BUCKHANNON – The Lewis-Upshur County Animal Control Facility recently received a grant that helps pay for life-saving medical procedures and reimburses drivers for transporting animals. Already, the grant has assisted with care for three dogs who are or were housed at LUAC.
Jan Cochran, director of the Lewis-Upshur County Animal Control Facility, said Assistant Upshur County Administrator Tabatha Perry applied for the Petco Love grant and they received roughly $7,500.
“She applied for a bunch of different grants and this just happened to be one of them, so we provided information, like how many animals we took in, how many animals went back home, how many animals did we send to other shelters, and she applied for $10,000, and we ended up with roughly $7,500,” Cochran said.
The money is designated for life saving medical care, which has helped three dogs at the shelter so far, Cochran reported.
“We had a dog come in that had an injured leg that needed amputated. It had no feeling in the leg, and Audubon ended up doing the surgery for us,” Cochran said. “Then we had another dog that was brought in that we thought it had been hit by a car because it couldn’t put any pressure down on the front leg; it was very swollen and you could tell it was in pain, but after a couple X-rays, they said it was just a severe sprain.”
Another dog also suffered from an ear hematoma, which required surgery, and Cochran said that dog is now being fostered by Luv 4 Animals and has recovered nicely.
“In the past, when trying to get an animal seen that needs to have a leg amputated, we had to put it out there and ask for donations, and LUV 4 Animals would put it on their page, Claws and Whiskers would put it on their page, but most the time you’re still scrambling trying to get enough to pay for the animal, but now this was here and we could just do it,” Cochran said. “It makes the animals more comfortable and more adoptable.”
The grant also allows LUAC to reimburse drivers who take animals to other rescues, shelters, fosters and veterinarian appointments.
“They have a paper they fill out and then the county gives them a reimbursement for mileage, which is nice because these people use their vehicles all the time, and this is kind of nice to have the money right now to be able to say ‘Hey, we appreciate what you’re doing for us and right now we have some money that we can give you guys for doing something you want to do anyway,’” Cochran said. “I know a LUV 4 Animals member who takes the money she made back from her gas reimbursements and put it toward the spaying and neutering of cats.”
Cochran said this is a grant she would want to apply for next year.
“I’m thankful for all the grants that Tabatha applied for, especially during COVID and especially this one – this one’s been great,” Cochran said. “This is a grant that we’ll be able to apply for again, and hopefully they’ll see we’re getting good use out of it, and maybe next time we’ll even get more funds. Tabatha said we might try to get $10,000 next time.”
