The staff at Effingham County’s animal shelter held an open house on Friday, a “spring fling,” showing off to the public the animals available for adoption and improvements to the facility that staff and volunteers have completed recently.
Shelter director Cory Whitfield said some of the visitors were people who had never been to the shelter before.
“Spread the word,” he said. “We have great, healthy animals, from companion animals for seniors to animals that are great with kids.”
Whitfield said a lot of people think animals that wind up in the shelter have something wrong with them, and that isn’t the case.
The shelter dogs range from mutts that are a combination of breeds to purebred dogs that would be very expensive to buy in the private market.
The shelter is emphasizing the importance of spaying and neutering and preventive shots for such things as rabies.
Whitfield said a recent case of a person being exposed to rabies from a cat in South Carolina shows how important the shots are.
He also said animals should have a shot and pills each month to prevent heartworms. Prevention is much cheaper, easier and safer than having to treat to get rid of heartworms, he said.