I’m a Brit, living in Branson, Missouri and I volunteer at the Tri-Lakes Humane Society shelter. It is a stand-alone no-kill shelter with a staff of 7 employees and several volunteers.
We strive to help all animals in the Tri-Lakes area to find loving, forever homes. In 2010, we took in and adopted out approximately 425 pets, 2011 over 550 pets and in 2012 more than 600 pets were taken into the shelter and adopted into new homes. All of our animals are spayed and neutered prior to adoption and all vaccines are current at time of adoption.
Animals rarely spend as much as a year with us. Our staff do a wonderful job of finding good homes. There is one volunteer who, in spite of having quite a demanding “real” job until recently, every Saturday, rain, snow or heat wave, takes 6 or 8 cats to a remote adoption day at Petsmart, which is a large chain of pet stores in this country. In order to get to the shelter and collect all the cats, put them in carriers and secure them in the shelter’s van, drive the 37 miles to Petsmart in Springfield, set up break-down cages and get the cats settled by 9am when the store opens, she has to be up around 5am! Her day isn’t over until around 4 or 5pm, but she does have a lot of success. I have helped her a few times and I just don’t know how she does it every weekend. I come home wiped out!
A couple of years ago we were able to afford chain-link fencing to make 2 or 3 big grassy runs so the dogs can get out to run and play for a while on the grass, in addition to the big exercise area, and they live in good-sized cubicles so they are not languishing in small cages.
I try to place donation boxes in local shops and businesses, which isn’t always easy. Many places, especially if they are part of a chain, do not allow any on their counters, and I often have to go through the Head Office in some far-flung corner of America to find someone who can either give me permission or tell me no! Then, of course, they have to be checked every few weeks and emptied if we are lucky. I also edit the Newsletter “Paw Prints” which I try to put out 4 times a year. Unfortunately I’m not as handy with Publisher as I would like to be so there is a lot of gnashing of teeth attached to it, but somehow it gets done.
We are always in need of just about everything and donations are always very much appreciated. They help us buy food, medications, pay vet bills, etc.
If anyone is interested, we have a website: www.Tri-LakesHumaneSoc.org
Any bright ideas for fundraising would be greatly appreciated!
Carolyn Waterson
Greyscale314@gmail.com
One Cat is Company
"One cat is company.
Two cats are a conspiracy.
Three cats is an attempted takeover.
Four or more cats is a complete coup!"
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