Animal shelter in need of help
5:20 p.m. Wednesday, September 10, 2008
We first brought you the story of the Wamego Animal Shelter two years ago.
There was no indoor shelter for the dogs.
Today, the dogs are still without and money problems are getting worse. Caring Hearts Humane Society is a no kill rescue shelter for homeless dogs in Wamego and Pottawatomie County.
Hundreds of dogs come through this humane society a year.
The budget is $800 a month from the city of Wamego, but the costs are climbing.
"Our costs have gone up exponentially, our vets' cost, our insurance," President of Caring Hearts Human Society Susan Clasen said.
The price of caring for these dogs has jumped 30 percent in two years.
Want to help?
Call Caring Hearts at 785-317-5545 or email them at pchs@wamego.net. Or, you are invited to look at what animals they have for adoption at www.pottcountyhs.petfinder.com.
"We've done some improvements on our own, but not quite what we were hoping to have," Foster and Adoption Chairperson Julie Appino said.
There are eight kennels, and all of them are outdoors. The humane society has spent about $1,300 just on shade tarps so they can keep the dogs warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Dogs are kept here for 14 days and, if they're not adopted or claimed, they go into foster care, because it's a no kill shelter.
But dogs like this one was brought in from Pottawatomie County.
"More than half of those dogs, 270 as of April, have came from the county of Pottawatomie, and we have never received funding from them," Clasen said.
Susan Clasen, president of the humane society, asked the county for help.
"They said we will give you something, we just don't know what," Clasen said.
But at the 2009 budget meeting, "They had no budget for us, they had appropriated no monies," Clasen said.
So for the next year, Caring Hearts Humane Society is trying to operate with only donations and the stipend the city gave them.
Susan says money from Pottawatomie County will ensure their future.
"As a group, we can't continue to exist this way," Clasen said.
We wanted to ask Pottawatomie County Commissioners about this issue, but no one was available today.
The Wamego City Manager tells us there will be a meeting this month with the county on this issue.
We'll keep you posted.
Related story: Wamego animal shelter working with city to correct problems (July 18, 2006)
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