By Charles Owens
For The Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Princeton — Vouchers for low-cost spay-neuter procedures will be distributed to the public Saturday in an effort to help control the homeless animal population in Mercer County.
During a meeting of the Mercer County Commission Tuesday evening, commission president Bill Archer said the vouchers will be distributed Saturday, May 2, starting at 10 a.m. in the auditorium of the Gardner Center, which is located at 241 Mercer Springs Road in Princeton. The vouchers are being made available through a grant from the West Virginia Department of Agriculture.
“The deposit of $30 is required,” Archer said. “The deposits will be returned upon proof of the animal being spayed or neutered. Expiration date for the vouchers is the 15th of October 2026.”
The vouchers will be distributed on a first-come, first serve basis, according to County Administrator Vicky Reed.
“We only have 60 vouchers for dogs and 60 vouchers for cats,” Reed said. “We had to limit it to one per household. It is only for Mercer County residents. And they will have to show an ID to show that they live in Mercer County.”
Due to the large number of animals currently being housed at the Mercer County Animal Shelter, the facility is still on a code red status and is offering reduced adoption rates of $25 for dogs and $15 for cats.
Already a number of dogs and cats have been adopted, but the code red status was still in effect Wednesday. Several groups and individuals also have helped out by sponsoring adoptions, according to Lisa Williams, secretary for the animal shelter.
“We did have several adopted, but we still need to move several more,” Williams said. “We did have several wonderful people who called and sponsored quite a few.”
Williams said officials are hoping the adoptions will continue throughout the remainder of the week, which could help with getting the facility off of the code red status.
In the meantime, efforts to reopen the county’s low cost spay-neuter clinic also are continuing. The clinic had to temporarily close earlier this year because officials were unable to find a veterinarian to work at the facility.
“As many of you have probably read online the Mercer County Animal Shelter is once again in code red,” county commissioner Greg Puckett said during Tuesday’s meeting. “Unfortunately it stays like that. We do have a spay and neuter ordinance in the county and unfortunately there are certain things we can and can’t do. But one of the major is we are trying to make sure that money that is recouped goes back to help offset the cost of the spay and neuter clinic.”
Puckett said it is estimated that cost of paying for a full-time veterinarian at the spay-neuter clinic will cost between $110,000 to $125,000 a year. The county is still working to find a veterinarian or student intern to help staff and reopen the facility.
“But the county regularly spends over $200,000 in veterinarian bills,” Puckett said. “So there are options we are looking at to help offset this problem. I will say if you are looking at the cats and the dogs, and if you’ve got 15 dogs or cats and it costs $250 or more for a spay or neuter, that is a pretty heck of a good deal. I would encourage everyone to come.”
Archer said he will be at the Gardner Center Saturday to help with the distribution of the vouchers.
“I’ll be there at the Gardner Center on Saturday to be able to meet with you and help people who are coming in to see us,” Archer said. “We look forward to seeing you there.”
“We are going to do everything we can over the next few months to address this constant problem,” Puckett added. “It is a challenge, and it is hopefully something where we can bring back the spay neuter clinic and have some better options in the future.”
If the animal shelter doesn’t have enough adoptions to help clear up the shelter, the code red status also calls for the possibility of euthanizing animals to free up space at the facility. Although the facility could euthanize animals under the code red status, it has been years since the practice has actually been utilized, which is unpopular with the general public.
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