Calling all pet lovers.

The Effingham County animal shelter is holding a town hall meeting to discuss the possibility of working with two nonprofit groups to lower euthanasia rates.

The meeting will be at 6 p.m. Monday, June 26, in the large conference room of the county Administration Building, at 601 N. Laurel St., Springfield.

Target Zero works on best practices to help shelters lower euthanasia rates and Fix Georgia Pets helps find grants to make spay and neuter affordable.

Effingham shelter director Lorna Shelton said the groups can help with trap-neuter-release programs for cats that live on their own in the community.

Shelton has been working to try to reduce euthanasia rates at the Effingham shelter. She said she hopes people will read about the two groups on the web and come to the meeting.

This is the time for citizens to educate themselves and ask questions, Shelton said.

Target Zero helps shelters by assessing their needs and giving advice on how to decrease intake and increase live-release rates.

Organizational and fundraising assistance is included.

We serve as the business strategy consultant in all areas of shelter management, with the number one goal being to keep animals out of shelters, the groups website says.

Efforts are made to help pet owners either keep their pets or place them outside the shelter system with foster volunteers. Shelter space should be reserved for those animals with no alternative placement, cruelty/neglect cases, dangerous dogs and injured animals with no identified owner, the group says.

Target Zero helps shelters maintain accurate data. Progress is analyzed monthly.

We define a community as being at zero if it demonstrates the ability to save 90 percent or more of cats and dogs that enter its shelters, the website says.

The remaining 10 percent or less are accounted for by animals which, regardless of medical treatment, will die from illness and/or large dogs with non-rehabilitative aggression issues.

Target Zero operates on donations; no taxpayer money is involved.

For more information go to: http://www.target-zero.org and https://fixgeorgiapets.org.

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Animal shelter holds town hall to reduce euthanasia | SavannahNow - Savannah Morning News