New Hours Announced
By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
It was a rough winter for cats at the Tucker County Animal Shelter, but following an epidemic of respiratory illness with incoming felines to the facility, Tucker County Animal Shelter Director Stacey Canfield said things are getting back to normal.
“The most exciting thing that was that we were able to finally keep it going with our big transporter out of Washington D.C.,” Canfield said. “We drop them at Fairfax Station and then they take them on into the City.”
From November, the shelter was unable to transport any felines due to illness that was ravaging the facility. The facility saw an increased influx of sick cats enter the facility during the winter months. Many of the felines suffered from an upper respiratory infection and the shelter continues to struggle to find the cause.
“We could not 100 percent determine what had happened there, but fortunately, we did have some very healthy kittens and very healthy adult cats come in,” Canfield said.
A couple of the sick cats did, unfortunately pass away. Canfield said that lead to increased cost of necropsy to try to determine the exact cause of the illness before the other cats and kittens could be adopted out or sent to other rescues and agencies.
“We got that cleared, everyone is good and healthy,” Canfield said.
The Washington D.C. transporter came to visit the facility for the first time in February, Canfield said. She was staying in Deep Creek on a weekend trip and decided to stop by. Canfield said like many first time visitors, the transporter was surprised by the location and thought she may have been going the wrong way to find the Shelter.
“She was very impressed with our facility,” Canfield said. “We are in a rural area with low funding, low volunteerism and we do keep a very clean upkeep facility. So she was very excited to see that.”
During the visit, the transporter selected 15 cats to take back to Washington D.C. with her. After the 15 cats left for D.C., the Shelter was left with 39 cats in their care. On March 17th, Canfield said she will be delivering another 10 cats to the transporter in an effort to reduce the number of cats in the facility in anticipation of the coming of “Kitten Season.”
The Shelter will be hosting a Spring Cleaning the Week of March 22nd for the entire week. Canfield said she encourages the public to come out the entire week to help. Volunteers are needed indoors and outdoors in both the dog and cat areas.
“We are going to be making a big push this week and next to really get a big group of people in the last week of March to kind of help us,” Canfield said.
The Shelter’s Annual Paws on the Green Golf Tournament has also been announced. The Tournament will be at Holly Meadows Golf Course in Parsons, as always. A Shotgun will begin at 8 a.m. Food and refreshments are included. There will be a cash prize for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Places as well as a 50/50 drawing and Auction. The cost will be $40 a player for a four person scramble. All proceeds benefit the Tucker County Animal Shelter. To reserve a tee time, call 304-478-3406.
“We are going to start extending our hours,” Canfield said. “Its going to actually save the County money.”
Currently, animal care is in the building from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Under the current hours, the Shelter was experiencing many staff staying over hours to complete such tasks as walking dogs or washing trays and food bowls.
Beginning in April, the Shelter will be operating on split shifts with a morning shift of 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and an evening shift of 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The new schedule will allow for things that are left undone by one shift to be picked up by the next without the need for staff to go over their scheduled hours. It will also allow for the administering of medications in both the a.m. and p.m. to animals in need, Canfield said.
“And its going to be really great for the public because one of the biggest things I hear is, well I don’t get off of work until four or five,” Canfield said. “How can I get up there if you close at four?”
Starting April 1, the new gate hours will be 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Tucker County Animal Shelter will be hosting a cleanup March 22nd to the 28th and is in desperate need of volunteers to fill the ranks. For more information or to volunteer, call the Tucker County Animal Shelter at (304) 478-6232.