STARKVILLE — It’s not the easiest time for animal rescue efforts, Bert Troughton told a crowd Tuesday at the Oktibbeha County Humane Society.
As the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ senior vice president for shelter and veterinary services, Troughton knows firsthand that funding is constricting and it’s getting harder to find both animal rescue personnel and veterinarians.
The crowd had gathered, however, to celebrate a bright spot amid all those challenges – the grand opening of Oktibbeha County Humane Society’s new Animal Support Center at its campus on Industrial Park Road. The new facilities will be used for animal transit, along with spaying and neutering.
“What (OCHS) is doing here is absolutely extraordinary,” Troughton said. “Extraordinary. Animal sheltering is hard work, physically and emotionally. … We’re seeing organizations across the country close their doors and pull back on their services and partnerships. What we’re seeing here is you all leaning forward. … That is leadership. Competent, capable, courageous leadership with heart and grit.”
But Troughton and other ASPCA personnel hadn’t just come to heap praise on OCHS. They also presented the organization with another $100,000 in funding, on top of the $900,000 ASPCA contributed to the construction of the new buildings.
OCHS had hoped to open the doors of its new facilities by the fall, but Executive Director Michele Anderson told The Dispatch on Tuesday that construction delays moved the timeline back. The spaying and neutering clinic, however, has been operating for months, and by Tuesday the animal transit facility was just a couple weeks away from its finishing touches.
Anderson was visibly moved as she delivered her remarks and accepted the new donation.
“We now have the resources to create the lasting impact that we’ve worked so hard for,” Anderson said. “… We’re excited to offer quality, affordable spay and neuter surgeries and wellness services to pet owners and our rescue partners. The clinic is a critical resource as we continue to battle the overpopulation crisis in our region, and the new VanLandingham Kennel Facility will house transport and adoptable animals, adding much needed space for the thousands of dogs and cats that come through our doors each year.”
The spaying and neutering clinic will triple the group’s capacity to about 9,000 patients annually, Anderson said — 5,800 on its own and another 3,200 in conjunction with Mississippi State University veterinary students. The animal transit hub is even more extensive, with four separate air conditioned rooms of kennels awaiting animals.
The layout allows staff to shut down unused sections to save on operation costs or isolate individual groups during an illness outbreak instead of endangering the entire pool. It comes with new animal washing and examining stations, a set of outdoor kennels to acclimate new arrivals and a dedicated space for meet and greets with potential foster families.
With paired garage doors allowing vehicles to pull through the building easily from either direction, the facility will double the society’s transit numbers to about 3,500 animals per year, Anderson said.
Anderson is even eyeing the riverbeds and woods behind the facility as potential trail spots for walks, and is planning to renovate the old facilities to serve as indoor and outdoor cat condos.
“It’s a huge amount of space,” she said. “Most of these animals are used to being outside, so we want to give them as much fresh air as we possibly can until we find them a home. … It’s really nice back there, it’s so peaceful it’s almost like a destination. I love to come here and sit, watch the sunset and trees. It’s going to be a beautiful facility. It already is.”
A boon to the region
In addition to the spaying and neutering, animal transit, animal sheltering and urgent medical fund OCHS provides directly to the area, it also partners with local animal control officers.
It even works with animal control agencies outside of Oktibbeha, covering a total of 17 counties. B.K. McCary, a supervisor for Meridian animal control, said his department sends roughly 50 to 60 animals each year to OCHS for processing, mostly spaying and neutering.
Some years that can reach 100, and McCary said it’s reassuring to see that OCHS is expanding its operation.
“It’s always comforting to know that there’s always something extra we can go to,” he said. “It’s not the first thing we reach out to, but at the end of the day if everything else fails this is something else to add to our rolodex. It’s a very nice facility, they’ve done a really good job with those outdoor kennels for the dogs to get some fresh air. You don’t see that in a whole lot of animal shelters.”
Spruill voiced strong approval of the facilities and of the humane societies more generally. The city gives OCHS $185,000 each year, and the organization works closely with Starkville Police Department and animal control daily.
“People have their families, and the four-legged folks are part of those families,” she said. “(The work) protects the community as a whole, it’s incredibly important. … Animal control works with (OCHS) every day, coordinating to bring animals in or getting calls from them. It’s a hand in glove operation. … I’m a huge fan of what they do, absolutely a huge fan.”
Anderson encouraged anybody looking to get involved, donate or make use of OCHS services to visit the website at ochsms.org or give them a call at (662) 338-9093. The group is largely funded through individual donations, she said, and has all its service prices listed online. OCHS is also always looking for foster families, and currently has three nursing cats with kittens and two nursing dogs with litters of puppies.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
