I usually start these updates with a sentence about how pleased I am with our live release rate for the month. Although I am happy that nearly 88 percent of animals found their homes last month, there is even more to be thankful for.
Buildings within a short distance from the Animal Resource Center were devastated by the Memorial Day tornadoes that ripped through our area. We are incredibly lucky that all the animals housed in our facility were safe after those storms. We went without water during the boil advisory, but we’re so inspired by our community’s response. Immediately, and before we even asked for help, people were showing up with water and other donations for our pets.
Because we were out of water, we were unable to wash and sanitize towels and blankets, and most of those we had in our facility had to be thrown away. We put out a request to our community for donations of towels and blankets and had an overwhelming response. I am consistently reminded of just how much our communities care for the animals in our shelter. Throughout our changes at the Animal Resource Center, and especially in times of crisis like the tornadoes and the water line break in February, we’ve seen the community step up to help.
After the storms, we had so many people donating food, cat litter, water, and toys that we opened our doors to the community to take what they needed. Anyone affected by the tornadoes who had pets were welcome to take whatever they needed from our donation area.
The challenge we face in the coming weeks will be space at the Animal Resource Center. We’re working with rescues to help us place our animals into homes, but we’re also in need of adopters to give some of these animals a loving home, especially knowing we’ll be seeing an increase in lost dogs for some time after these storms.
Thank you so much to everyone who has offered to help. Like so many others in the area, we know we’ll look back on these storms as something that has made our organization, our staff, and our supporters stronger.
Robert Gruhl
Interim Director
Animal Resource Center
(937) 898-4457
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| May 2019 statistics | June 14, 2019 progress report |