Habersham County Animal Care and Control will use a generous donation to help ease the problem of pet overpopulation in the county. HCACC Director Madi Nix plans to use the money to buy a mobile veterinary clinic equipped with a surgical facility for spaying and neutering.
County commissioners gave Nix the go ahead for the project at their monthly meeting on July 15. She told them, “We recently received a $100,000 donation from an estate sale.” Nix outlined the need for the clinic and said she is now working to recruit veterinarians to provide low-cost spay/neuter services.
Mobile clinic
The 28-foot La Boit diesel was originally listed for $105,000. Nix negotiated with the owner, who agreed to a discounted price of $75,000. The truck has 192,470 miles on it. Still, Nix says it’s a great match to meet Habersham’s needs.
Providing in-house spay/neuter services will save the shelter – and ultimately taxpayers – money on gas, staffing, and housing costs related to pet overpopulation. And, it will save lives.
“Nobody leaves here unaltered,” Nix explains.
That policy, while critical to reducing the county’s pet population, also results in a backlog.
“It’s an appointment here and there and with the volume that we do, we can’t wait three months for a dog to get fixed before going home after it gets adopted,” she says.
The shelter used to send animals home with vouchers for spay/neutering service, but Nix says many adoptive owners were not following through, perpetuating the cycle of unwanted animals. Currently, shelter staff must transport dogs and cats out of town to the Athens and Atlanta areas to obtain low-cost services.
“When they go to the adoption floor — cat or dog — our goal is to have them ready to go,” Nix says. On-site surgeries will allow that and will also reduce the stress on the animals and the shelter, which often operates at capacity.
“We don’t know the timeline on the new shelter being built and we don’t have the time to wait because they’re dying faster than we can fix them,” she says.
Next step
The county commission unanimously approved buying the truck with the donated funds. Now, Nix is focused on finding the medical help to sustain it.
“Gosh I hope we’re able to find a doctor willing to do public surgeries,” Nix says, adding, “It won’t be free of course.”
The plan is to use the remaining $25,000 balance from the estate gift to help pay for veterinary support. Eventually, HCACC plans to expand beyond the shelter and use the mobile clinic around Habersham to help existing pet owners with affordable spay/neutering services.
“People can’t afford to do this stuff anymore. We have to make it affordable,” she says.
A fitting tribute
Affordability and pet owner responsibility are the two key things HCACC focused on when it came to considering how to spend the unexpected but much appreciated $100,000 gift.
“We saw this opportunity and, personally, if I made a large donation, I would want the money to go to something that would make an impact — not daily operations,” Director Nix says. She is confident the mobile clinic will do that. In addition to its other benefits, the clinic will provide a sterile space where shelter animals may be medically treated — something the current shelter does not have.
