Today Angie and I volunteered at the Tri-State TNR clinic at the Kyova Mall. Chrissy Dillow has taken it upon herself to single-handedly change the plight for cats in the Tri-State area. She secured a location at the mall and has now brought many rescue groups and veterinarians together to host TNR clinics.
What is TNR? It's an acronym for trap, neuter, release. The idea was initially to spay/neuter feral cat colonies by trapping them and releasing them back into their environment. Typically the cat's ears are notched so that if the cats are ever re-trapped then the trapper will know the cat doesn't need veterinary care. The idea has expanded to spay/neuter clinics, where veterinarians volunteer or offer their services at a low cost with the goal of helping to control the pet population. Different vets and rescue groups now offer many options for TNR and low cost spay/neuter clinics, but the main goal is to alter animals before they are capable of reproducing. WHAT IS BACK ROADS DOING? We have decided to help however we can for now. That's why Angie and I were there today, volunteering our time. We went to the fiscal court several months ago and presented them with a low-cost spay/neuter program for our community. We had worked out a price with a local veterinarian and we had pledged $1000 (to start) to help towards the clinic. We asked the fiscal court to match us, dollar for dollar, as an attempt to save the county money in the future. Fiscal court would pay $20 per animal, Back Roads would pay $20, and pet owners would pay $20. This would include spay/neuter, rabies vaccination, and pain shot. Big surprise: the fiscal court said NO. Did you know that Carter County is contracted with Rowan County for dogs that are picked up by animal control? The contract is for five days per dog, and the cost is $15 per dog per day (so a maximum of $75 per dog is paid to Rowan County). You can do the math, but if the dog catcher takes 30-60 dogs per month, that's a lot of money sent out of our county. That doesn't count the gas that it takes to send the dog catcher to Rowan County, or the time he puts in to catching or picking up the dogs. So now we are developing our own plan, and we want to know your thoughts. Big dreams or small ideas are welcomed. We NEED you to help us. We NEED to let local authorities know that we are out here and we aren't stopping. There's a giant NEED in our community for animal control, not to mention enforcement of local ordinances. So please comment here, or send us an email to [email protected] and give us your ideas.
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