By CCHS Executive Director Chuck Wegner
The Shelter is poised for the most amazing growth and expansion program
in our history. We are planning for the future in all aspects of animal care and sheltering here in Clark County and
indeed, all of Central Wisconsin. There is no doubt that in the 21 years that we have been helping animals and people,
our focus has changed and sharpened. We have been able to learn what works and what doesn’t. Our goals are still the
same as when we first began: to help all dogs and cats in need and to enable them to live the best life possible, to find
good loving people, families and homes for each dog or cat, to alleviate suffering (both physical and mental), to promote
the benefits of maintaining their health through proper care, to provide humane education and to provide a safe, loving environment
for stray and unwanted animals while we search for their owners or find them a new home.
To this end, we have set out
on a new, very ambitious course. As many of you know, we have a program here called FixaPet, whereby we offer very low-cost
spay/neuter surgery for cats. This program has been in effect for 10 months now and we have spayed/neutered over 600 cats.
We are hoping to make a major dent in the terrible cat overpopulation problem. Oftentimes, in the past, we have felt like
the Texans at the Alamo. No matter how many cats and kittens we would take in, there are thousands more. We are overwhelmed
every spring and fall during “litter season”. We finally realized that the only way we’ll
ever beat the overpopulation problem is to stop it at the source…unspayed/unneutered breeding cats.
We
have always believed that most people try to do the right thing. They understand that it’s socially responsible to have
their cats spayed or neutered and they truly want to do that but the financial burden is just too much. Most people can’t
afford to pay over a hundred dollars to have a cat spayed. Their heart is in the right place but their wallet is lacking the
wherewithal to do it. Our FixaPet program has been a real help to them. So many people who would not have been able to afford
the surgery for their pet, now can. We have constructed a beautiful surgical room and lab with the help of many kind and generous
people. An average of 25 cats each surgery day are spayed or neutered at the Shelter now. We are so pleased with the wonderful
response from the public. They love it and are very thankful for the program. All they have to do is call for an appointment,
bring the cat in one day and pick it up another day. The total cost is $40! This program is available to anyone, from anywhere,
and it’s really making a difference.
Now we are going to add on to the Shelter so that we may include puppies and dogs in our low-cost spay/neuter program. The
addition will allow us to handle about 25 dog surgeries each day also. We will have the latest in instruments and equipment
and the cost per dog will be very low (we are planning on $50 for a neuter and $70 for a spay). We are
now scheduling surgery appointment for June. Please call the Shelter at 743-4550
for assistance in making an appointment.
With this addition we will also be able to be a designated “Safe
Haven” for animals involved in domestic abuse situations. It has been shown that very often the wife
and children (most physical abusers are male) may not leave their home, no matter how dangerous the situation, because they
fear the pets may be harmed or killed. Now there will be a safe place for the pets to stay while the human victims sort out
their troubles. We are proud to be able to offer this community service, and yes, unfortunately, there is a need for it right
here in Central Wisconsin.
We are planning for the future
by putting in our own laundry room. Currently, all laundry, and there is a lot of it, is hauled into town to be cleaned and
then hauled back for use. As you can imagine, that is not very efficient. We are hoping to be able to build the room, establish
water hookups, drains and electrical connections, so that when we can afford the commercial laundry equipment we need, we’re
all ready to go.
We have also planned for the addition to include a “Clean Room” where we will be able to wheel in our banks
of cages, carriers and other equipment for cleaning. Currently this is done in a utility sink or, in warm weather, in the
parking lot. How nice it will be to have a spot designated (and with hot water and floor drains) to do our daily cleaning
of those items.
And
my personal favorite: STORAGE!!!! We are planning a large storage room where we can finally have lots of shelving to store
our most used supplies in an organized manner. We have struggled for 21 years by storing bleach, cat litter, all kinds of
supplies and adoption kits, etc in my home and garage, basements of downtown buildings and even stashed in warehouse rental
units. Finally we can bring it all together under one roof.
We are also going to have an educational room. This will be an area where
we can take small tour groups of students, scouts, 4-H, etc for video presentations, humane education classes, meetings, dog
obedience demonstrations, etc. It should become a very useful and well-used part of the Shelter.
Finally, we hope to add a very
large enclosed area for those times when we have to go out on a rescue mission. Many of you have followed the rescue story
of the hoarder/puppy-miller in Wood County. Our Shelter was a major player in that rescue of 84 mistreated and neglected dogs.
We have been involved in several other rescue missions in the past and we know there will be more in the future. We need a
place to house a larger number of dogs/puppies from those situations and it needs to be separate from the rest of the canine
population due to the fact that the rescued dogs oftentimes have some nasty diseases or may be very unsocialized and need
their own space to recover physically and psychologically.
Everything comes at a price. Nothing is cheap anymore. The total cost
for this 6,000 square foot addition is estimated to be $150,000! We don’t have any large industries or corporations
in this area. There are very few “wealthy” people here either. Yet, each time we’ve asked for help with
construction or adding on programs, the people have come through for us. This Shelter has always been all about the animals
and I think everyone appreciates that. You won’t find any employee lounges or coffee rooms here. All of our time, effort
and money is spent on making things better for the animals in our care.
This Shelter was built, and continues to run, on the contributions of hundreds of people
who care. People who contribute whatever they can because they have seen what we do for animals. They want to help us help
make the world a better place. I invite each and every one of you to come down and get a tour, see what we are doing here
and then you’ll want to join with this wonderful team of caring people. You’ll want to help us get this addition
done. I am an eternal optimist and I believe in the innate goodness of people. I am firmly convinced we can raise that $150,000
and get the job done. I don’t expect anyone will be able to write a check for the whole project. Things like that don’t
happen much in small, rural areas. I do know we can raise the money by small donations from lots of people. That’s how
we’ve always done it. Please consider making a donation to the building program and help us to make our dream a reality
for the pets.
