Donation will allow HB Clinic to expand

Homeward Bound Pets spay and neuter clinic will expand into a new location in a few months.

“This will be better for surgeries, better for animals,” said Casey Shook, executive director of the 50-year-old nonprofit, which also has a no-kill shelter and adoption program.

An anonymous donor purchased the 3,800-square-foot building at 745 S.W. Hilary St. in McMinnville and is providing the first floor to the pet nonprofit at no charge.

“We are beyond grateful. This support is truly life-saving,” said Dr. Jennifer Choate, DVM, spay and neuter clinic surgeon and manager and shelter veterinarian.”

Shook said it’s another example of the community coming together to help animals. “Our staff and volunteers work tirelessly to give animals a second chance,” she said. “I’m so grateful to them and to everyone who makes this work possible.”

After the first-floor space is remodeled to create a surgical suite, areas for animals recovering from surgery, and offices, Homeward Bound will move there from its current location, 723 N.E. Evans St.

HelloCare will continue to occupy the top floor of the building, founder Helen Anderson said. The home-health agency has about 130 caregivers who are based there, but who work in clients’ homes.

For Homeward Bound, the new space will “give us more room for big dogs and more room for everything,” Choate said.

She has been with the clinic since it opened in September 2017 — also in a building donated by a supporter of Homeward Bound.

“We’re a little bit crowded right now,” she said.

A new, larger surgery room will have enough space for two veterinarians to work at one time, potentially doubling the number of animals that can be fixed.

Right now, with only one vet, Homeward Bound neuters about 25 cats and dogs of various ages a day, four days a week, Choate said.

The current space can handle three or four dogs that weigh more than 60 pounds each, she said. Sometimes it takes in one or two more in an emergency, she said, “but it’s hard to squeeze in a 100-pound dog.”

The low-cost spay and neuter clinic has been constantly busy since it opened. Right now, it is booking appointments out four to six months in the future.

With that much waiting time, Choate said, “a lot of animals get pregnant before they get here.”

She recommends making an appointment “as soon as you know you’re getting a pet” — both now and after the expanded clinic is up and running later this year.

Surgeries scheduled in the coming months will remain at the current location until the new building is remodeled, Shook said.

In addition to neutering pets owned by community members, Homeward Bound also takes care of cats and dogs from several shelters, such as Hazel House and the HB Pets adoption program. “We work with them so pets will be ready to be adopted,” Choate said.

She visited the new building this week to help plan for the new surgical suite and other areas. “It’s wonderful,” she said. “We’ll grow into that building and make good use of it.”