ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond County Animal Shelter has been overpopulated with kittens and its partners are reaching out through social media for residents to help.
The Human Society of Richmond County posted to Facebook:
“911 Urgent matter to all of our supporters. The Richmond County Animal Shelter is full of kittens. They will have to depopulate if we cannot move some. Please adopt or foster. Help us save them… Let us know if you have (an) interest. $50 to adopt includes spay or neuter. If you need assistance let us know and we can try to help.”
It is unclear how many cats the Animal Shelter has in their custody as of the end of the day Friday and how much time there is before they begin to euthanize the kittens. Attempts to get comment from the shelter Friday were unsuccessful.
Director of Richmond County Animal Advocates Allison Story said a better way to prevent domestic animals from being euthanized is to spay/neuter your pets.
“I will never condone euthanization but until the county steps up this will continue to happen,” said Story. “The shelters can only do so much — how to change this is to fix your animals.”
She adds the local shelters have done well, decreasing euthanization percentages since 2011.
“The euthanization rate has gone down so much,” said Story. “In 2011, it was 71 percent. In 2017, it was 29 percent and the intake rate has also gone down.”
The spay and neuter services are offered to all residents and a SNAP program for qualifying incomes. The clinic is available each Wednesday by appointment only.
The Richmond County Animal Advocates partners with the local animal shelter and Story mentions the available programs.
“We have the Operation Fix program where we cover the cost of the surgery and the person only pays $7 for the rabies vaccine,” said Story. “ The price is normally $49, but Richmond County Animal Advocates using our funding to offset the cost.“
She says a cat feral program or owned cat program is available for residents.
To apply for the Operation Fix program, you must receive assistance from Medicaid, social security income, or disability.
To learn more about adoption and spay/neuter programs, visit the Richmond County Animal Advocates, Human Society of Richmond County and the Richmond County Animal Shelter Facebook pages.
Richmond County Animal Shelter Director Bonnie Wilde could not be reached for comment.
To adopt or volunteer, call the Richmond County Animal Shelter at (910) 895-0335.
Jael Pembrick can be reached at 910-506-3169 or [email protected].