October 21, 2021 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 15 (15 of 48 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
October 21, 2021 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
Meena, left, and Masie May look out of their crates while being transported
to foster homes Monday in Allyn. Journal photo by Matt Baide
Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021 - Shelton-Mason County Journal Page A—1 5
Humane Society fills needs, needs help I
By’inatt Baide
matt@masoncounty.com
Whether you need help with the pets you have or
are looking for a furry friend to add to your family,
the Humane Society of Mason County can help.
There are some new things happening at HSMC,
including the purchasing of a new van from Pierce
County animal control for transporting animals.
“We asked the community here in Belfair and
Mason County‘ put out for donations and said we
were going to. try to purchase this van,” Humane
Society of Mason County Vice President Scott
Gordon told the Journal. “Local Wrench Jeff Baker,
he was a great help and matched some funds for that
and we were able to purchase that van and the van
is basically used to transport animals.”
Gordon is a retired sergeant with the Washington
State Patrol who worked as a K9 handler. He used
to work for Kitsap Humane Society as an animal
' control officer. ,
Katherine Johnson is the spay and neuter
director and secretary for HSMC. She uses the van
to take pets to get spayed and neutered, as services
for animals are limited in Mason County.
“We don’t have a spay and neuter clinic here in
Mason County,” Johnson said. “Mason County,
we’re actually even incredibly limited on veterinary
care. Thank goodness being in the north end of the
county, we have Kitsap County that’s not too far
away but for our neighbors in the south end of the
county, they are really shafted. There’s nothing up
there. They have Shelton vet hospital with just one
vet and Haigh Vet that just has one vet, sometimes
V two. Down here, we have Belltown so those are the
only three vet hospitals in the whole county, which
is like nothing for a county over 1,000 square miles.”
With such limited services and appointments
needing to _be booked weeks in advance, Johnson
usually takes the van once a week for cat
appointments to the Kitsap Humane Societyand
Northwest Spay and Neuter in Tacoma two to three
times per month.
Johnson said the HSMC is striving to have
its own spay and neuter center in Mason County,
striving for a Mobile Animal Sterilization Hospitals
or MASH. With a MASH, they would set up a one- or
two-day clinic at a high school gym or grange hall
and schedule about 50 to 100 appointments for spay
and neuters.
“That would give us the opportunity to reach out
to communities like Matlock Where they don’t have
much,” Johnson said. “Or Hoodsport. Hoodsport is
like an hour drive to the nearest vet, hour and a
half if you have an emergency. That’s what our goal
is, we’ve already set the whole program up, we just
need funding.”
The amount needed is $20,000 for equipment, and
then how often clinics will happen will also be based
on money available to pay for a veterinarian or a
tech person to work at the clinics. As of September,
the HSMC has helped 370 pet and feral cats get
spayed and neutered and there have been 99 fosters
and 72 adoptions.
As a pet owner, Johnson finds the lack of services
for animals in the county “insane.” '
“Luckily, because of where I live, I’m a jump
away from Silverdale,‘ so luckily, I have Kitsap
County right next door to me. I live 20 minutes from
Silverdale',” Johnson said. “So many of these people I
help, you’re on (state Route) 3 and-you’re going to go
to Harstine (Island), Pickering, there’s some really
rural areas where you’re pulling off (state Route)
3 and it’s still 25 to 30 minutes to these people’s
houses. Same with Tahuya really, it’s a struggle.”
One thing that would help HSMC, that also
needs money to pay for it, is a building for a shelter.
HSMC bought five acres of property in 2015 behind
North Mason High School and it hopes to bring some
designs to the public soon for what the shelter will
look like, according to Gordou.
The HSMC used to be able to host events to raise
money, but with the pandemic, they haven’t been
able to host events, such as an annual dinner auction
at Alderbrook Golf Course. .
‘ HSMC will be hosting Strut Your Mutt or Cat
Celebration Day from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Casey’s
Bar & Grille in Belfair. There will also be a low-cost
Microchip Clinic and a pet costume contest. '
Johnson says to help the HSMC, people can, do
many things, including volunteer, donate, foster
and educate. There are volunteer opportunities from .
home, with the HSMC needing volunteers for web
design, transport, fundraising or grant writing.
“It’s just a matter of realizing we’re so close to
some things, we just need a little bit more money,”
Johnson said.
For more information about HSMC, visit its
website at hsmcwacrg.
Mason Transit Authority Optimistic about future
By Matt Baide
matt@masoncounty. com
The Mason Transit Authority has
plenty to look forward to and chal-
lenges befOre the calendar flips to
2022. ’
MTA General Manager Amy Ash-
er started in July and she’s getting
more comfortable in the position,
even though there’s still a lot to learn.
“A big part of that is getting to
know the community and getting to
know staff and getting to know our
board members,” Asher said. “I’ve
spent quite a bit of time doing that.
Earlier today, I had a meeting with a
board member, a 1-on71 meeting and
I really enjoyed that time. There’s
just been a lot of getting a lay of the
land that’s been going on and a lot of
meetings by Zoom. I’m starting to get
connected with the Mason County
joint information team and hearing
their COVID updates and knoWing
what We can do to be silpportive in
the community through that venue.”
Asher said she is working on the
2022 budget, which includes bring-
ing back full service to Mason Coun-
ty. MTA cut service back because of
COVID-19, but with the uncertainty
of when the pandemic will end, Asher
feels it will soon be time .to bring back
the full service if safety measures are
in place. '
The biggest problem with bringing
back full service is the lack of employ-
ees. Asher said four new employees
are joining MTA later in October to
take the driver class along with an-
otherprecruitment drive in November
for a January driving class to ensure
full service can be staffed.
“Hopefully, once those folks have
graduated and they’ve finished all of
their training and are able to be out
on the road, that should be some-
time in the spring of 2022,” Asher
said. “That’s the hope, if we can actu-
ally get them in the door and hiring
which is a challenge I know everyone
is facing right now.”
The driver shortage is affecting
MTA, including some drivers out on,
long-term leave, which is Why MTA
decided to scale back its services
rather than cmtinuously cut routes.
Asher said the plan is to incremen—
tally bring routes back in January
and February, as long as more peo-
ple are hired and MTA can get back
to its previous staffing levels. It can
be tough to compete for drivers with
other industries in Mason County.
The park and rides are an ongoing
project for MTA. The Pear Orchard
park and ride, Which opened in July,
has been well-received, with at least
a few cars in the parking lot every
weekday.
There have been' some supply
chain problems with getting cameras
to some of the other park and rides,
but installatidn is expected soon and
after ensuring all the proper permits
are acquired, the park and rides can
open fully. Pickering Road and Cole
Road are expected to open by the end
of the October and the Belfair park .
and ride is planned to be ready by the
end of the year.
The MTA Dial-a—Ride service now
has an app where riders can text di-
rectly to the app and schedule a ride.
MTA uses the Ecolane app, which
can be found on the Google and Apple
app stores.
“We’re starting to see the Dial-a-
Ride usage go up I think as people
. realize that’s a pretty convenient fea-
ture to be able to send a text when
you need a ride,” Asher said. “Usu-
ally within about 30 minutes, we’re
able to send a bus out to pick that
perSon up. They’ll get a text to their
phone when the bus is about 10 min-
utes away, so they’re prepared and
ready to go and it’s all a fare-free
service.”
MTA will be at the Mason Health
‘Trunk or‘ Treat at.the'end of the
month with a bus handing out ‘candy
and to interact with the community.