'Any help is good help:' A HOPE submits plans to build spay and neuter facility in Milton

The animal advocacy and pet assistance group A HOPE has plans to construct a new spay/neuter, vaccination and microchip facility, which staff said could alleviate some of the issues related to unneutered in the area, and provide an affordable option for the procedures.

“Right now, we can only transport every other week to get animals — dogs and cats — spayed and neutered. And this (facility) will allow us to provide those services almost every day of the week,” said A HOPE Vice President Paige Cary.

As of now, the organization is having to take the animals to other counties to clinics that will perform these procedures.

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Cary added that openings at a Panama City clinic are competitive to get, leaving people stuck with their only option as traveling to places like Dothan or Mobile, both in Alabama, or even as far as Mississippi. She said this facility will be located in Milton, and she expects it to service a wide swath of the surrounding area.

“Which then, in turn, keeps the money local because we'll be hiring a staff and that type thing. So it just regenerates in the community,” Cary said.

The organization owns a 25-acre lot on Pine Blossom Road; where the facility is expected to sit. The early site plans are under review by the county. Cary said, if everything goes perfectly, the desire is to have the facility up and running by the end of 2023. She said the expectation for cost is between $600,000 and $700,000. And even if everything is greenlit, Cary said the next focus goes to funding opportunities.

“The completion is definitely going to depend on funding,” Cary said.

In May, the organization held a fundraiser in the form of a golf tournament, but Cary said other funding opportunities will more than likely come through donations or grants.

“There are lots of different grants that you can apply for whether for the medical supplies to be used for part of the building— different things like that. Some (are) through the humane animal organizations that will provide funds to help get clinics up and started,” Cary said, pointing to entities like the Humane Society of the United States and Petco as potential grantors.

While the facility will be owned and operated by A HOPE, Cary emphasized the organization has a strong relationship with Santa Rosa County Animal Services.

“Any help is good help, right,” said Randy Lambert, chief of Animal Services in Santa Rosa County.

He pointed out that the clinic run by the county does spay and neuter animals, but do not take public walk-ins.

“It (a new facility) certainly can't hurt, so it's got to help,” Lambert said. “It gives another avenue for people.”

A HOPE’s proposed facility comes on the heels of a hectic year for animal rescue in Santa Rosa County. In December, A HOPE trapped its second-largest cat colony in two years. In February, local and state animal advocates helped find homes for roughly 70 dogs rescued from a home in Gulf Breeze. And in the last few weeks, county staff worked with a homeowner who has about 50 dogs living on a property in the Harold area to spay and neuter the animals.

Cary stressed A HOPE’s facility will provide an affordable option for the community, which she said is not always the case at private veterinarians.

“The average person in the community who has a pet that needs to get them fixed, will be able to do that at an affordable cost, which means less unwanted puppies and kittens being taken to the shelter,” Cary said. “It would mean less dogs turned in for unwanted behaviors because they're not fixed.”

Ultimately, Cary said a facility like this can improve the quality of life in the area.

“I would say even a middle-income person would appreciate quality, affordable vet care,” Cary said. “But it will affect the whole community because it can the help pet overpopulation and keep the animals in our lives healthier and happier, which, in turn, makes for a happier family.”

Anyone who would like to make a donation can do so on the organization’s website at https://www.ahope4src.com/.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: A HOPE submits plans for spay and neuter facility in Santa Rosa county