MOULTRIE — The Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society Board met last Thursday and, again, one of the topics of discussion was the limited space at the animal shelter — a reoccurring theme over the years for the non-profit.

“Overcrowding of animals is one of the biggest problems we face,” stated a letter from the Humane Society to the editor of The Moultrie Observer in a July 1990 edition of the newspaper. “The building that we are now in was given to us by five concerned citizens in this community. We outgrew this building seven years ago, but due to limited funds, we had to make do. We have purchased the Bledsoe Memorial Hall and, once renovated, the building will give us more room so we won’t have animal overcrowding.”

Since a group of citizens formed the non-profit organization in 1981, it has grown from taking over the City of Moultrie pound in 1982 to purchasing and renovating the former Bledsoe Memorial Hall in early 1992, where it is still located today. The hall was already 30 years old when the Humane Society bought it.

After all of this time, however, overcrowding continues to be an issue for the shelter. The organization is licensed to have 80 dogs at a time and cats are not included in that license, said Humane Society’s administrative director, Dawn Blanton, in an interview last year. However, over the years, the organization has taken in cats.

Board member Melissa Lawson said, currently, they have 50 dog pens and 72 active dogs and they have 24 cat pens and 64 active cats.

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

Lawson reported to the Humane Society board at its meeting last week that the euthanasia totals for June were down. However, he added, to pick-up all the stray dogs that they need to pick-up, they have to euthanize animals every two weeks.

“You know, Josh’s reasoning for that is the number one complaint that these guys get…,” Melissa Lawson said, motioning to County Commissioner Paul Nagy, who is also the Humane Society Board Chairman. “…is, ‘why isn’t the Humane Society taking animals?’ It’s cause we are full.”

She said she hated that it had to be that way, in reference to euthanasia, but they were working toward the goal of getting a new building with more capacity for animals. She also said that they were looking at ways to fundraise for that goal.

Board member Tonya Dean said the board must keep in mind that to keep its status as a “no-kill” shelter, the Humane Society had to keep its live release numbers high.

“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,” said board member Lawson in a June meeting of the board.

Executive Director Lawson said, in reference to euthanization and the shelter currently keeping it under 10%, “It’s a horrible thing to be even where we are now.”

Nagy said, “People need to understand, since the middle of April, we’ve picked-up 300 dogs … And those are the ones we could take in because we’re limited by room. Most of the public doesn’t know that.”

He said they’ve had to reject other dogs during that time period because they don’t have enough room. He added that most people in the county didn’t realize the numbers that were involved. As mentioned above, the shelter is only licensed to take in 80 dogs at a time.

Comparatively, according to a 1983 article in The Moultrie Observer, during the organization’s first three months in operation, it picked-up 400 dogs and had to euthanize approximately 60% of them.

Nagy said people had asked if they get a new building and it’s bigger would that increase the organization’s costs.

“Not necessarily. Number one, the kennel we have now is an environmental nightmare. It’s an environmental nightmare. And a new facility would be much easier to take care of,” he said.

He said he knew because, over the years, the County has done things to help the organization out.

“Number two. Thanks to Josh and Tonya and other people, we’ve taken steps to get … quite frankly, cut costs to get things done more cheaply. So, yeah, it’ll be an increase if you have more animals but I think it will be marginal,” he said.

Board member Lawson said, when giving the finance report, that veterinarian expenses year-to-date through June were almost $40,000. She added that there was no way to predict that.

“An animal comes in, you take them in that shelter, you have to provide them with veterinarian care. So, that’s one of our biggest expenses,” she added.

However, she said, they had been able to reduce some of the monthly bills at the shelter. They were also constantly looking at ways to trim the budget.

“Donations. I’m proud of those, very proud of those. People have stepped-up and they have really, really contributed here and there,” board member Lawson said and added that they rely on it since they were a non-profit organization.

“Some of the expenses, though, are we’re dealing with an old, dilapidated building. It’s not energy efficient,” she said.

She also said that after the upfront cost of construction, the shelter would still save money on reoccurring expenses.

Both the city and county governments contract with the Humane Society to provide animal control services to Colquitt County.

Make donations directly to the organization with a check or scanning a QR code that’s on its Facebook page. Individuals can also send 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.

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.; it closes Sunday and Monday. The phone number is (229) 985-5463 and the email address is societymoultriehumane@gmail.com.