CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — With additional funding from the county this year, the Harrison County Humane Society is looking to expand the efforts of its spay and neuter initiative.
In the past, the organization has requested $15,000 for the program from the county. However, this year the approved request brought the total up to $20,000.
“That could help save numerous litters from coming in to animal control and being euthanize,” Frankie Dennison, executive director with the humane society said. “With this extra funding, we could potentially save close to over 3,000 kittens per year from being euthanized and over 2,500 puppies from being euthanized.”
Additionally, the money would help save the mothers of the potential litters from being euthanized.
Dennison explained the the commission at its recent meeting on Thursday that the numbers are put together from ASPCA projections.
“Cats can reproduce thee to four times a year. Dogs can produce up to two times a year. Average cat litter size is five and average dog litter is six,” she said. “If you average those numbers out, that many per litter per year, that’s an amazing amount.”
A major selling point for the Humane Society to the commission and anyone donating to the spay and neuter initiative is the money it saves the county overall.
“The less animals that come in, that’s less food that they have to provide, less litter, less euthanasia,” Dennison said. “It does cost [animal control] money to euthanize. Not just with the medicine that they use to euthanize them but also with the waste removal of that.”
Though the commission was able to provide the extra funding this time, they cautioned the organization that this may not be a possibility in the future.
With projects like building a 911 center and renovating the county courthouse’s judicial annex on the horizon, the county will be keeping a close eye on what it is able to fund.
“The commission wants to make sure that we don’t have to have an increase in taxes to fund these capital projects,” Willie Parker, county administrator said. “So, we have to live within our means, so to speak, in our current budget. So, that’s what the goal is.”
All funding requests in the future will have to go through an additional review process, according to Parker.
More information about the Humane Society and the spay and neuter initiative can be found at the organization’s website hshcwv.org.