Is Greenville Animal Care A Non Kill

Greenville County Animal Intendance is one footstep closer to its goal of beingness a no-kill facility.

The Petco Foundation awarded Animal Care a $175,000 grant to sustain its Customs Cat Diversion Programme. The program is based on the trap-neuter-render method – a non-lethal approach to reduce the canton's feral cat population.

"Most 40 per centum of the cats nosotros get are feral. But in that location aren't many lifesaving options for a feral cat once they come into the shelter. So we had to discover a fashion to get those cats out of the shelter and to their outdoor homes. But nosotros needed to do it responsibly," said Animal Care Manager Shelly Simmons.

Animal Care is accepting feral cats from animate being command agencies and county residents.

The cats are then spayed or neutered, vaccinated, ear tipped and returned to their outdoor abode. The plan also accepts healthy kittens that counterbalance at to the lowest degree 2 pounds.

These animals do not qualify for the program:

Socialized house cats whose owner tin no longer continue them.
Cats or kittens non good for you enough to undergo spaying or neutering. Staff veterinarians at Creature Care determine this.

Creature Care plans to process 8,000 feral cats through the program in 2016, co-ordinate to Simmons. All services are free to residents and paid for through the grant.

xc pct rescue goal

The programme addresses the shelter'due south high euthanasia rate.

Animal Care – a facility operated and funded by the county – is an open-admission shelter that must take all animals no matter the medical condition, breed or temperament. Information technology was forced to implement euthanasia due to the medical condition and temperament of some animals as well equally infinite restrictions. Animal Care can only hold nearly 500 animals.

Since opening in 2008, Beast Care has rescued 55 percentage of the 150,363 animals housed in the shelter. Those animals were adopted, transferred or returned to their owners. Merely Animal Care has euthanized 67,617 animals.

In December, Animal Care partnered with Target Goose egg, a nonprofit that consults with shelters to decrease shelter intake and increase live release rates. The nonprofit suggested that the county prefer the Customs Cat Diversion Program because of the shelter'due south loftier euthanasia rate for cats – 51.1 percent last yr.

Animal Care decided to aim for a 90 percent rescue rate. Ten pct "can't be rehomed" due to a serious medical conditions or temperament, according to Simmons.

In February, Animal Care applied for the Petco Foundation. It and so started the diversion programme in May and received the grant on July 12. It has since expanded its goal to becoming a "no-kill community" and expects to create more programs.

Since 2008, Animate being Intendance has implemented multiple programs, including rescue-transfer and adoption. Information technology plans to start a surrender prevention plan to deter residents from surrendering pets to the shelter due to financial issues.

Animal Intendance has already started the program through a short-term pet food pantry for residents who can't afford to feed pets. It has likewise started discouraging residents from surrendering kittens younger than four weeks, considering they tin can't be spayed or neutered and must be bottle-fed.

"The safest identify for those kittens is with their mother. Well-nigh people surrender them because they don't run across the female parent when they notice them. Merely she'southward around," said Simmons. "Nosotros don't have the time or resources to feed the kittens that come in. If people can hold onto them until they tin consume for themselves, so they're saving lives."

Photos by Urban Dog Photography — Photo by Urban Dog Photography

The additional programs could be beneficial to the customs.

In that location are an estimated 50 million free-roaming feral cats in the U.S., according to the Humane Society of the U.s.a.. Trap-neuter-release programs subtract feral true cat populations. A colony of 68 feral cats decreased to 23 cats, according to a 10-year study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Clan.

A decreasing cat population decreases animal control calls, which saves taxpayer dollars, according to a study published in the Journal of Practical Creature Welfare Sciences. Trap-neuter-release programs also reduce the risk of rabies since cats are vaccinated. Information technology creates a healthier cat population and immune barrier between humans and wildlife.

While costs differ from area to area, a trap-neuter-release program costs less than sheltering and euthanizing a feral cat. The average cost to trap, ship, hold, kill and dispose of a feral cat is about $100, according to Simmons. Animate being Care's Customs Cat Diversion Program is funded through grants and donations, not tax coin.

The Community Cat Diversion Program and surrender prevention program has diverted 556 feral cats from the Animal Intendance shelter and so far, according to Simmons. The program has too diverted 50 dogs from the shelter. That amounts to about $60,000.

"The bigger financial savings come in when y'all showtime decreasing the amount of animals in the shelter. That would allow our county to redirect funds to brand spaying and neutering more affordable for people," Simmons said.

Greenville County Council allocates coin to Animal Care through its general fund. The county allocated $678,000 to Animal Care in 2009. In 2016, the canton allocated most $three.ix one thousand thousand to Creature Care, according to county documents.

If the programs continue to be successful, the canton might cap funding at $4 million to sustain the facility's current programs and operating costs, said county councilman Butch Kirven. Since 2014, funding has increased $ane.37 million for boosted efforts, including discounts for people on government assistance that need a pet spayed or neutered.

"No-kill South Carolina"

Brute Care has large plans for the future. The facility partnered with Charleston Animal Order earlier this twelvemonth to create a "no-impale South Carolina." Brute Care has agreed to exist a resource center and assists Upstate shelters trying to reduce euthanasia rates.

"At that place are shelters that want to become lifesaving programs up and running. But sometimes there's simply too much going on to get those programs started," said Simmons. "We desire to assist them adopt a rescue-transfer program and the customs cat diversion program."

Animal Care also plans to focus on dogs as fewer cats enter the shelter.

Since Jan, the shelter has maintained a xc per centum salvage rate for dogs, according Simmons. But information technology's still euthanizing a high population of heartworm positive dogs. The shelter is applying for grants to assist fund treatments, which can toll up to $800.

It volition also focus its efforts on large dog breeds. Spaying and neutering is more expensive for those breeds, as price is determined by weight. Beast Care is trying to offset the costs for residents through grants and donations.

"Our success depends on the community. We really need more than people at the shelter helping or adopting," said Simmons. "Greenville is known for being an splendid place to live. But nosotros want the same to be true for our animals."

For more information: chip.ly/greenville-cat-diversion

Source: https://greenvillejournal.com/news/animal-care-receives-175k-starts-no-kill-programs/

Posted by: martinposere88.blogspot.com