Due to the unwavering support of the local community, the Pearl River County SPCA has placed third in the Hill’s Science Diet Shelter Heroes contest.
The win has guaranteed the shelter $10,000, which shelter staff said will go a long way in providing funding for renovations and pet care.
The contest involved voting on videos submitted to contest depicting people who work or volunteer at a local shelter that go above and beyond. PRC SPCA President Carla Gerrard was selected as the focus for the local shelter, due to all she has done in providing low cost spay and neuter programs to the community.
PRC SPCA Vice President Judy Wheaton said the local shelter received support in the form of votes from residents as far away as Texas, Maine and the state of Washington.
Their video received 9,852 votes, during the weeklong finalist contest.
“We’re thrilled to death of course,” said Maria Diamond, who handles PRC SPCA’s public relations. “We had a whole army of people voting for us.”
Being part of the contest was a surprise for just about everyone, expect for Wheaton, who put the video together in secret and submitted it to Hill’s Science Diet, Diamond said.
“Judy did a fantastic job, she should get a lot of credit for putting that together,” Diamond said.
Wheaton said there are a number of things the shelter can do with the money, such as buying replacements for the aging refrigerators, fixing the dog pens and providing medical care to the ever-growing population of animals at the shelter.
She too would like to thank the community for all of their support in voting for their local shelter.
Gerrard said she already has a few new programs she would like to implement to help the community care for their pets. At the end of the month there will be a shot clinic at Jack Read Park, and she also has plans to implement some kind of program that could assist residents with providing surgeries to pets in families that can’t afford them. While the program will not cover all of the cost, Gerrard would like to provide some kind of financial help.
Wheaton is especially impressed with how their video came in third place, since Picayune’s shelter was competing against facilities in much larger communities.
The other top winners in the contest included the shelter in Redwood City, California; Humane Society in Gulfport; Great Plains SPCA in Merriam, Kansas; and Wayside Waifs in Kansas City, Missouri.
Other shelters in the competition from larger cities included the Houston Shelter in Houston, Texas; Butte Humane Society in Chico California and the Maui Humane Society in Maui Hawaii.