Animal Shelter Opens New Surgical Bay, Will Open Mondays In Feb

DOUGLASVILLE, GA — The Douglas County Animal Shelter will be able to get fur babies into the hands of their forever parents even quicker with the opening of a new surgical bay. Frances McMillan, director, expects to be using the new bay by Wednesday, Feb. 7.

"The bay will get more pets up for immediate adoption," she said. "Before, we had to wait until someone was interested in a pet, then schedule time with a veterinarian and then take the animal there and wait on it. Now, all animals will be seen as soon as they come in. It will help out our flow here. We'll be more effective with our time.

"Pets go through a tip to tail inspection," she said. "We give them all of the necessary tests and vaccinations, as well as treat them for any injuries. We had several broken legs and amputations last year. We also treat them for fleas."

McMillan said the bay is not open to the public, the shelter doesn't want to take any business away from local veterinarians. Local veterinarians will come into the shelter to use the bay and treat animals on-site.

McMillan also said the shelter is still overstocked from returned pets after the holidays and so they are going to try run a pilot program by opening on Mondays during the month of February. Normally, the shelter is closed on Mondays.

"That will give us an extra four hours of adoption time a week, and that's a big deal," McMillan said.

The shelter will be open from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday and 1 to 5:30 p.m. from Tuesday through Friday.

McMillan said about 70 people visit the shelter, on average, per day. The number of visitors is higher on the weekend.

Prices are as follows:

Kittens: $100
Cats: $75
Dogs and puppies: $100 to $150

Each adoption comes with a goodie bag with treats and helpful pet-care information.

Stay tuned to Patch, we'll have information about upcoming Valentine's Day specials!

Photo by Patch Editor John Barker