COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - Paws Humane Society is set to hire over two dozen new employees to work at the former Columbus Animal Care & Control. The city is providing the non-profit organization with $3.2 million in funding to take over services from the animal shelter.
Courtney Pierce, executive director of Paws Humane Society, says the next steps involve hiring and training 31 new employees. They have a 90-day transitional period before officially taking over, ensuring everything is done correctly.
“Currently, we are working on getting all of the staff hired. Once we get them hired, then of course they go through the training process,” Pierce said.
Paws is taking over the animal shelter after several employees were arrested and charged with animal cruelty, theft by deception, and other charges.
“We want to make sure people are our resources. We can’t do the work without people, so ensuring those people are trained and in place,” Pierce said. “I want to reiterate trained because we want everyone to know what they are doing and be able to do their job well.”
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One animal lover expressed excitement for Paws taking over the shelter, inspiring her to volunteer due to the nonprofit’s great work.
“I feel like that is a great change. It needed to be done,” said Columbus resident Shelly Gilliland. “I do trust the people at Paws. They’ve helped me with many animals and many of my friends’ animals. I even signed up to volunteer at Paws. Animals can’t talk; only we can help them.”
Pierce emphasized the importance of taking their time to ensure things are done correctly.
“I want the public to know and understand this is not a hard and fast change; progress takes time,” she noted. “We are working as fast as we can and we will definitely keep everyone updated. We want to do our best; everyone wants to do the best we possibly can, so we are excited to do that.”
Pierce also mentioned efforts to improve the quality of life for the pets, rather than just having them sit in a kennel all day.
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