Program lowers feline euthanasia rate

PICKENS COUNTY — The Pickens County Animal Shelter is euthanizing less and saving more.

After opening in July of 2017, Pickens County Animal Shelter (PCAS) reported a 33% euthanasia rate their first calendar year of operation. So far this year, PCAS has a 95% save rate, according to employee Deanna Stein.

“The shelter has come a long way from when they first started,” said Stein. “Every year it seems like the numbers get better and there’s less euthanasia.”

PCAS has taken in over 500 animals so far this year and has taken in over 3,000 in previous years, according to Stein.

Additionally, Pickens County’s Community Cat Program has been credited as one of the driving forces behind the lower euthanasia rates.

According to county officials, the county will provide traps to community members who can then bring trapped feral cats to the shelter where they are spayed or neutered. The cats are then released back to their outdoor home.

“The community cat program has helped a lot to get things fixed,” said Stein. “They trap, neuter and release them so they don’t reproduce, but they can still have their colonies. It has taken our euthanasia rates down a lot.”

The process of trap, neuter, release (TNR) is used alongside Barn Cat Adoptions (BCA) which place fully vetted cats into independent environments such as barns, outbuildings and warehouses.

TNR and BCA account for 18% of PCAS’s intake as of 2020 and costs taxpayers 35% less than trapping, sheltering and euthanizing, according to the shelter.

Cats and dogs are both available to be adopted at PCAS after filling out an adoption contract. Information from the contract such as name, address and email address are uploaded into the shelter’s system, making pets identifiable through microchip, they said.

Additionally, the shelter often offers free adoptions. Follow them on Facebook for updates and available pets.