County gives $5,000 toward animal transport van
Published 8:29 am Thursday, February 1, 2018
- Friends of the Clark County Animal Shelter is raising funds to replace a transport van to replace one totaled in a wreck in January, pictured above. The Winchester Board of Commissioners contributed $3,000 last week. (Photo submitted)
The Friends of the Clark County Animal Shelter took a big step toward having the funds needed to buy a new van.
Wednesday morning, the Clark County Fiscal Court voted to contribute $5,000 toward the $40,000 vehicle from its Fiscal Court Foundation funds.
The previous van, which was owned and operated by A Time to Live, a non-profit organization that supported the Clark County Animal Shelter. The group used it to transport animals from Clark County to other agencies where they would be adopted. The van, though, was totaled in an accident in January.
Between December 2011 and January 2018, the van transported 4,640 animals and traveled 263,000 miles, according to Friends of the Clark County Animal Shelter. The county was spared more than $23,000 in euthanasia expenses by transporting the animals to other shelters where they were adopted.
A Time To Live had already been saving money to purchase a new van prior to the accident, and those funds were turned over to Friends. Prior to Wednesday’s gift, organizers said about $26,000 had been raised for the new van.
The van itself was estimated to cost about $35,000 plus $2,000 for a year of insurance, another $2,000 for animal crates and $1,000 for the first trip.
The court also approved a plan for County Attorney Brian Thomas to contribute $5,000 from his excess fees to fund an animal spay and neuter program through the animal shelter.
Wills said the program would be for cats only, whether owned, feral or strays.
“We get calls every week about why we aren’t picking up cats,” Thomas said.
In the last six to eight months, a new group of cats has been hanging around the parking lot for courthouse annex employees, scratching or urinating on vehicles.
There are several other colonies of feral cats around Clark County. Wills said one group of volunteers, Helping Homeless Cats, has been paying for cats to be spayed or neutered with their own funds.
Wills said the shelter does not pick up cats.
The spay and neutering costs are generally $35 for males and $45 for females, Wills said.
About Whitney Leggett
Whitney Leggett is managing editor of The Winchester Sun and Winchester Living magazine. To contact her, email whitney.leggett@winchestersun.com or call 859-759-0049.
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