As our temporary contract with
Greenville County Animal Care will soon be coming to an end, Spartanburg County plans to open its own Pet Resource Center in the near future, where we will house and care for our animal community.
We hired an animal shelter consultant, Dr. Sara Pizano of
Team Shelter USA, to help us identify needs in our animal community and develop an animal welfare system plan. As part of a feasibility study, Dr. Pizano surveyed nearly 50 animal welfare organizations in our area to determine the best practices of each organization.
County leadership and staff toured multiple animal shelters across the state to further determine best practices and operations.
IMPORTANT TAKEAWAYS:
- Partnerships will be key in our success.
- Implementing proactive programs will help to reduce the number of shelter intakes, which is imperative, as we want the Pet Resource Center to serve as a "last resort" option.
- The goal behind the Center will be to keep people and pets together. We want to minimize the length of stay for each animal, focusing on reuniting lost pets with their owners and re-homing others.
- Volunteers are vital when it comes to the animals' quality of life.
COST:
The total cost of the animal shelter has not yet been determined.
However, the federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding Spartanburg County received allows investment in certain areas, including Replacing Lost Public Sector Revenue.
According to the ARP spending requirements, we are allowed to use funds for facilities, such as a Pet Resource Center. Therefore, we asked and Spartanburg County Council approved that $5,000,000 of ARP Funds be allocated to assisting us in the construction of a new Pet Resource Center.
The funding strategy was based on estimates of recently constructed facilities.
LOCATION:
A site for the planned Pet Resource Center has not yet been selected; though, we are actively surveying potential options.
We believe that we will need at least five acres, and the facility should be located on a main arterial road.
We expect the construction of the Pet Resource Center to last about two years.
STAFFING:
We have created two new positions for the Pet Resource Center, including a Director of Animal Welfare Services and an Animal Cruelty Investigator. We are still looking for someone to fill the Director position.
The Director of Animal Welfare Services would act as a Project Manager, overseeing the construction of our planned Pet Resource Center, and would create right-sized safety net programs, policies and procedures for the Center.
The Director of the Center would also be expected to build and strengthen relationships with animal advocacy groups in our community, as we recognize the importance of collaborating with community partners.
The salary for this position is dependent upon qualifications and experience. Animal shelter experience and a veterinary background is preferred. For more information about this position and to apply, please
click here.
RELATED NEWS COVERAGE:
HELPFUL TIPS:
**To report a potential animal control issue, please contact Spartanburg County Animal Control.
**For more information about how to adopt or foster a pet, please visit our friends at Greenville County Animal Care.
The temporary suspension of non-emergent dog intake at GCAC's shelter has been extended until April 3rd. This difficult but necessary decision was made because they are continuing to see new cases of respiratory illness.
While Animal Care cannot take in dogs during this time, people can help lost pets find their way home.
If a dog is found, text the word FOUND to (864) 467-3950 to get step-by-step guidance on how to successfully reunite a lost dog with its owner. Pet owners looking for their lost dog are asked to text LOST to (864) 467-3950.
