Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
PIERCETON - Cupcakes were eaten, information was provided, funds were raised and several cats and dogs were adopted Saturday at the fourth annual Animal Welfare League of Kosciusko County Birthday Bash.
Tonya Blanchard, AWL executive director, explained, “Across the United States, everybody is doing this for the month of August. This is our biggest fundraiser. We started last night at Noa Noa. Today is nothing but dogs today, cats today, kittens. It’s all about the kids, it’s all about just a fun time for families. This is a family event here.”
The event included face paintings, vendors, a live broadcast from a radio station and a bake sale.
“It’s all about just having a good time today,” she said.
As of Saturday, the shelter had 64 dogs and about 42 on a waiting list.
“So, today, all of our dog adoptions are $50, no matter, other than puppies. So, we’re looking for adoptions so we can make room for the ones that are out on the streets waiting to come in,” Blanchard said.
To bring in more dogs, she said they’d have to hire more employees, which would be “crazy.”
“So, it’s just what we can handle and what’s healthy for the staff and what’s healthy for the pets,” Blanchard said.
With the adoptions they had Saturday, next week the AWL will be able to bring five or six more in and get them off the waiting list.
Jordan Good, AWL cat house manager, said she thinks the cat population crisis is kind of everywhere.
“Between all of local places and everywhere else, the biggest thing right now is making sure that if you are feeding the cats outside, the strays, make sure you fix them because it fixes the problem long term, where right now that’s why everyone’s overflowed and a lot of people get put on a waiting list, is because we have that influx of cats where people just will not fix their cats. So, they’re like, ‘Oh, I’m just going to relocate this cat,’ and then it breeds somewhere else and then we get orphaned kittens and it’s a never-ending cycle right now,” she explained.
As of Saturday, the AWL had about 180 cats, including cats in foster care. Good said they’re always looking for fosters.
Rae King, AWL adoption tech, said the shelter’s capacity, comfortably, for cats is under 140 in-house and in foster care. She said last they checked, about a week ago, they had 82 cats in-house and they’ve had mom cats and kittens come in since then so that number has gone up again.
The numbers fluctuate, especially during “kitten season,” King said, because there might be five kittens to one kennel if they’re still quite young.
“Last year, in November, we had 245 cats in total in-house, so it was a lot,” Good said.
They’ve had a lot of events to help reduce that number, including several Bissell Foundation events. “I think we had 47-ish cats adopted just through the Bissell event that happened here,” Good stated.
King said Bissell does the event about three times a year for the AWL.
As for the AWL’s current needs, Blanchard said canned cat food is a big one. They do one can of cat food every single day for every single animal.
“So canned cat food is what we’re always looking for. We’re always looking for volunteers. The cats can’t get out and go out on a walk like the dogs can, but you can come in, you can socialize them, you can play with them. Just spend some time with them, love on them, let them know it’s not all about a cage. They can be hugged, they can be loved on,” she said. “The same with the dogs. Come in and walk a dog. Spend time with a dog. We’re always looking for volunteers, especially on Saturday. We’re closed Sunday, Monday, so I just have the staff on Sunday, Monday, so getting the dogs out of the cage on Saturday, that is our busiest day. Just spend some time with them.”
The AWL has a new area that was donated for a big play yard that’s fenced. It’s very good exercise for the dogs.
While people often gravitate towards kittens and puppies, the AWL has older dogs and cats that need good homes as well. Blanchard said they need “just somebody to take them and love them until the end. Sometimes they end up here. In a situation where maybe mom or dad has passed away, the kids might feel like they’re too active to have a senior pet, but you know what? There’s seniors that come in here that would love to have a senior pet.”
Blanchard said the AWL is here for the community.
“We show you that by the spay and neuter clinics that we have here. We have Four Directions that come here once a month, twice a month. They park in the parking lot and they’re spaying and neutering cats from the community. We are doing vaccine clinics here once a month. Dr. Woodward comes in and works with my staff when we do a clinic here. So, these are things that we’re doing because we think that this is going to save them,” she said.
Tom Tearney, AWL Board of Directors president, said, “The animal shelter is doing well. We usually have a lot of dogs and cats all the time that are up for adoption, so we’re happy to be here and serve the community. We also get a tremendous amount of support from the community, which helps when we need certain items - food or what have you. So we appreciate all the community support we can get. It certainly takes a community to make the animal shelter successful, as far as volunteers and donations and donors.”
He said they try to do everything they can to get out in the community and let everyone know they’re here as well as how much the shelter appreciates the community support.
Tearney said some of the biggest challenges facing the shelter are not always having the space for all the dogs and cats that want to come in.
“We always have a waiting list, so trying to get the dogs and cats adopted out is always a challenge, so we can make room for more dogs and cats,” he stated.
Animal Welfare League of Kosciusko County, a 501(c)3 nonprofit and private animal shelter, is at 1048 S. CR 325E, Pierceton. It serves all of Kosciusko County. Its website is at awlwarsaw.com; phone, 574-267-3008; and email is info@awlwarsaw.com
