A couple of days ago, I did an interview with a reporter for the Geogretown Sun, a local newspaper. The article came out today and of course I want to share it!
'Rising Number of Strays Straps Shelter"
by Brianne Tolj
To stem a rising tide of
stray animals and maintain its no kill state, the Williamson County Regional
Animal Shelter is relying on nonprofits to bolster lagging adoptions. No Kill
Wilco and Georgetown Animal Outreach this month announced that they plan to open
an adoption shelter that will take animals from the county and house them until
they are adopted, said Stephanie Conrad, president of No-Kill Wilco.
“The Regional Shelter is growing beyond its capacity,” said Ms. Conrad. “There
are hoes out there –why should we take their life away when we
can find them homes?”
To remain a no kill
facility, the county shelter must have a save-rate above 90%. However, as the
number of dogs and cats being broug in continues to increase every year, the
shelter is struggling to stay above water. Last year, the shelter’s no kill
rate was 91percent but the number of animals taken into the shelter is
increasing by around 500 each year, said Misty Valenta, the community outreach
coordinator for the shelter. In 2011-2012, the shelter received 3020 cats and
4454 dogs, according to its annual report. In the previous year, the shelter
received 2707 cats ad 4127 dogs. Causes for the increase are more stray animals
being brought to the shelter as well as a jump in owner surrenders, where
owners release their pets to the shelter because they are no longer able to take
care of them, said Ms. Valenta.
Another reason for the
rise is the lack of area non-profits that find homes for animals that are at
risk of euthanasia by bringing them into their own facilities and holding adoption
events, said Ms. Valenta.
Many of those non-profit
organizations are based in Austin and are focused on saving local pets, she
said.
If No Kill Wilco and
Georgetown Animal Outreac’s goal of creating such a facility to focus on
Williamson County animals comes to fruition, it would be a big help, said Ms.
Valenta. “It would increase the save
rate and we would have more resources here for the animals.”
No Kill Wilco hosts an
adoption event on the third Saturday of every month at Central Texas Harley
Davidson, said Ms. Conrad. “We basically invite all of the area rescue
organizations to come out and bring their dogs.”
“The adoption rate [at
this event] is about one dog per hour”, Ms. Conrad added.
Ms. Conrad said No Kill
Wilco and Georgetown Animal Outreach are looking for a facility and are hoping
for someone to donate an available space, such as a warehouse or business
facility that is not in use.
The groups plan to open
the shelter by the middle of 2013.
As we move forward with our plans for the facility, we are of course going to be looking for new volunteers and foster homes! As new events progress with this amazing partnership, I will be keeping everyone posted! :-)
Stephanie Conrad
Pet Studio Art | Owner | Artist
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