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More hands making a difference at animal shelter: Shelter Buddies, community members help find homes for pets
Posted: Friday, Jan 02, 2009 - 12:18:26 pm EST
By TONIE MARRIOTT — staff writer
 | | Each individual effort has impact
Norm Brunson, owner of Norm’s Barber Shop in uptown Mt. Carmel, adjusts the digital picture frame he recently purchased to help area animals in need of homes. The digital frame, which displays images of pets who need to be adopted, is part of a new awareness campaign by the volunteer organization, Wabash County Animal Shelter Buddies. For more information on how to adopt an animal in need, or how to sponsor a digital photo frame, call the shelter at 618-262-7109. (Staff photo by Tonie Marriott) |
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The Wabash County Animal Shelter was basically a one-man operation for many years, but that has changed with the help of a newly-formed volunteer group, the Wabash County Animal Shelter Buddies.
The organization was formed earlier in the year by Tom Garrett and wife Paula Dyer-Garrett after the couple visited the local animal shelter in search of a dog to adopt. The two saw a need, and took it upon themselves to do something about it.
The first step was to help clean up the shelter and make repairs where needed, said Dyer-Garrett, and to improve overall living conditions for the animals.
But the most important task the Animal Shelter Buddies have taken on is finding homes for these pets in need of rescue, instead of just seeing them euthanized.
“Most county shelters are very high-kill facilities, with very few animals adopted out,” said Dyer-Garrett. “We have been trying to change that.”
She explained that the shelter had been run single-handedly by Wabash County Animal Control Officer Chuck Skidmore for several years, and his numerous daily responsibilities don’t afford him the time to try to find homes for all the animals.
“One person can’t do it,” said Dyer-Garrett.
Skidmore said the Shelter Buddies volunteers’ help has been invaluable to both himself and the dogs and cats at the shelter. “We’re not euthanizing hardly any animals now,” he said. “Only if the animal is really old or injured, and the owner requests it.”
The reason for the change, explained Skidmore, is related to all the donations the Shelter Buddies are bringing in. Those funds allow the shelter to care for animals until homes can be found.
“The county has limited funds to care for animals that come into the shelter, and in the past we could only keep them a limited number of days,” said Skidmore. “But now the Animal Buddies donations pay for food and supplies that allow us to take care of them until we find them homes.”
One of the group’s newest avenues for linking pets to potential adoptive families utilizes some trendy technology — digital picture frames that display images of pets currently housed at the shelter. Tom Beuligmann, volunteer for the Shelter Buddies, came up with the idea.
“I thought, ‘What is a way to get them adopted quicker?,’ said Beuligmann. “Taking pictures and having people see these animals on a daily basis seemed like it would help.”
Beuligmann purchased the first digital frame, and got Charlie’s Collision & Customs in Mt. Carmel to agree to display it. The second frame was purchased by another volunteer who, in turn, got the Mt. Carmel Animal Hospital to agree to display it.
The third frame was purchased by Mt. Carmel City Commissioner Norm Brunson after he heard about the volunteer organization’s efforts to feature these animals in need of rescue. It is displayed in his business on Market Street in uptown Mt. Carmel, Norm’s Barber Shop.
“There are more picture frames in the works,” said Beuligmann. “We just need more individuals and businesses to agree to sponsor the frames.”
For more information on how to adopt an animal in need of rescue or how to help the Shelter Buddies, call the Wabash County Animal Shelter at 618-262-7109.
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