By Nicole Black
Citizen Reporter

Starting July 1, Garner and Cary residents will no longer be able to use the SPCA Lost & Found Pet Center located on 327 U.S. Highway 70 E to locate their missing pets or to drop off found pets. Garner residents will have to drive to the Wake County Animal Care, Control & Adoption Center at 820 Beacon Lake Road in Raleigh.

This decision was made by the Town of Garner in order to comply with Wake County’s goal of future unified sheltering for the entire county. The Town of Garner has been involved in discussions about consolidated sheltering, county-wide licensure and unified ordinances with the county since 2002, according to Garner Police Chief Tom Moss.
According to Mondy Lamb, the marketing director of the SPCA of Wake County, the decision does not make sense for the town.

“Basically, Garner will be at a disadvantage,” she said.
Currently, animals deemed to be good candidates for adoption are moved from the lost and found facility on U.S. Highway 70 E to the SPCA Curtis Dail Pet Adoption Center at 200 Petfinder Lane off Tryon Road in Raleigh. The lost and found facility in Garner was built in 1971 and was the main adoption facility for the SPCA until the Curtis Dail Pet Adoption Center was built in 2004.

According to Lamb, with a facility inside of town, it does not make sense for Garner residents to drive to Raleigh to access a lost and found facility. Lamb is also concerned about the conditions at the county shelter.

“The shelter does not have the capacity or the staff to take care of the animals they have now, let alone what they will [receive from Garner],” Lamb said.

According to Moss, the move makes sense.
“It is important to have one single point of intake, one single place that residents can go to,” Moss said.

While Lamb says the county is not yet prepared for any action to take place, Moss disagrees.

“I believe that they are ready. We talked to the county about the capacity,” he said. According to Moss, while the county is not ready to take on all strays from the Raleigh area and the county, Garner shelters a smaller number of animals; about 650 annually. Cary shelters about 1,000, according to Moss. “The shelter is sufficient to accommodate both Cary and Garner now, but not Raleigh,” Moss said.

The committee that has held the meetings about consolidated sheltering and county-wide licensure and ordinances includes veterinarians, officials from the City of Raleigh, members of the Garner Police Department, directors of the Wake County SPCA and many other officials. Animal control issues are housed under Wake County Environmental Services. >>more