Horry County shelter makes strides

The county took back the shelter operations from the Humane Society in July 2009, after a painful struggle during which the shelter faced at least one large outbreak of distemper that required dozens of euthanasias and sparked a quarantine at the facility.

But Kelly Bonome, the care center's operations manager, said things have changed quite a bit since then.

"Last year, we focused solely on what's inside these gates," she said of the multibuilding complex that can house animals of all sizes, including horses.

Once again, the shelter runs as a branch of the county's public safety division. That means the people who work there are county employees, and no one has to struggle with fundraising. The care center's annual budget is $850,000 and includes the roadside-litter pickup crews that are also part of the public safety department.

"There is a stability when you don't have to worry about a dedicated funding stream," Whitten said. "You can concentrate on caring for the animals."

He said the care center is evolving in delivering animal-related services, but is doing so slowly and carefully.

"We are not going to jump out there and bite off more than we can chew," he said. "Sometimes it's better to do 10 things well than lots of things halfway."

Public services such as vaccine clinics are part of that growth. Monthly clinics began six months ago and have increased in popularity ever since.

One day a month, the shelter offers low-cost rabies, parvo and other vaccines in the hopes that people will make sure their pets are protected against disease.

When the clinics began in July, the staff administered 44 rabies shots. In November, 86 rabies vaccines were administered. The number of bordetella vaccines doubled from July to November, and the number of pets that got microchips implanted grew from five the first month to 24 in November.

"Every month we want to improve," Bonome said. "Nothing substitutes for regular veterinary care, but through these clinics, we can help make sure people's pets get the basics, even in this economy."

This month's clinic is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at the care center on Industrial Park Road outside Conway.

Eventually, Bonome said, she'd love to be able to offer the service at other locations, along with more public veterinary services and an educational outreach that will help people take better care of their pets so they don't end up at the shelter at all.

"We have to analyze the needs of the community, how we can deliver the services and how it will be funded," Whitten said.

Bonome said she and the staff constantly think about "being good stewards" of taxpayer funds.

For now, it's enough to concentrate on what's already on the shelter's plate. There are still more animals coming in every month than can stay, still people neglecting and abandoning their pets, and still emergencies to deal with.

Whitten credits the staff, under the direction of Gary Gause, for making the care center into what it is today: a facility that is no longer overcrowded and runs smoothly. Gause, he said, has military training, so he understands the need for high standards and efficient service.

Part of the shelter's evolution is becoming greener. Cleanliness is the No. 1 priority, and the county was able to buy a machine from a Little River company that makes an eco-friendly, safe, hospital-grade disinfectant on site.

It kills everything from scabies and ringworm to parvo, Whitten and Bonome said, and has no unpleasant effects.

And the county is ready to break ground on a new $125,000 quarantine facility that will house animals as they come in, so they can be assessed without the chance they could infect the healthy, adoptable animals.

The shelter euthanizes more animals than it wants to, Bonome said.

"It makes us look like the bad guy, but only about 1 [percent] to 2 percent of the animals are put down because of space considerations," she said.

The majority are too sick or injured to recover, have behavior issues that would prevent them from being adopted, or have other problems, Bonome said. The shelter also performs euthanasia services for owners who request it, and she said that's better than having people try to do it themselves.

Over the past year and a half, the number of animals coming into the shelter every month ranged from a low of 585 in February to a high of 1,190 in June. In 2009, the shelter received 9,066 animals and euthanized 7,358.

But the number of adoptions, reclaims and rescues is growing, which Bonome takes as a good sign. She is working with a network of rescue centers across the country to try to find homes for as many animals as possible, and staff members do everything possible to try to reunite lost pets with their owners, including checking websites for missing pet ads.

Recently, the county got a letter from a man whose cat had been missing for six months, and was returned to him after an alert care center worker recognized the cat and matched it to the Craigslist ad.

The man had nothing but praise for the staff who reunited him with his "buddy."

Bonome said if pet-owner education can start in elementary schools, it could change the way shelters have to deal with animals the same way school campaigns like Smokey Bear, Woodsy Owl, and Stop, Drop and Roll have changed the way people think about caring for forests or about how to deal with fire emergencies. It has just become part of the culture.

Her job is a frustrating one, because if everyone who owns an animal took care of it, including spaying and neutering, there would be far fewer animals to euthanize.

For example, there's one dog in the kennel with her litter of puppies. This is the dog's second litter to be surrendered to the shelter, and instead of having the mother spayed, the owner finally surrendered her, too.

The animal care center is beginning to look at next year's budget, and Bonome said she hopes to begin looking at offering more public services, too, like public spay-neuter clinics.

"When I first started here 12 years ago, people looked at this as a dumping ground," she said. "But we have a beautiful facility where we can take good care of the animals that are here."

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Inlet Square mall makes good on return policy

MURRELLS INLET -- The south end's new movie theater, bowling alley and game center are on track to debut in May at Inlet Square, and the mall's only food tenant is expected to open late this month as the once-struggling shopping center aims to re-energize.

Work on Frank Theatre and the adjacent Revolutions family entertainment center has started near Books-A-Million, where crews will build the 11-screen theater with stadium seating and a 23,593-square-foot bowling alley and game complex. The entertainment center, operated by Frank Theatres, will have 16 Brunswick lanes, arcade games and kids' rides.

The theater is a key component in the potential rebirth of the mall, which emerged from bankruptcy with new owners a year ago. They finished a renovation in the summer and are working to fill empty store spaces.

The mall's first food tenant in months, Chef Smitty's - which serves seafood, burgers and sandwiches and also operates at Coastal Grand Mall - is expected to bring life to the empty food court when it opens Chef Smitty's South in late December. Chef Smitty's Bistro, a sit-down restaurant with more upscale food and cocktails, will open at the mall in March.

"There's a lot of residents just waiting for this mall to happen," said Eric Smith, who owns Chef Smitty's with his son Gregg. "People have to go in there and get it started. So I figured I'd go in there and get it started."

Chef Smitty's South plans to open in the former Chick-fil-A space in the mall's empty food court, part of which has been consumed by the emerging entertainment complex.

Several seasonal and permanent stores have moved into the mall recently, including 20 Below clothing and accessories, Toy R Us Express, SoRea Designs jewelry, Ice Cream Truck and Myrtle Beach Golf Shop. Another store - Scrapbook Paper Garden, which has all things needed for scrapbooking - plans to open in January, mall General Manager Suzanne Oden said.

Some of the stores opened with a month-to-month lease, a way to let them try out the mall and sign on permanently if business meets expectations, Oden said.

"We are really making progress," she said.

Some shoppers and businesses said the theater and new food offerings should help jumpstart a revival for the mall - though it will have to work past the image it developed in the rough years.

"They've got a master challenge," said Sarah Beck of Surfside Beach, who was walking at the mall with her husband, Alan, last week. "We would be very happy to see the mall come to life again."

Myrtle Beach Golf Shop, which opened a 6,000-square-foot store across from Stein Mart on Thursday, wanted to "get in on the front end" of what store partner Chuck Hutchinson expects will be an increase in business once the theater opens.

The challenge will be persuading residents to give the mall another chance, he said. The mall went downhill after filing for bankruptcy, and the renovation stalled, leaving exposed ceilings, unfinished floors in spots and other signs of construction. Stores left and shoppers stopped coming to the handful of stores that remained.

The renovation, which added skylights, a new floor, outside signs and other features, was finished in August, and mall managers have since focused on filling the store spaces.

"You have to get past the reputation it had in the past," Hutchinson said.

The theater originally planned to open in early 2011, but that debut was pushed to May when Frank Theatres expanded the project by adding the bowling alley and game center, Oden said.

Mall officials say it will be worth the wait, adding an entertainment outlet not only for the mall but for the south end.

The closest theater for south end movie-goers is at The Market Common in Myrtle Beach.

"It is much needed," Oden said. "The south strand is in dire need."

Frank Theatres, which operates 27 theaters in the Carolinas and five other states, is in an expansion mode, with the Inlet Square theater, one of about nine new theaters in the works, according to the company's website. The chain is familiar with the area, with theaters in Conway and Shallotte, N.C.

Officials with the chain - which has headquarters in Jupiter, Fla., and Atlantic City, N.J. - could not be reached for comment.

The Inlet Square mall theater will have leather rocker seats and all-digital sound, with the entertainment complex boasting a Starlight Cafe serving beer and wine.

Store workers and the mall's manager say the theater is the key to luring more people - especially families - and getting the mall going again.

"Definitely it is going to kick start it," said Steven Schwartz, a worker in Books-A-Million.

Murrells Inlet resident Steve Welch, who was checking out the "Coming Soon" list of theater features posted on the temporary construction wall last week, is ready for the theater and the bowling alley.

Welch, like other mall walkers and shoppers, also wants food options added.

"I hope more businesses will come," he said.

Smith, aka Chef Smitty, anticipates the mall, which he says caters to locals, will be a major player again by summer or fall.

"Once this mall gets up, gets some national stores in there, this will be a nice, vibrant, community mall," he said. "Really, it's going to be a good place to be once it happens."

Residents such as the Becks of Surfside Beach are rooting for a mall where they shopped, walked and congregated regularly, then watched it spiral down. "We hope the mall makes it," Alan Beck said.

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Conway Notebook | Horry Museum makes 'angel' list for revenue

CONWAY -- Walter Hill, director of the Horry County Museum, credits Conway surgeon Dr. Hal Holmes as a prime reason the Horry County Museum Foundation made the list this year of charities S.C. Secretary of State Mark Hammond recognized as "angels" for the high percentage of revenues that went to program activities.

With 99.6 percent of the foundation's money going into museum programs, it ranked second on the list. Family Promise of Beaufort County had the highest return, putting all but 0.1 percent of its revenues into programs.

Hill said Holmes personally covers the cost of foundation offices and staff by using his own office and secretary in a double duty. Without those expenses, Hill said, more of the revenues can go into the construction and installation of exhibits at the new Horry County Museum, under development in the old Burroughs School at Main Street and Ninth Avenue.

Hill said the foundation has set a goal of $3 million, of which it has already raised $1.5 million.

And he's justly proud of the "angel" designation.

"It's state recognition that the foundation is managing our donations correctly," he said.

The other side of Hammonds' list is reserved for Scrooges. None this year are headquartered in South Carolina.

The lowest return?

The Firefighters Support Foundation Inc. of Greenfield, Mass. Of its revenues, 7.5 percent went to programs.

A live oak honor for the Rev. Covel Moore

The city of Conway has dedicated another live oak to a former resident, just the tenth one among the numerous majestic trees that grace the city's streets.

The Covel C. Moore Oak will reside at the intersection of Bayside Avenue and Sycamore Street. The tree was dedicated recently to the late minister for his community leadership and his efforts to preserve the oak that now bears his name.

The dedication does make the tree special among its brethren throughout the city, but it doesn't protect it from being felled. A city ordinance does that by making it illegal to cut down any live oaks to make way for a street.

Dropping Santa ducks

The Brotherhood of St. Andrews at St. Paul's Episcopal Church is offering eager entrepreneurs the chance for some Christmas cash.

On Dec. 11, the Brotherhood has arranged a Santa drop as part of the church's expanded St. Nicklaus Winterfest along the city's waterfront.

They're offering to put names on the dropped Santas, with the $5 purchase of a Santa giving the buyer a chance to win up to $1,000.

The Brotherhood is calling it a Santa drop, but member Willard Wadman says they'll really be rubber ducks dressed up as Santas that will plummet from a bucket about 40 feet above the target.

Those that drop into chimneys on the target will be eligible for the cash.

The event - a first for the Brotherhood - is designed to raise money that the men's prayer, study and service group will funnel back into local charities and other nonprofits.

Want a chance?

Call Wadman at 234-9958 to get one.

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