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The Chattahoochee Humane Society has seen an uptick in donations and volunteers this year, most recently with over five and a half tons of dog food donated by Newman’s Farm Supply. 

Board President Dantzler Frazer gave a report to the Chambers County Commission on Monday night where he spoke about the donation and the shelter’s status.

“As always, our goals remain the same — to have positive outcomes for all the animals that come into that gate,” Frazer said.

The shelter has had an increase in adoptions and foster care. Though they had to euthanize eight dogs in January, there have been no euthanizations since then. Donations have also been on the rise in the past few months, though Newman’s Farm Supply was the largest.

“It was more than what we can handle,” Frazer said. “We shared about two tons of that with the Big Valley Rescue organization.”

Big Valley Animal Rescue works with the Chattahoochee Humane Society. They transport animals to states with shortages of pets like New York and Pennsylvania.

The shelter received $22,000 in donations last year. In February, they received $1,700 in donations. The shelter has also had donations of pet food and supplies from Knauf Insulation and W.F. Burns Middle School Beta Club. 

Volunteers have gone up in the last few months as well. In February, 28 athletic students from Point University spent a day volunteering. They cleared the brush and tree limbs on the site and walked some of the dogs.

“We have not had to euthanize in February, or March,” Frazer said. “So we have been over capacity for most of these months, but because of the work of the rescues and the foster volunteers, we’ve been able to keep our euthanasia rate down.”

The shelter has organized their first online auction to raise money for their spay/neuter program for low income individuals. Beginning on Monday, bidding for items from local vendors and businesses. Approximately $7,000 worth of goods have been donated to the auction. The shelter’s goal is to raise at least 75% of that.

“We’ve had tremendous support from our local visitors, merchants, citizens,” Frazer said. 

Some of the vendors who have donated are Sip Cafe, West Point Tire Co., Lanett Animal Clinic, Donald Cleveland, Attorney at Law, Monte Alban, El Jimador, Top Notch BBQ, Johnny’s Pizza, Dave Shirley Photography, Tractor Supply Co., Marvin’s, Ponder’s Nursery, Gear Gaming, Purge Nation, Pokey’s, Coach’s, San Marco’s, Pig Out BBQ and Anthony’s. 

In 2022, Lisa Cofield was promoted to director of the shelter after the former director retired. Rescue Coordinator Jennifer Chavez was promoted to assistant director. 

The CHS has been working with the Best Friends organization. Georgia and Alabama Coordinator Lisa Barrett conducted a grant writing seminar, which some of the CHS board members attended.

The shelter had expenses of $18,000 over their income last year. The shelter had a $50,000 increase in veterinary expenses. The shelter has also had a high employee turnover rate because of the low pay and demanding responsibilities of the work.

“We’ve had a high turnover of employees and the technicians, which are the folks that are cleaning up kennels, so it’s a dirty job,” Frazer said.

Looking ahead for the year, the CHS board is looking to repair the fencing at the shelter. Frazer hopes to renovate an old kennel area on the property that has been out of use. The 4,200 square foot structure has concrete flooring and a roof cover. He hopes to replace 15 kennels and convert the remaining space to a play and adoption area. 

“We think that’ll help folks coming in to adopt animals,” Frazer said. “Also, it will increase our capacity where we can take in more animals when we need to.”