Sarge's ponders a new mission

Apr. 26—While the new direction for Sarge's Animal Rescue Foundation is still a work in progress, small steps have been taken to expand the organization's reach.

Fred Strohm, Sarge's operations director, said it was the success in Haywood County that drove euthanasia rates into the no-kill category that prompted a new focus.

"This is one of 12 counties in the state that is no kill," Strohm said. "Now, since we've been able to help Haywood, we're branching out into other counties to help them do what we did in Haywood."

In a 2017 article in The Mountaineer, the now-retired Dr. Kristen Hammett was quoted as saying 80% of the animals in the Haywood County animal shelter were euthanized in 1988. As the veterinarian under contract with the county to handle issues at the shelter, she watched the kill rate diminish to 68% for dogs in the 1990s. By 2016, the live-release rate exceeded 90%.

Sarge's, along with numerous other animal advocacy organizations, all played a key role in that success with their active adoption, spay/neuter and foster programs.

Since animals now sheltered at Sarge's, as well as Haywood County Animal Services, can fairly easily be placed in forever homes, the time has come to reach out to adjoining counties to protect animals in the region, Strohm said.

While the action will hopefully expand both the volunteer and donor base, Strohm said, the organization's setup in the Waynesville Industrial Park is large enough to serve the region. That means there's no immediate plans to set up facilities or offices beyond Haywood.

"The nice thing about here is we're closer to Asheville, which is where spay and neuters occur," he said. "If we move farther west, we're farther away."

An official announcement of the organization's new mission is still in the planning stages, but enough feelers put out have shown there would be support in the counties to the west.

"We've been in discussion as a board about announcing the new mission," Strohm said. "We have working relationships with Jackson County animal advocacy groups and, so far, all the organizations we've talked to have been thrilled about this."

While COVID-19 has dampened fundraising efforts that Sarge's has historically depended upon, a federal PPP loan has helped keep staff employed, the animals cared for and a way to continue adoptions, Strohm said.

"Other than April of 2020, we have had full adoptions without too many hurdles," he said. "Our numbers were down, but not significantly."

In 2020, the organization successfully adopted out 515 animals compared to 2019 when there were 613.

Sarge's has the ability to keep up to 80 dogs at a time as they wait to be adopted out, Strohm said, though that happens typically in the spring when there are litters.

Strohm said the number of Sarge's staff members who worked out of the animal services facility would ebb and flow, and that in 2019 there was one part-time and three full-time employees. He had no estimates on the amount of savings the organization will realize from terminating the arrangement with the county.

"There was no tipping point," Strohm said of no longer handling adoptions for the county. "It was just a natural progression with our relationship. They have their euthanasia rate down, and Howard (Howard Martin, Haywood County animal services director) is new in the position and has ideas for things. Obviously, we will still pull animals from them."

The adoptions Sarge's staff handled at animal facility services were considered county adoptions, not added to Sarge's tally.

"In animal welfare, we don't necessarily work together, but there's no reason to work apart," Strohm said. "We all want to help animals get homes. They have a different adoption process than we have and different fees. They're also subsidized by the county where we run on donations. That sometimes means we have to charge a higher rate."

Strohm said all associated with Sarge's are excited about the opportunity to help more animals — something he believes can be done without going backward when it comes to maintaining a low euthanization rate in Haywood.