Last week, the animals at the Marlboro County Animal Shelter had some help in getting a step closer to finding forever homes.

To help with this, the Charleston Animal Society came with their mobile unit to provide spay and neuter services for almost 50 cats and dogs on Dec. 9 and 10.

“This is to help move the shelter animals out faster and help with adoptions,” said Stephanie Jones, shelter director at the Humane Society of Marlboro County. “We were really lucky to have them come down.”

South Carolina ranked 46 out of 50 in the number of veterinarians per thousand people in the nation. A shortage of veterinarians means shelter animals are not spayed or neutered in a timely fashion. Because of that, the animals cannot be adopted, which creates a backlog of animals stranded in shelters.

Abigail Appleton, chief project officer at the Charleston Animal Society, said No Kill South Carolina is one of the organization’s initiatives.

She added that the shortage of veterinarians in SC and around the country is causing shelters to have difficulty getting animals spayed and neutered.

“It is required by law that before animals are adopted they must be spayed and neutered,” she said.

The mobile unit had a veterinarian from Chicago and vet technicians from Pennsylvania and Summerville.

Some vets from out of state came on Dec. 9 and 10. Bryant Taylor, emergency response and preparedness manager with Charleston Animal Society, said Spay Week is a new initiative of No Kill South Carolina.

“We network with shelters across South Carolina to increase outcomes for animals,” he said. “We want to make sure animals adopted or returned to the community have been altered, so they don’t increase the pet population in the community.”

Brittany Brew, code enforcement and animal control officer, appreciated the mobile clinic.

“If we can get animals spayed and neutered, not only will it cut down on the stray population in the area but also makes it easier for rescues up north and other places to be able to adopt the dogs out,” she said. “If we can get our local animals spayed and neutered, they can be adopted elsewhere and find their forever homes.”