FROM STAFF REPORTS

Last week, the Shelby County Commission took a major step toward helping combat the county’s stray animal issues, providing a better atmosphere for people and our four-legged friends alike.
The Shelby County Commission unanimously passed a resolution on Monday, Feb. 23, in support of legislation that allows non-profit groups to continue to provide spay and neuter surgeries to consumers at affordable prices after past success.
The system allowing the non-profit groups to provide low-cost spay and neuter surgeries has been in place for several years now, and the effects have been dramatic.
The Shelby County Humane Society has experienced a dramatic decrease in the intake of animals over the past seven years. There has been a 63 percent decrease in the in-take of animals and a 30 percent decrease in the euthanasia of animals as a result of the availability of low-cost spay and neuter surgeries.
But even if you aren’t an animal aficionado, the program has brought several real-world cost savings to the county’s taxpayers.
As a result of the lower intake numbers at the Humane Society, the facility has thankfully not had to euthanize as many animals as it has in the past.
There has been a 51 percent decrease in the gas expense in the operation of the crematorium in the past seven years. It cost $25,447 to operate the crematorium in 2008 and is now down to a cost of $12,921 in 2014, according county commissioners.
Commissioner Corley Ellis attributed the decrease in cost and animal intake “in a large part, if not entirely” to the low-cost spay and neuter clinics.
We applaud the Shelby County Commission for taking steps to strengthen the quality of living in the county not only for humans, but for all walks of life.