The humane society is in need of donations and more volunteers as members of the board asked town council for assistance at a recent council meeting.
Council heard earlier this month the humane society, which houses felines and arranges for foster homes for dogs in the community, spends twice as much in operating costs as it gets in donations. They requested assistance from the town in next year’s budget to help cover the services it provides to the community.
Board president Megan Shearer says she hopes to see some funding from the town as the humane society is the only non-profit shelter in town which will take animals in.
“Most towns are giving to their humane societies. We’re hoping something comes through in 2019 – there’s no other option for a shelter in town.”
“It’s a constant battle,” says shelter manager Debra Busse. “This is where we’re at. We need help, we’re reaching out. We seriously depend on the community for our food and litter.”
Last month, the shelter was overpopulated with new kittens and the society posted on social media they were running very low on cat litter and the community stepped up, with the shelter stocked through November now.
“The amount of litter that came in was amazing, I just don’t want that to stop,” says Busse.
But the humane society depends on more than just litter and food donations to run successfully. The society is in constant need of volunteers who bring different expertise to the table, as well as volunteers to work at catering events or other odd-jobs offered to the society to help raise money to cover rising expenses and continual vet bills.
“We use money like it’s water,” says Shearer. “We use it faster than it comes in. We’re trying to be precautionary now because we want to ensure we’ll be open for the next 10 years.”
She says the society regularly gets food and litter donations, but also needs things like cleaning supplies, paper towels, and other products which add to operating expenses.
Prospective volunteers and people wishing to make donations can visit the shelter during operating hours to find out how they can help or where they could best fit into the society.
The humane society will be hosting their Santa Paws event at Drumheller Chrysler in December where pet owners can get their cat or dogs’ picture taken with Saint Nick. The annual Spaghetti Luncheon fundraiser will be held again in February.
