Cookeville plans to maintain operations at the Wags and Whiskers Spay and Neuter Clinic after purchasing the Miller Avenue property where the clinic is located.
City Manager James Mills said the city has signed a lease with Wags and Whiskers to continue operating the clinic through June 30 of this year. Mills said the city is in negotiations with the clinic for a future lease.
“We anticipate that we will continue to utilize Wags and Whiskers for this service,” Mills said. “We have been very happy with them. I think the community has, and we’d like to continue it. It’s just working out the details on the new lease beginning after June 30th.”
Mills said the city hopes to have a lease agreement within the next couple of weeks. Mills said the city is proposing a few changes in the lease agreement to involve services for the animal shelter.
“We are looking at modifying some of the terms, maybe reducing the amount of the lease for additional services to help the animal shelter animals,” Mills said. “Our director of the animal shelter, representatives of Wags and Whiskers, and myself are currently negotiating that new lease.”
The city will not operate the clinic but will serve as the property owner and lessor. Mills said that if an agreement were to fall through, the city plans to ensure that a spay and neuter clinic continues to operate on the property.
“Well, first we don’t anticipate that happening,” Mills said. “We are going to do everything we can to maintain our relationship with Wags and Whiskers, but if they did dissolve or go out of business, it would be a priority to find somebody else to operate the spay and neuter clinic.”
Mills said the clinic is vital for the residents and the animals in the community. The city’s purchase was finalized in January after the city council approved the purchase of the estimated 1.3-acre property for a sum of $399,000.