Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Glynn County animal-services director says shelter lacks on-site veterinarian, seeks hires and ordinance updates
Loading...
Summary
Laurie Austin, director of Glynn County Animal Services, told Good News Glenn the shelter currently has no on-staff veterinarian, is caring for at least 90 dogs, and is pursuing a prospective vet hire, spay/neuter grant funding and ordinance changes to improve animal care and reunification.
Laurie Austin, director of Glynn County Animal Services, said the shelter does not currently have an on-staff veterinarian and is relying on community veterinary partners for medical care while pursuing a prospective full-time vet.
"We do not currently offer spay and neuter," Austin said in an interview on Good News Glenn. She said the county has a "prospective vet that will hopefully be starting, hopefully, in in August" and has also hired a vet tech.
The shortage shapes how the shelter provides care: Austin said the county sends needed surgeries and vaccinations to local veterinarians and is pursuing a spay/neuter grant to help subsidize services for residents if it is approved.
Austin emphasized intake and reunification procedures. "If nobody comes to claim it and we can't locate the owner within the 7 days, then, we put it up for adoption and hope to find it a good home and get it adopted out," she said, describing the shelter's seven-day holding period for stray animals before making them available for adoption.
She added that microchipping is a critical tool to reunite pets with owners. "Please get it microchipped," Austin said, recounting cases in which owners found photos months later but the animals had already been adopted or sent to rescue.
Austin described current shelter capacity and the support volunteers provide. "We don't have a whole lot of cats at the moment, but we have at least 90 dogs," she said, noting some dogs are in foster care or off-site. Volunteers and the shelters partner groups regularly staff mobile-adoption events at locations including PetSmart and local businesses, and volunteers often fund medical care for animals that require surgery or specialized attention.
The department is also making facility improvements: artificial turf has been added to play yards, shade canopies are being installed (Austin said a second phase is expected in the next month or two), and the shelter uses kiddie pools and supervised play yards in summer months to reduce kennel stress.
On policy, Austin said staff are updating Glynn County's animal ordinances to reflect changing pet ownership (including pigs, goats and poultry), update tethering rules to require trolley systems rather than fixed ties, and require spay/neuter for animals picked up who are not altered. "So there'll be changes if your animal is picked up for running loose and is not spayed and neutered," she said. She told viewers the ordinance package is under county attorney review and could appear on the board's agenda in about six to eight weeks.
Austin also warned owners about safety on the county's beaches and in the summer heat, advising leash use or reliable voice control near people and other animals and cautioning that salt-water ingestion can be dangerous for dogs.
The department is taking a multi-pronged approach: pursue a vet hire, seek grant funding for spay/neuter care, expand volunteer and mobile-adoption outreach, and update local ordinances. Austin encouraged residents to volunteer, attend mobile-adoption events and check the shelters online postings before assuming an animal is gone.
Next steps: the county continues vet hiring efforts and the ordinance package remains under review; if the spay/neuter grant is approved, the county plans to offer subsidized procedures to community members.
