For dog and cat spay-neuter procedures
Two Gilmer County nonprofits are among the 97 state-licensed animal shelters and rescue organizations that recently received grants from the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s 2020 dog and cat sterilization program.
Homeward Bound Pet Rescue and Shelter Dogs For Veterans each received a $5,000 grant.
According to Georgia Agriculture, this year’s individual grant amounts range from $1,000 to $230,000 and they were awarded based on consideration of such factors as targeting important animal populations, ability to increase surgery numbers, cost-benefit ratio, record of grant applicants and sustainability. A total of $711,000 in grant funding was awarded statewide.
“Often, local communities have citizens that are burdened by the high costs of having their pets spayed or neutered,” said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary W. Black. “This grant will target and aid these communities across Georgia by keeping strays off the street and controlling the animal population in a humane manner.”
This is the fifth round of grants to be issued through the department’s pet sterilization program, which is funded by sales of special automobile tags, income tax check-offs and direct donations to the program.
More than 100,000 animals have been surgically altered since the inception of the program, according to Georgia Agriculture.
About the recipients
Homeward Bound, a no-kill pet rescue and adoption nonprofit, has offered its discount certificate program, Spay Ellijay, Neuter Today, since 2017, noted Heather Strafer Campbell, a Homeward Bound board member and the organization’s grant writer.
The organization typically sells discount spay-neuter certificates to the public for $25 (cats) and $40 (dogs). Homeward Bound pays the difference between the certificate price and the cost of the procedures.
Since the local program started, more than 400 dogs and cats have been spayed or neutered through sales of the certificates. Homeward Bound has sold 145 discount certificates since January of this year, Campbell noted.
“We are contracted with Georgia Animal Project in Ball Ground, which is essentially a spay-neuter clinic. That and vaccinations are all they do, so they are cheaper than a regular vet,” she added. “The (owner) takes their animal there and it gets spayed or neutered and they give them a free rabies shot, as well. It’s beneficial all around.”
Homeward Bound also received the pet sterilization grant in 2017 and 2018. Last year, a grant from local community outreach nonprofit Faith, Hope and Charity Recycle Store Inc. allowed the program to continue, Campbell noted.
“We didn’t want to see the spay-neuter program end because it’s so important to our mission. We want to serve as many people as we can because there is clearly a need,” she added. “(Receiving this grant) is great news because we can continue throughout the rest of 2020 into 2021. They (Georgia Agriculture) have been so supportive and I know they do their best through the sales of those license plates to continue this program for so many.”
Certificates were previously sold at Homeward Bound’s Paws and Claws Thrift Store on South Main Street, but, during the COVID-19 pandemic, they are being sold directly from the organization’s kennel, said Campbell.
“We spay and neuter the animals we get and we don’t let them be adopted until they’re also fully vetted and up to date on their immunizations, but this grant is for the community so that people can buy a certificate and get their animals done. It’s an expensive (procedure). If you take a large dog to a vet, it can cost a few hundred dollars,” she added.
Shelter Dogs For Veterans, a nonprofit started by Sharon Callan in 2015 as an offshoot of her dog-training business, Paws be Good, is a different kind of pet rescue organization.
Callan, a certified trainer, adopts dogs from shelters that euthanize and then trains the canines to become certified service animals for military veterans and first responders who need them.
“I use the Gilmer shelter a lot. I always go there first. I also go to the Pickens (shelter),” she told the Times-Courier in June.
Callan originally wanted to train police dogs, but, because that now has to be done by police officers, she made the focus of the organization veterans and first responders who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injuries or physical disabilities.
A lengthy training process that’s undergone by both the potential owners and would-be service dogs is provided at no cost to participating veterans.
Callan is also responsible for the veterinary expenses of her dogs in training, which includes getting them spayed or neutered.
She said the grant, of which Shelter Dogs For Veterans is a first-time recipient, will help to cover those costs. “We are now doing virtual training to allow us to help more veterans and first responders,” said Callan about recent happenings in her organization.