Sunday, Apr. 23, 2023–3:40 p.m.

-David Crowder, WRGA News-

Floyd County Public Animal Welfare Services is still looking to hire a full-time vet tech.

Floyd County Public Safety Division Director John Blalock told the county’s public safety committee Thursday that the job opening was posted about six weeks ago and they have not gotten a single qualified candidate.

“We’ve gotten some applicants that would be qualified as a vet assistant, but as far as a vet tech, we don’t have one qualified applicant,” Blalock said. “So, we have started doing a social media campaign and we boosted those social media posts so they would go out more than normal. Then the human resources department worked with us to get the posts onto some paid job sites.”

Blalock has verified that the salary being offered is in the median range from the state and on all the platforms where the job opening is being advertised.

“But there are a ton of job openings on those sites,” he said. “There is a statewide and national shortage of vet techs. We’re going to keep trying for about three more weeks, and weigh our options to see what we need to do next.”

PAWS is currently contracting one day a week for a vet tech, and Floyd County Manager Jamie McCord said he may have a short-term solution, which would be to bring on a qualified pre-vet student who is looking for experience.