I was looking forward to telling her about the outcome of this meeting,” Hopkin said. “I have to say I am very disappointed on what I will be sharing with her in regards to what has been said here tonight.”