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Alpena City Council receives update on shelter finances from Huron Humane Society | News, Sports, Jobs
News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Kaitlyn Tree, operations manager at the Huron Humane Society, cuddles her kitty friend Gerald while at work on Monday. Gerald has been at the shelter for a long time and is waiting to find a new home.
ALPENA — Two cases of animal hoarding in Alpena have significantly impacted the number of animals at the Huron Humane Society and the shelter’s finances.
In a report to the Alpena City Council on Monday, Humane Society board member Mary Eagan provided an update on operations and recent developments at the shelter.
Alpena gives money each year to help cover the cost of the shelter’s services. This budget year, which began July 1, the city allocated $22,500.
City funding represents just under 7 percent of the Huron Humane Society’s annual operating budget.
So far this year, HHS has taken in a total of 193 cats as of June 30, of which 106 were kittens. She said the cats needing care at the local hoarding shelter were sick, and that caused a spike in medical care for the animals.
“A large number of these animals were in poor health when they were admitted to the shelter, meaning they needed veterinary care,” Eagan said in his report. “In the first four months of the year, HHS spent a few cents shy of $19,000 on veterinary care alone. This does not include in-house testing, vaccinations and preventative medicine that we perform at the shelter.”
It’s not unusual for HHS to have a large colony of felines, but more often than not, there are only a few dogs and puppies. Eagan said the shelter had taken in 32 dogs and puppies as of the end of June.
As prices increase, so do the costs of maintaining the shelter and caring for the animals.
“The cost to care for, house, feed, test, vaccinate, and provide veterinary care for our residents cost HHS $98,746.87 in the first four months of the year alone,” she told the board.
Fortunately, people are stepping up to adopt animals and provide them with good homes. Eagan said that of the 225 animals the shelter has taken in so far this year, 179 have found new homes.
In addition to directly caring for the animals, over the past six months, staff and volunteers have been busy improving the shelter to make it a better place to house and care for animals until they can be adopted.
Eagan said improvements have been made to the building, including installing new flooring in the dog room and painting throughout the facility.
She said the shelter is replacing two front doors that will have electronic keypads and creating a new website that will make connecting to the shelter online simpler and offer educational aspects for users.
HHS is also starting a new microchipping program for newly adopted cats that will offer free chips to shelter clients. Eagan said HHS will start the program with 100 chips to see how it goes and adjust accordingly in the future.
As is often the case, the shelter relies on public support to help fulfill HHS’s mission of being a no-kill shelter.
Eagan said people can donate money or supplies to the shelter, such as laundry detergent, bleach and canned cat food. She said people can also donate a sponsorship fee to help make it easier to find homes for animals who are long-term residents at the shelter.
People can also donate bottles and cans by simply leaving the bagged, returnable items outside the shelter at any time of the day or night.
The Huron Humane Society is a private, non-profit 401(c)(3) organization that has operated in Alpena County since 1982. The mission of the HHS is to use no-kill solutions to reduce the number of abandoned dogs and cats in Alpena County through education, rehabilitation, and rehoming with the support and cooperation of the community.
Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or by email at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.
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