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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
October 21, 2021     Shelton Mason County Journal
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October 21, 2021
 
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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.