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Achillies, Male American Staffordshire Terrier

I wish each of you could stand in our shoes for just one day to understand life at a county animal shelter.   We try so hard to be positive, bright and chearful for the public.  But the honest true is every car that arrives we scan for dogs, or crates of kittens, and do a mental calculus of how much closer they bring us to full capacity.  We live and die emotionally by that count… each and every day.

This week cats and dogs rained on our little shelter.   In the blink of an eye are empty kennels were filled and we closed our doors this evening with an over capacity shelter,  38 dogs and 119 cats.  The last black lab and a dutch shepherd delivered by animal control broke our back.  For the first time in 8 months we have to consider taking lives for no reason other than space restrictions.  How incredibly unfair it is for these little souls.

So pray for us this weekend and hope for a miracle.  If you have dogs or cats you can no longer care for, call us first for alternatives before you bring them in this week.

If you have room in your hearts and homes to foster a cat or dog to help us through this crisis, please e-mail us at help.alleganshelter@gmail.com.

Max ( right ) and Patsy have been together for seven years.

Meet Patsy & Max. Like many cats and dogs that come into the Allegan Shelter, their previous owners were forced to move from their home and could not take their pets with them.

Patsy and Max are 7 years old and have been together since they were puppies.  Their family loved them dearly, took great care of them, and taught them well.  They placed them in our hands and left in tears begging us that we place them together.  They did not believe Patsy and Max would thrive without each other.

We made history this month by performing the first ever spay-neuter surgeries at the Allegan County Animal Shelter.

Dr. Applegate and Josh Mohler prep a cat for suregery.

Over the past year we have accumulated equipment for our surgery room through generous donations from the Humane Society of Huron Valley, and a $10,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture Companion Animal Welfare Fund.  The final piece of the puzzle was put in place with an working agreement with Dr. Lisa Applegate of Lawton MI.   Each Monday Dr. Applegate performs clinical rounds of our resident animals then performs spay or neuter surgeries.

The first “shake down” surgeries were completed Monday, June 4 when two male cats were neutered and two female cats were spayed. That was stepped up on Monday June 11 when three female cats were spayed and seven male cats neutered.  Beginning

Dr. Applegate prepares to spay our first cat.

Monday June 18, we will begin spay-neuter for dogs.

Our goal is spay and neuter all adoptable cats and dogs prior to leaving the shelter.  Historically adopters  were required to sign a Spay-Neuter Contract and prepay for the procedure with a veterinarian of their choice.  It was a cumbersome process and hindered adoptions, it was also difficult and time consuming to confirm the surgery was actually performed.  Prepaying a $130 neuter surgery was small potatoes to someone intent on breeding their dog for a profit.  By altering the cat or dog prior to leaving the shelter, we are ensuring that pet will never reproduce and add to the county’s over population problem.

The service provides tremendous value to the adopter.  We expect the new adoption fees will be $130 for dogs and $95 for cats. That includes all vaccinations, deworming, flea treatment, rabies vaccination, a microchip,  license, and spay or neuter. The value of those services if done separately would be well in excess of $200.

Step by step we’re making a difference at the Allegan County Animal Shelter.