The Pearl River County SPCA shelter staff has been successful in finding homes for more pets in spite of the pandemic

According to figures recorded by the staff, in 2020 homes were found for a total of 1,772 animals in 2020 and that figure increased to 1,898 animals in 2021.

The shelter has managed to stay open for its regular hours through the COVID-19 pandemic and has seen an increase in over the phone adoptions and long distance adoptions.

“The phone adoption was super easy, we’ve been doing those for years and we continued to do them throughout COVID,” said SPCA Manager Elizabeth Treadaway.

The biggest challenges the shelter faced during 2021 was the overwhelming rising numbers of animals being surrendered to the shelter. Treadaway said it’s been a nationwide issue for shelters and staff at Pearl River County’s shelter witnessed it first hand. The facility has been over capacity, mainly with cats and kittens throughout the year. 

“We have been super full all year long,” said Treadaway.

On a positive note, the biggest success for the shelter in 2021 was being able to keep the live release rate in the high 80’s. The shelter staff strive to reach a no kill status, which requires the live release rate to reach a more than 90 percent live release rate. Currently the shelter is at a 84 percent live release rate.

The staff and volunteers are comfortable where they stand with the live release rate for dogs, which is currently over the 90 percent rate. While the cat and kitten release rate is still lower than they would like, the rate was at 84 percent during the most recent kitten season.

“We’re super close to that no kill margin,” said Treadaway.

The goal for the PRC shelter in new 2022 Year is to reach that 90 percent live release rate and the shelter is looking for more foster homes to help reach that goal.