Humane Society director appeals to County Commission

Sep. 21—MOULTRIE — On Tuesday evening, Courtney Azar, the Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society's executive director, spoke in front of the county commissioners at their mid-month work session.

"We're actually running at a deficit of $9,000 a month," he said.

He followed that statement up with telling the commissioners that the Humane Society has about two months of funds and then they will have to "shut the doors." Azar also told them that it cost about $119 per animal for the five days they have to keep them and since the beginning of the year, 528 dogs that were picked up had come from the county and 205 came from the city. The costs include feeding, giving them the mandatory shots and then euthanasia if the animal is not adopted.

"Euthanasia is not the answer," he said and added that it was cheaper to feed the dogs than to euthanize them.

The Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society, which was founded in the 1980s is a 501c3 non-profit organization that both the city and county governments contract with to provide animal control services to all of Colquitt County and its municipalities.

According to Rescue Coordinator Dawn Blanton, the city's monthly contribution is $13,250 and the County's monthly contribution is $9,917, but the county also provides the organization with $6,000 in fuel, annual facility repairs and lawn service.

"Donations have dried up," Azar said.

He handed-out copies of his budget to the commissioners and told them that it had taken "all of eight months" to figure out the financials and getting them straightened out was his goal when he first started. Azar was appointed interim executive director Dec. 1, of last year and his appointment was made permanent on Feb. 20.

When asked about steps that he'd taken with the finances, he told the commissioners that he had reduced the staff's hours (there are four full-time staff and four part-time) and the hours that the Humane Society is open to the public. (The shelter is open to the public on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) Azar also told the commissioners that he had been trying to keep the vet bills low.

"I've only had eight months to really work on this and see where the problems are," he said.

He also said that he had spoken with City Manager Pete Dillard and would be talking to the city council, as well.

"I don't know what the city's willing to do right now," he said.

Courtney was commended by the commissioners for his stewardship of "Anne's Fund," a spay/neuter incentive program made possible by a partnership between the Moultrie-Colquitt County Humane Society and the South Georgia Low Cost Spay and Neuter Clinic. He said that they've spayed or neutered about 475 animals with the fund. The program provides income-based support for Colquitt County citizens to get their pets spayed or neutered.

County Administrator Chas Cannon said," Y'all just need money."

He suggested that the Humane Society Board needed to start working on some fund raisers and to come back to the County Commission with some plans. Azar said that, currently, there are two vacancies that need to be filled on the board.

Cannon also told Azar to plan on coming back to the commission in January and to keep them aware of what was happening on a quarterly basis.

The commission left it at considering a vote at their next meeting in October. "I want to thank Courtney because he's jumped into a hard situation," said Cannon.

Other business

In other business, Lester Castellow, the county's attorney, spoke about the current nuisance abatement ordinance.

Castellow said the current ordinance does not comply with state law. He proposed that an amendment to the ordinance be made so that when a nuisance abatement complaint is filed, it's heard by the magistrate court within 30 days. He said that would give the county the power to go in and clean up the property if the resident still doesn't comply after the hearing. A motion was made to amend the ordinance and it passed unanimously.

A rezoning request from Cleveland and Sam Morton to have their five acres of land on Cool Springs Road rezoned as residential instead of agricultural was approved by the commissioners.

The property would be used to build three duplexes to rent out and they would be marketed toward PCOM South Georgia students, said Cleveland Morton in the Sept. 15 county commission meeting. It was at this meeting that the request was tabled until the Planning Commission could give their opinion or the required 30 days to respond had elapsed. Also, during the previous meeting, neighbors who opposed the housing project presented a petition with 114 signatures against the rezoning request.

At Tuesday's meeting, Commissioner Paul Nagy made a motion to approve the rezoning request and it was seconded. Commissioners Marc DeMott and Barbara Jelks abstained from the vote. The vote carried 4-0.