Animal Shelter is still open despite financial woe

To the editor:
    There are rumors going around town that the Houlton Humane Society is going to be closing the animal shelter. These rumors may have been fueled by the statement I made that we had only enough money for two more weeks of operation. This was a true statement, made in print and on air when WAGM and WLBZ did feature stories on the financial crisis at the Shelter.
    Since those stories aired, many generous donors have come forward with contributions to help keep the Shelter going. To date, we have received enough funds for another six weeks of operation. There are also several fund-raisers coming up that should help the facility continue.
    This fall has taken a terrible financial toll on an already strained budget. Every single day more animals are brought to the facility, we now have over 210 cats and 12 dogs. The most important thing you can do is to call us if you have a cat that is missing. Please don’t assume it ran away, got eaten by a fox, or hit by a car. Out of these 210 cats, probably 150 of them belong to somebody, the rest were more or less abandoned.
    Every single day we get in animals that are well fed, well socialized, and healthy but nobody ever calls us asking if we have their cat. If you lost a cat in the last year, give us a call, seriously, it’s very possible that Fluffy has been living at the Shelter, just waiting for you to take her home.
    In order to continue in operation, additional financial support is needed. We have several folks who have made arrangements with their banks to send checks to the shelter weekly or monthly – just $5 or $10 a month. That’s something you might want to consider, most of us wouldn’t miss $5 a month.
    You can also go to www.houltonanimalshelter.com and make a donation via Pay Pal, mail a check to PO Box 548, or stop by the Shelter.
    There is no fat in our budget, we send the staff home when the work is done, we buy supplies in bulk, the food is donated, as are blankets and other supplies, we are blessed with many wonderful volunteers and we host 20 to 30 fund-raisers a year to support this operation. There are, however, fixed expenses, whether we have 200 animals or 20, including the mortgage, fuel oil, electricity, insurance, trash removal, etc.
    For those who feel our costs are high because we are a no-kill facility, you must understand that we are also a state-mandated facility. We provide animal shelter services for 26 towns that would each have to build their own shelter if they were not able to contract with our shelter or others for services, so even if we had no animals at all, we would still have to keep the shelter open for strays from those 26 towns, 7 days a week.
    No, we are not closing the doors any time soon, but we do have to depend on the continued support and generosity of our friends and neighbors to keep us going. We are very grateful for all of you who have helped in the last two weeks, we know times are hard for all of us. For those who haven’t had a chance to partner with us in this work of love and compassion, we invite you to adopt, volunteer or donate. Your life will be enriched by your act of charity and many lives will be saved. You can be the voice of the animals. Join us.
Cathy Davis
Houlton Humane Society