The newly named Homeward Bound Pet Adoption Center in Gloucester Township celebrated its new name last week and opened its new surgical wing.
By: MATTHEW SHINKLE
The Sun
The Camden County Animal Shelter was formally renamed the Homeward Bound Pet Adoption Center last week at a celebratory opening of its renovated animal clinic and surgical wing.
The Camden County Freeholder Board has directed $2.5 million in advancements and renovations over the past several years, with $1 million most recently being designated to improving the Gloucester Township-located shelter’s ability to perform low-cost spay/neuter surgeries, as well as vaccinations or dental work for animals.
“Since 2015 until now, we’ve made an investment of over $2 million into this facility to ensure that it becomes one of the major facilities in the region,” said Camden County Freeholder Jonathan Young. “The shelter serves thousands of pets and their owners throughout Camden County. We are making sure the shelter has the resources it needs to keep our pets safe and cared for.”
The clinic’s improvements include a new surgical suite and prep areas for spay and neuter surgeries for both shelter and residents’ animals. Additionally, the surgical suite provides increased capacity for public surgeries, larger surgery recovery space and more.
The rebrand comes with an increase in ability and available resources for the clinic to provide many types of care for animals.
“We’ve made this investment to really give it a facelift, and along with the facelift, we would be remiss if we didn’t change the whole entire look as well,” Young said. “This is our new branding, our new name, our new look; we’re so thrilled down here because there are new and exciting things that happen here on a consistent basis.”
This project was the second phase of the Freeholder Board’s investments, which originally started with an initial $1.5 million contribution in 2015 to expand the facility when it opened a new adoption wing. On top of creating more space for residents to interact with adoptable animals, it also made additional room for county strays, increasing its shelter size to hold an additional 30 dogs and 50 cats.
“Camden County is a very animal friendly place, whether they be pets or animals who currently don’t have a home,” Young said. “The Freeholder Board has had a long, outstanding commitment to treat animals, owned or homeless, in a humane manner. We believe it is the right thing to do and we want our public policy to mirror those values.”
Executive Director Vicki Rowland also spoke at the event about the work of the facility prior to the opening, as well as what it hopes to do in the future. According to Rowland, the clinic averages 3,000 surgeries per year.
“Our mission is to provide high-quality veterinary care for families, as well as medical treatment for our shelter animals,” Rowland said. “This includes, but is not limited to, dental cleaning, routine blood tests and even some nail clipping for our feline friends.”
According to doctors with the clinic, the amount of dental work and surgeries able to be done in one day has increased dramatically, thanks to new and improved equipment, two surgery tables, extra space for animals in recovery and more.
For more information on the shelter, call (856) 401–1300 or visit www.ccasnj.org.
