Amanda Wojtalik-Couter

The first three weeks of operation at the McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center have produced some promising accomplishments and some headaches, the executive director said.

Dr. Amanda Wojtalik-Courter said the center adopted out 100 animals by the end of the second week.

However, staff members were overwhelmed with 465 animals taken in during the same period, she said. The center’s summertime opening — July 1 — also came right in the midst of kitten season, so row after row of kennels are filled with cute — but homeless — kittens. One of three dog wards was placed on quarantine because there were concerns of an outbreak of bordetella.

Managing the volume of business and the complexities of some of the animals’ health issues means some added staff and volunteers are needed, Dr. Wojtalik-Courter said.

“We’re hiring right now,” she said. “For example, we know we are going to need another veterinary tech. ... Many of the animals we are encountering have never seen a vet, or it’s been a very long time since they last saw one.”

One thing Dr. Wojtalik-Courter said she doesn’t plan to do is ask the city for more money. The center receives monthly payments of $92,881 from the city, said Kathie Fulgham, a spokeswoman for the city. That adds up to $1.11 million a year.

Until June 30, a portion of that money went to the Hamilton County Humane Educational Society. The rest funded animal control officers on the Chattanooga Police Department’s payroll.

The Humane Society still handles stray animals and adoptions for animals collected in the county and a handful of other municipalities.

HES Executive Director Guy Bilyeu is practically giddy about his shelter’s prospects. He said HES hasn’t euthanized a single animal for space reasons since the McKamey Center opened. For the first time since Mr. Bilyeu arrived in Chattanooga five years ago, the shelter has empty dog runs and vacant cat kennels.

“The city’s animals were 67 percent of the animals we had in our shelter,” Mr. Bilyeu said. “We were euthanizing 10,000 animals when I first came year; now we’re at zero for healthy animals.”

HES still euthanizes animals deemed too sick or aggressive for adoption, and so does McKamey. It has put down three dogs that were too aggressive to be adopted since opening.

Special discounts on adoptions are helping keep the HES vacancy rate up as staff prepare the 68-year-old building for major renovations. People over 62 years old can adopt an animal for free as long as their application is approved. Anyone else with approval can adopt an animal for $35, he said. That promotion is running through the end of July.

Both directors say more space equals better care for animals.

Dr. Wojtalik-Courter uses the example of Lucy, a female pit bull boxer mix puppy that has advanced mange. That condition causes scabs to form all over the animal’s skin. It could take six months for the puppy to recuperate and be ready for adoption.

“In other shelters, she would have been put under,” Dr. Wojtalik-Courter said. “But we decided to fix her and give her shots, so we would be invested in her.”

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