MOULTRIE – The Moultrie-Colquitt Humane Society is working to get back to its normal operations as a shelter and as animal control for the City of Moultrie and Colquitt County.
The organization closed March 1 to do deep-cleaning and renovations suggested by the Georgia Department of Agriculture to prevent the recurrence of parvo, a dangerous canine disease that has hit the animal shelter frequently over the last several months.
At a recent board meeting, Chairman of the Board Marcie Meadows said, “I think most of you are aware of the status of the building and the needed repairs that we had, as far as painting and sealing the floors. Thanks to the County, they came in and did some concrete work on several of the kennel areas. Closed up some holes and things like that.”
Co-director of the Humane Society Courtney Azar told the board that they would start out taking only about 30 dogs after the renovations were completed.
He said that any crack or hole that they could find in the building that could potentially harbor parvo was filled.
Meadows said that the building did look much better after the repairs, and Azar encouraged the board members to go and look at it.
“The staff has done a remarkable job on improving the conditions,” Meadows said.
Azar said that while the shelter had been closed, he and co-director Dawn Blanton had been taking turns handling calls, which were forwarded from the organization’s phone to their mobiles.
“We’ve got the animal control part covered as far as phone calls,” he said.
He explained that they weren’t able to pick a dog up but they would take a kennel and food to the individual who reported it. Then they would be logged-in on a list.
“We’re going to go back out when we open back up and pick those dogs up. … Even though the shelter has been closed, we’re still out there doing stuff,” he said.
In a later interview, Meadows and Blanton gave some basic information that the general public may not be aware of as far as the operations of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society.
The organization is licensed to have only 80 dogs at a time and cats are not included in that license, said Blanton. However, over the years, the organization has taken in cats.
Meadows and Blanton both said that the organization has rules and regulations that it has to follow that are mandated by the Georgia Department of Agriculture.
Meadows said that one of the things that they have to do is throw uneaten dog food away every day even if it’s only been touched by one animal. The staff empties every single food and water bowl and washes them with soap and water every single day. So there is a lot of food that seems to be wasted in the process, which means the shelter can always use donations of dog food.
“You’re bound by state guidelines that you have no control over,” she said.
Blanton said that, by law, the shelter has to hold a stray dog for five days and from the minute it comes in, everything that happens to it at the shelter is logged into the system, which include shots, any medical attention rendered and its general health.
“Everything you do has to be documented,” said Meadows.
Blanton also said that a majority of animals come in with medical problems and the shelter takes them to the vet to be treated.
“You have to watch them like a baby to see what they’ve got because you don’t know what they have,” she said of when they first get an animal in.
Another thing people don’t realize, Blanton said, is that you can’t just abandon an animal at the shelter when there’s no staff there to take it in because it’s illegal to do so. She said people will just drop an animal off at night in front of the shelter or throw it over their fence.
According to Georgia Law, “Notwithstanding the provisions of Code Section 4-11-13, it shall be unlawful for any person knowingly and intentionally to abandon any domesticated animal upon any public or private property or public right of way.”
“Georgia looks at dogs as property,” said Blanton.
She said many of the dogs that people bring to the shelter to drop-off have collars and then the staff tries to find out who it belongs to.
“That’s a good reason to have your dog microchipped. It only costs $25 to have it done,” Blanton said and added that they do it at the shelter.
Blanton said that, technically, “If you pick a dog up on the side of the road, you could be charged with theft by taking.” She said the dog could just be a couple of doors down from its house and is fine. She continued with the train of thought that, technically, she could be charged with theft by receiving if she took the dog into the shelter.
She said the best thing to do is never assume that a dog on the side of the road is a stray and unless it looks like it’s in some kind of medical distress, just leave it alone.
She also said that, by law, the shelter is not allowed to take animals from another county.
“It makes it harder when people don’t know the laws and guidelines even when they’re trying to help,” she said.
Blanton said that another thing to be aware of is that when an owner surrenders their animal to the shelter, they have to sign a waiver that their animal will be euthanized within 72 hours.
As far as having to euthanize the dogs, Blanton said it is hard on the staff because they become attached to the animals but they are only licensed to have 80 dogs in the facility. She said they work with different rescue organizations to try and place as many of the animals as possible but are finding that the rescues are overfull themselves.
“The resources that we work with are literally at a standstill. We have a lot more coming in than we do going out,” she said.
Meadows said that when someone brings an animal in, the likelihood that it will leave the shelter is very slim.
“There’s not enough people out there to adopt the animals that come in and that’s the sad reality,” said Blanton.
Both Meadows and Blanton said that spaying and neutering was the key to helping the overpopulation issue that shelters and animal control were facing and that there were programs out there to assist with it.
Anne’s Fund is a local spay/neuter incentive program made possible by a partnership between the Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society and the South Georgia Low Cost Spay and Neuter Clinic.
Blanton said that anyone who is interested in adopting a dog could contact the Humane Society at (229) 985-5463 to make an appointment.