Site of low-cost spay/neuter clinic changes again

Feb. 14—By GREG JORDAN

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PRINCETON — Work on creating a low-cost spay/neuter clinic for Mercer County continued Tuesday when the county commission was asked to consider donating vacant property for a future facility.

Commissioner Gene Buckner told fellow commissioners Bill Archer and Greg Puckett as well as the public that progress is being made on creating an animal clinic where pet owners can get affordable spay/neuter procedures for their dogs and cats.

The Mercer County Animal Shelter had to declare Code Red situations last year due to the large numbers of homeless pets filling its kennels and cages. Code Red is declared when the shelter has to consider euthanasia in order to make more space, but the shelter's personnel managed to avoid taking that step.

"And for you guys not aware of that, we're in dire need of having our animals spayed and neutered," Buckner said. "Our vets, our vet shops, are just crammed full and don't have time to do such a thing. We're working hard to get a spay and neuter clinic built or under roof somewhere to make this happen."

The committee heading the spay/neuter clinic effort had planned to start one at the Blue Prince Plaza in Green Valley, but decided to look at creating a stand-alone facility.

"Right now, we're looking at building that the (Mercer County) Humane Society has above the animal shelter that we have been told we can convert that into a temporary spay and neuter clinic," Buckner said. "So that's on the agenda."

There is a piece of property near the Humane Society building which was the site of the former animal shelter. That building has been removed and the property is now vacant, Buckner said. He asked if the county could donate the property for the spay/neuter clinic. This could not be done Tuesday because a 501C3 had not been established for the clinic yet.

The clinic will be named Furever Fixed, and its 501C3 will have the same name, Buckner said.

"We need to have that piece of property to build a new building, state-of-the-art building, and we're going to take care of the spay and neuters in our county. We already have one veterinarian who has agreed to come and help us with spay and neuters," Buckner said. "We have another one that is on the fence. Hopefully by the time we get this 501C3, we get donations for the building, and I think we're going to be moving very quickly to a place where it's going to be a stand-alone entity in the county. Nobody's going to have to donate anything because I think there's just a great need for spay and neuters in this county."

Buckner also spoke about looking at doing maintenance at the Mercer County Animal Shelter. He praised the shelter's personnel and said they were "doing a great job up there," but the facility itself needs work.

"We've been very lax on doing repairs and making sure everything is up to standard up there," he said.

The influx of homeless pets keeps the shelter busy. "We stay crowded. I'd say crammed almost every month," Buckner stated. "We have so many animals up there we really can't take care of them the way they should be."

Buckner said he plans to work with Stacey Harman, the shelter's director, to see what kind of improvements can be made and report back to the Mercer County Commission in March.

"I just want to make people aware that something needs to be done at our animal shelter," Buckner said.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com