With the help of a grant, the Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association is taking its adoption and veterinary efforts mobile. The humane association announced Friday that it's the recipient of a $240,000 grant from the Petco Foundation.
The grant will allow the KCHA to purchase a 33-foot, diesel powered "Care-a-Van" trailer that will serve as a mobile adoption unit and vet clinic, Jessie Shafer, director of development, said in an announcement Friday.
The KCHA will take the trailer to rural communities, where its medical team will perform vaccinations, spaying and neutering and general health and wellness checks, according to the announcement.
The trailer also will be used to respond to hoarding situations and disasters, Shafer said. The KCHA seized 250 animals from eight separate hoarding situations last year, she said.
During the June 23 flood, the KCHA treated more than 2,000 affected animals in Clay and Kanawha counties with the help of a mobile vet unit from the American Humane Association, according to the announcement.
"Moving forward, KCHA will be able to immediately respond following disasters of any scale, with our own mobile clinic," the announcement says. "Teams will be able to arrive quickly, assess animals in need, perform any necessary emergency surgeries on-site, and then transport those animals back to safety."
The mobile unit will have 26 steel cages of various sizes.
"Thanks to the generous support of the Petco Foundation and Petco store partners, animals in our region will now receive a level of care that we've dreamed about for years," Shafer said. "We're so grateful to Petco Foundation for recognizing our lifesaving work. This addition to our life-saving equation is going to work wonders for pets and their people."
The KCHA plans to have the trailer by April, she said.