Scan the QR code above with a smart phone to be taken to an online donation page for the Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society.

MOULTRIE — The Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society is looking toward the future and officials hope that includes a brand new, bigger facility to operate out of. The organization’s board is looking at a few ways to fund a capital campaign for that purpose.

At a Colquitt County Commission meeting in May, the Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society Executive Director Josh Lawson said, “The Humane Society is not proportional to the size of the county, I don’t think.”

He also said that they were trying really hard to get all of the strays that are reported, but it was hard when they only had so many kennels.

At a meeting of the Humane Society Board that same month, board members discussed the need for a new building to accommodate more animals and because of the current site’s run-down condition. The UGA College of Veterinary Medicine’s Shelter Medicine service had recently evaluated the organization and one of its recommendations was a new facility.

The board is looking toward more funding through grants; Humane Society board member Melissa Lawson said she would be applying for every one that she could find.

“Our goal is to maintain the ‘no-kill’ status because we are eligible for so much grant funding if we have that low euthanasia rate,” she said. “Your live release rate has to be at least 90% to qualify for a lot of grants out there. That’s what we’re striving to do.”

She said she had also reached out to a national organization, Best Friends Humane Society, for guidance.

“And show us, okay, those are the grants available to you. ‘What we have found, in our experience, this is how to successfully fundraise.’ We’ve reached out to them to get that information,” she said.

In addition, Melissa Lawson said, County Administrator and Georgia state Rep. Chas Cannon told her that, if she would type up a formal request to go along with the UGA shelter report, he would go to the appropriations chair next General Assembly session to see if they could get about $75,000 seed money to start a capital campaign for a new building.

One of the first and foremost ways the organization is looking to raise money, not just for the capital campaign but to help fund day-to-day operations, is through donations.

Board member Lawson said, “We’re a 501c3 charitable organization, so we rely on the generosity of citizens, community partners and local businesses to help us accomplish our mission, which is to take care of these animals.”

She said, right now, they get the busted bags of dog food donated to them from Walmart and Tractor Supply, so they were okay on food for the moment.

“When we had UGA come in and do an overall assessment, they recommended a certain cleaner. It’s better than bleach at sanitizing and killing viruses,” Lawson said. “So, monetary donations will go toward sanitizing the facility, taking care of the animals, providing them with the care they need.”

She said the donations were needed because, like everything else, inflation has caused their supplies and veterinary care costs to increase.

She said she really felt that a majority of Colquitt County’s tax-paying citizens wanted a “no-kill” shelter and she didn’t think they would mind pitching in a few dollars here and there.

The Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society, which was founded in the 1980s, is contracted by both the city and county governments to provide animal control services to all of Colquitt County and its municipalities.

Lawson said that if anyone wanted to make a donation and earmark it for something in particular, they would use the donation for that only.

“If somebody wants to make a donation towards the capital campaign for a new building, we would definitely accept that,” Lawson said. “We’re accepting donations for that because the one that we have is in bad, bad shape.”

Humane Society Chairman Paul Nagy said, for anyone that thinks having a bigger facility would increase the cost of running the organization, the increase will be marginal.

“Because, number one, the place we’re in now is an environmental nightmare and a new building is gonna be less costly to operate,” he said.

Lawson added that the current building was sitting in a flood plain and constantly had drainage issues. She said a new building would also be more energy efficient.

Nagy continued, “Number two, we are taking steps to reduce personnel costs. Interns…and cutting some other people. Number three, we’re also looking at grants and donations. We’re actually working with stores in the area to get regular, routine contributions of food. And, as a result, you get a new facility. Yeah, it’s gonna be bigger but the increase in cost is gonna be marginal.”

Nagy will go out and speak to any organization that wants to learn more about the Moultrie-Colquitt Humane Society.

Board member Lawson said there were a couple of ways that people could make donations to the organization including sending a check, scanning a QR code that’s on their Facebook page and sending a donation through Venmo.

The QR code goes to a donation page where donors also have the option to set-up a monthly reoccurring donation.

“Do you know what would happen, if we had a couple of thousand citizens just donate $10 a month? How that would add-up,” Lawson said. “A little bit goes a long way.”

For individuals interested in making a donation through Venmo, they can look for the Moultrie Colquitt County Humane Society @MCCHS account.

“We’re doing everything we possibly can. We just want to get the word out,” said Lawson.

The organization is having a Fourth of July Adoption Event Thursday. All adoptions on that day will be be for a $4 fee only.

The humane society is located at 1412 First St. N.E. The hours of operation are Tuesday-Saturday 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; closed Sunday and Monday. The phone number is (229) 985-5463 and the email address is societymoultriehumane@gmail.com.