Helping My Local Animal Shelter

Following here is a letter I wrote this morning to the Horry County (SC) Council regarding proposed plans for Grand Strand Humane Society to build a new shelter in the neighborhood known as Carolina Forest in Myrtle Beach:

***At the bottom of this post is an update Grand Strand Humane Society posted on Facebook after the meeting with Horry County Council. Unfortunately, the outcome did not go as hoped, but GSHS is not giving up! ****

Good morning,

I heard the executive director of Grand Strand Humane Society on WRNN this morning, talking about the opposition to plans for the shelter to build a state-of-the-art facility in Carolina Forest. 

As a dog rescue advocate and the owner of three rescued dogs and one rescued cat, it disturbs me greatly to see anyone oppose these plans of expansion for the shelter. It also is troubling to see how many people are surrendering their pets to area shelters in and around Horry County and the Grand Strand. 

I moved here in 2018 from Massachusetts and retired. I came here with SIX pets and it would never, ever occur to me to surrender any of them to a shelter. But it seems a lot of the housing developments or landlords don't allow pets, or lifestyle changes have made people move here and then surrender their pet because having a pet is inconvenient or expensive. Add to that the pandemic-era high levels of adoption, followed by the "buyer's remorse" scenario that resulted in people turning over their pets to shelters in droves as they went back to work. The situation is awful. 

The Grand Strand is exploding with housing developments and none of those are being opposed, yet something GOOD like this is being opposed by only a handful of people who have nothing better to do but whine and say "not in my back yard". 

Grand Strand Humane Society’s new facility on River Oaks Drive is designed to be a beautiful building surrounded by more than 100 acres of nature held for conservation. The architectural renderings submitted show a beautiful facility that will only enhance the existing community. LS3P is a highly esteemed architectural firm.

The shelter will be adding multi-tiered interior and exterior sound mitigation such as sound absorption kennel materials, AcoustiBlok Soundproof Fencing and the addition of mature landscaping, berm and water features.

GSHS will contribute to the conservation of natural landscape by occupying less than 3% of the 112 acre property leaving the overwhelming majority of this property undeveloped.

The shelter will be installing state of the art HVAC and Plumbing – 4, 8 and 12 minute air exchanges, drains in each kennel and extensive well engineered plumbing throughout so that odor will not be a concern.

The construction of GSHS on this land will result in less traffic than there would be if this lot was developed with additional homes.

Animal shelters are proven to have no reduction in surrounding property value. (St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center, Flower Mound Animal Services, Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, Second Chance Animal Center are nearby examples of this.)

I hope that you will find it in your conscience to approve GSHS's plans to build a new facility on River Oaks Drive. Having this larger and modern facility will help the community greatly. Right now, the dogs and cats in their care are being housed in SEPARATE locations in less-than-ideal locations (one inside a mall... I mean, come on!). Gone are the days of cinder block buildings with chain-link dog runs and constantly barking dogs outdoors. This impressive facility will boost Myrtle Beach in the eyes of pet rescuers everywhere. It's not a good look for y'all to be against this improvement to our community.

Thank you for listening.

Kathleen Mandell

Little River, SC

Here is the Facebook post from Grand Strand Humane Society after the meeting with HC Council:

"Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts to each and every one of you that has advocated for Grand Strand Humane Society in our fight to acquire land for our new facility. There simply aren't words to properly convey our gratitude for the outpouring of support we have received.

Last night, you guys showed up for us in a BIG way.

We can't count the number of times we were told - "We have never seen these rooms so full!" It was a sea of blue as far as the eye could see. While we may not have had the outcome we hoped for last night, we certainly made our presence known. You all made an impact on the opposition, on our county council and especially on us. There wasn't a dry eye among our staff and executive team as we looked out into the room.

We know that the intricacies of meetings such as last night can be a bit confusing, so we wanted to take the opportunity to clarify what occurred. Our team was able to have some very positive conversations with many county council members over the past several days. We explained the progress that we had made with concerned neighbors and showed the support that this project had. Our hope was that we had sufficiently demonstrated our ability to work with neighboring communities and find common ground in order to move this critical project forward. In the hours leading up to last night's meeting it became more and more clear that we would likely not be granted our requested deferral, meaning the resolution would be struck down and we would not be allowed to reapply for use of this land for 12 months. There was an option on the table for us to withdraw our own application, but there was confusion on what that would mean. While county council was in executive session, we worked to determine what the result of withdrawal would be. Whether it meant we could reapply right away while continuing to have constructive conversations with neighbors and council, or if it meant we would be forced to wait 12 months to reapply just as it would have been if we allowed the resolution to be struck down. In the final moments before our resolution was called, we made the choice to keep our fate in our own hands. We withdrew our application for rezoning. Our team felt this decision allowed us the small chance of keeping hope alive for this piece of land.

We know that some of our supporters left feeling frustrated, confused, disappointed, angry and unheard.

Please know that you WERE in fact heard.

All day, we have received calls from the media and county council members who were so impressed by the number of supporters and by the behavior you all displayed. You were classy, composed and respectful. You showed those watching what GSHS is all about.

For those asking what happens now....

We will continue to proudly serve our community. We will continue to fight for the most vulnerable among us. We will continue our pursuit of a facility that our animals, staff and volunteers deserve. We will not allow this minor bump in the road to slow us down in the least.

You can share new ideas, reach out about land opportunities and find so many ways to get involved in our efforts by visiting campaigngshs.org!

To every person who took the time to write an email, make a call, share our information, talk to neighbors, attend the council meeting last night... thank you.

This GSHS team is steadfast, strong and unbelievably resilient. Our team includes YOU and for that we are so very grateful."