COVINGTON, Ga. — Holly, a 4-year-old female Rottweiler, had a tail-wagging good time Wednesday morning, Oct. 30, at the Newton County Animal Shelter, where she was named the 500th animal rescued by Planned PEThood.
Not only did Holly celebrate being Planned PEThood’s 500th rescue, but she also celebrated finding her "furever" home in Newton County.
Since May, Planned PEThood, a Gwinnett-based nonprofit animal welfare organization, has transported 500 animals to their Duluth clinic to be spayed/neutered, helping decrease the euthanization rate in the county. After being spayed/neutered, the animals are transported to a rescue group, no-kill shelter or returned to Newton County to be adopted.
“We’re really excited,” Lauren Frost, development coordinator at Planned PEThood, said about the milestone achievement.
“I think the animals in Newton County have just gotten such a blessing the last couple of months between all the changes the Newton County Animal Control is making — with the vaccinations on intake, and they changed their adoption fee to include spay and neuter.”
Cynthia Wiemann, director at Newton County Animal Control, has seen “major, major changes” over the last year, due to new management and from the partnership with Planned PEThood.
“Last year, which was my first year, there was almost 15% drop in euthanization rate before this even started, and we’re hoping it’s going to be another 15% this year, which is really a drastic change,” she said. “We have to thank the commissioners for giving me the ability to make the changes that were necessary.”
The Newton County Animal Shelter has adopted/rescued 1,115 animals since the beginning of the year, which has already exceeded the 1,014 animals adopted/transferred in 2018, according to Wiemann.
For those looking to adopt, the Newton County Animal Shelter utilizes https://www.adoptapet.com and https://www.petfinder.com to showcase available animals. Due to a partnership, adoptable kittens, from the animal shelter, who have been spayed/neutered by Planned PEThood, can be found at Petsense, located at 3119 Highway 278 NE in Covington.
