Animal care dividedNew, improved facilities planned amid differences.

Byline: Dave Flessner and Herman Wang

Jan. 2--EDITOR'S NOTE: See video on how animal control officers care for dogs and cats and enforce local ordinances. Go to www.timesfreepress.com. Click on the photo box with the top story. In the view of Chattanooga city officials, the Humane Educational Society facilities in Highland Park are too old, small and fractured to continue to house the thousands of animals captured each year by animal control officers. "Rather than rely upon an outdated animal pound without enough room, we're going to build a modern new shelter," said Councilman Jack Benson, chairman of the city's Legal and Legislative Committee. "I really believe our new facility could be to animal services what our revitalized riverfront has been for our visitors." But leaders of the local Humane Society, which has provided city animal services for most of the past century, see a much different picture. As he walks through the Humane Society's 76-year-old shelter, Guy Bilyeu points to recent and planned upgrades. Buoyed by more than $100,000 of recent donations for building improvements, the Humane Society is drawing up plans for a new public entrance, educational classroom and dog adoption rooms as part of a $250,000 expansion.

"This building is structurally very sound, and we're committed to continuing to improve our services here," Mr. Bilyeu said. The new year is bringing some of the biggest changes ever undertaken in Chattanooga in the way the city handles its animal services. After nearly a decade of studies and debate over sheltering animals, 2007 is expected to bring a new $5.6 million animal shelter in Hixson operated by a public-private partnership group that also will take over animal control enforcement. At the same time, improvements are being planned at the …