The Humane Society of Davie County isn’t going away.

President Jane McAllister outlined the society’s success over the past seven years with its pet adoption center. Not only did they save unwanted animals, they kept many from going to the county animal shelter just down Eaton Road in Mocksville.

But the adoption center was expensive – in money and volunteer hours – and became a burden to the society.

County commissioners on Monday agreed to pay $450,000 for the center and adjacent 15 acres on Eaton Road in Mocksville, and will move the animal shelter to the newer, and nicer, quarters.

McAllister said the society is committed to saving unwanted animals, and will ramp up education efforts, spay and neuter programs, and will still foster some adoptable animals brought to the shelter. They also hope volunteers will continue to do things such as walk dogs – but now at the animal shelter instead of the adoption center.

County Manager John Eller said residents’ who had raised issues prior to the vote were contacted, and seemed agreeable to the proposal. No one spoke in opposition to the buy on Monday.

The county had paid the society $200,000 while the adoption center land was being bought and the building erected. It has paid an average of $10,000 per year for operating expenses for the last 17 years, but the society is not seeking any county money next fiscal year, McAllister said. The society will still operate its major fundraisers – Cause For Paws and Paws In The Park.

McAllister hopes the society can also begin to tackle the feral cat problem in the county.