Christ Yoder
Related Articles
NORTH CHARLESTON, SC (WCBD) – A nationwide shortage of vets is impacting shelters here in the Lowcountry.
The Charleston Animal Society says it’s going to have a serious impact on dogs and cats here in our area; with shelters filled with hundreds of animals, they are now facing a new kind of crisis.
“It’s just not possible to save animal lives without vets,” said Aldwin Roman, vice president of operations and strategy at the Charleston Animal Society.
Veterinarians play a vital role in the health of a shelter animal by examining, vaccinating, neutering and neutering before it is adopted.
“In the state of South Carolina, animals have to be sterilized before they can be adopted, so really without a vet shelters in our state can’t function,” said Roman.
Shelters saw fewer animals last year, but this year they are seeing a spike.
“They have them either in the shelter or in foster care and they cannot adopt them; it just creates this, a new kind of crisis that we should have seen coming, ”said Roman.
The Charleston Animal Society welcomes animals like kittens to help relieve pressure from other shelters in the area.
“We might be able to empty a shelter by taking them to another shelter, different from the one we had to think of before,” Roman said.
Our Clear the Shelter initiative runs throughout the week and ends Saturday with events across the Lowcountry where we help find homes for the animals.
