County To Buy Averette Veterinary Hospital, Will Lease To Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter

TUSCALOOSA, AL —The Tuscaloosa County Commission on Wednesday approved the purchase of the former Averette Veterinary Hospital in Northport, with plans to lease the facility to the Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter.

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District 1 Commissioner Stan Acker, whose district includes the location and serves as the county's representative on the TMAS board, told Patch the effort is a collaborative partnership involving the county and the cities of Tuscaloosa and Northport.

Acker said the 2,052-square-foot building on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Northport is fully equipped and described as a kind of turn-key operation for the shelter, which will have to do very little before being able to immediately benefit from the facility.

As it stands, the former veterinary clinic already includes kennels, outdoor runs, all stainless steel cages, a radiograph and a digital x-ray machine, along with a range of other equipment and furnishings that can be used by the shelter.

"Metro will use this as the intake and triage facility," Acker said. "It also opens up space to renovate the current building by temporarily locating some animals here while the work is done."

Acker said the county is purchasing the facility for $250,000 in cash, which he said was well below the appraisal value. He then said the current owner will also donate that difference needed so it can then be leased to TMAS.

“We are very thankful for the County Commission purchasing this building and allowing the Metro Animal Shelter to use it for our services," Shelter Director Jennifer Earp told Patch. "We intend on using the building for intake services and isolation/treatment of sick and injured animals. The general population, lost/found, and adoptable animals will remain at our current location."

Earp then said the expanded space for TMAS allows the agency to keep sick animals it is treating completely isolated and separate from its other services, allowing the shelter to provide better one-on-one service for those needing to surrender a pet.

This also comes on the heels of a widely publicized distemper outbreak over the summer.

"The building was previously used as a veterinary clinic, so it is already set up for medical purposes," she said.

Acker said those involved still have some routine due diligence work to see to before TMAS can begin its operations at the new building.

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