Animal shelter now spaying, neutering pets before adoption
KINGSPORT — Dogs and cats held at the Sullivan County/Bluff City/Kingsport Animal Control Center are now being spayed or neutered prior to adoption — a newly enacted policy aimed at controlling the loose animal population in the county.
Richard Crino, director of the SBK center, commented on this policy — along with other changes at the center — during his sixth-month update to the Kingsport Board of Mayor and Aldermen Monday afternoon.
Last year, Kingsport and Sullivan County agreed to merge their respective animal shelters into one operation after the Sullivan County Humane Society — which ran the Kingsport facility — announced it did not have the funds to continue running the shelter. Bluff City soon after joined in; Bristol has not.
The new operation went live July 1 with Crino at the helm. During a BMA work session Monday, Crino updated city leaders on the center’s operation, talking about some of the changes that have taken place since he came on board.
The SBK Animal Center has established itself as a nonprofit organization with the IRS, created a new logo for better branding and marketing purposes, performed maintenance and facade improvements to the buildings, and continues to build a volunteer base for the future.
“The first six months, we’ve made an enormous amount of progress,” Crino said.
Sullivan County Commissioner Joe Herron, who has been involved in the shelter and its merger process, said both facilities have added 16 hours of labor since June while remaining within budget.
Probably the biggest change for the animal shelter has been that as of Jan. 16, all animals are either being spayed or neutered before leaving the facility, something Crino says sets a good example and helps control the loose animal population within the county.
The shelter takes the animals to one of seven veterinarians in the morning, and the animal is usually ready for adoption within a day or two.
“As long as they’re old enough,” Crino said. “It was not the case before. Previously, you paid for the spaying or neutering, were given a list of probably 20 vets that you could go and get the surgery done, but a lot of them didn’t show up. All you had to do was show up.”
Since July 1, the two shelters have accepted about 1,500 dogs and 2,700 cats. Last month the Blountville shelter accepted 143 dogs, the Kingsport shelter around 120 dogs, with each accepting about 100 cats.
The shelter has also gone to microchipping all animals that leave its facilities, Crino said, which allows the shelter or a veterinarian to scan the microchip and identify the owner of a lost cat or dog.
“It’s another way to keep tabs on who’s coming in and trying to get them back home to where they belong,” Crino said. “If an animal comes into the shelter or a vet, they can scan it, get a number. and tell them the owner’s information. It’s not a tracking device, but rather an electronic ID. If the animal loses its collar, it still has the microchip.”
The spay or neutering surgery, as well as the microchipping, are being done without increasing adoption fees or operation costs, Crino told the BMA on Monday. The cost to adopt a dog has been changed to $80 instead of the previous range of $75 to $90; cats are $65 to adopt. The adoption fee includes spaying or neutering, rabies shots and microchipping, he said.
Last fall, the shelter’s after-hours policy became an issue among city leaders after a couple of complaints were lodged. One resident complained about having to call 911 dispatch and the animal shelter over a two-day period in an attempt to have a dead deer removed from her property. Another complaint dealt with a dog running loose in Ridgefields.
At that time, Crino noted that an animal control officer was on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but only for emergencies. On Monday, Crino said the shelter has employed a third-party live answering service for its after-hours calls.
“The answering service has protocols, and if it’s an emergency, they’ll call out an animal control officer,” Crino said. “We have a live person working 24 hours a day. It’s working out real well.”
The center has also changed its days of operation for its Blountville facility. Previously, both Kingsport and Blountville were closed on Wednesdays. Now, Blountville is closed on Thursdays, so at least one shelter is open every day of the week.
Ultimately, Kingsport and Sullivan officials envision the animal shelter having one joint location, previously mentioned as being about halfway between Kingsport and Blountville on Highway 11-W. However, no funds have been allocated for the project, and a site has not been selected.
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I'm very thankful for this progress. If someone is truly interested in caring for a pet they need to have it spayed or neutered. This will weed out the people who want to get dogs for fighting, etc, as well as those who will have a thoughtless attitude about a puppy or dog to just frivolously adopt and then ignore. As much as I love animals (actually because I DO love animals), I would much rather see one euthanized that sentence it to a slow, miserable, unhappy life at the end of a tether... in the elements and unloved. Requiring spay/neuter will not be an end to all evil, but it will eliminate some of the more careless adoptions. I HOPE.