The shelter hopes to “teach by example” what the meaning of responsible pet ownership is.
By Gail Geraghty
Staff Writer

NORWAY – Responsible Pet Care of Oxford Hills Inc. is creating its own clinic inside its no-kill pet shelter on Route 118.

And the clinic also will offer neutering services and vaccinations at the shelter to pets that already have homes, said Shirley Boyce, a member of the shelter’s board of directors.

“Certainly the huge, huge need is cats,” said Boyce. “We’ve had way more kittens this summer (at the shelter) than in the past three years.

And each cat, before it can be adopted, needs to be spayed or neutered and have the proper vaccinations. For the shelter, that meant bringing the homeless kitties to area veterinary hospitals to get shots.

Having the procedures done at the shelter is easier on the animals, Boyce said. “It’s less stress.”

Besides serving shelter pets, it plans to offer clinics, probably once a month, where pet owners can bring in their dogs or cats for low-cost neutering or vaccinations.

Part of the money for construction of the clinic will come from a $2,500 grant the organization recently received from the Maine Community Foundation’s Oxford County Fund.

The clinic will be part of the shelter’s efforts to “teach by example” what responsible pet ownership means, said shelter Manager Kathi Small. “In the process we hope we can have an impact on the outside world.”

The Oxford County Fund awarded 13 grants totaling $35,736 to local organizations this year. Others were the Arts Moves Dance Studio, which received $5,000 to bring dance into the schools and bring professional dancers to Norway’s Summer Festival; and $4,036 to the Woodstock Greenwood All-Sports Boosters Club Inc., for a furnace and electrical upgrade for a recreation center donated to the boosters by the town.