Animal Services Manager Chris Kemper speaks in October 2022 about the "Stranger Things"-inspired decorations at the Longview Animal Care and Adoption Center. (Michael Cavazos/News-Journal File Photo)
The longtime leader of the city’s animal shelter has resigned.
Chris Kemper, who was director of the
Longview Animal Care and Adoption Center, resigned July 1 for personal reasons, city spokesman Richard Yeakley said.
Kemper worked in animal welfare for about 25 years. He helped establish the city’s Spay It Forward program, which provides vouchers to cover the cost of having animals spayed or neutered in Gregg County. He also helped the city open its animal shelter in 2016, a facility that revolutionized the city’s animal
services.
"The past 18 years with the city of Longview and the last eight years at the Longview Animal Care and Adoption Center have been an amazing experience," Kemper wrote in his resignation letter addressed to city Director of Administration Bonnie Hubbard. "I appreciate the opportunities you've given me (to) learn and grow, and I value the professional relationships I've developed and hope to continue to use these as I move
forward in my next chapter."
Longview animal welfare activist and animal rights attorney Kelly Heitkamp said Kemper is a dedicated public servant, and his resignation is a loss to the city.
“He’s phenomenal,” she said. “I’ve worked with him for 25 years, and there’s never a time when he doesn’t show up. This man always shows up and delivers, and he cares, and he’s involved,
and he remembers statistics, and he remembers what’s important here.”
Heitkamp sued the City of Longview more than 10 years ago over questionable financial practices at the city’s former shelter. Kemper provided her information that she needed for her suit, which helped lead to the creation of the city’s new animal shelter, Heitkamp said.
Kemper helped transform the shelter into a “warm, remarkable place when before it was such a dark hole that nobody wanted to visit,” Heitkamp said.
“We still have a really high euthanasia rate, but that’s not because of the shelter. That’s because of humanity and our lack of responsibility in this community,” she said. “These people who show up at the
shelter every day do more than show up every day. They put their heart and soul into this shelter. They work after hours. They take time away from their families to put it to this job.
“It’s just an amazing place, and these are amazing people, and I think Kemper is probably … one of the most important people.”
The grueling nature of the job — and Kemper’s long tenure in
it — “speaks volumes of his character and who he is as a person,” Heitkamp said.
Calls to Kemper were not returned.
His resignation comes as city leaders are discussing ways to address the growing problem of loose and vicious animals in the city.
The Longview Animal Shelter Advisory Committee is conducting public meetings to propose new
ordinances and other changes to quell the rising population of pets that have created safety concerns.
