Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Holly Alcala of the Anderson animal shelter told us of the shelter's long (founded in the 1960s) history of service to our "4-legged friends" (cats and dogs). The center's annual budget is $1million, employing 10 full-time and 10 part-time staff, and benefiting from 850 volunteers who collectively offer 20,000 hours of service annually. The center serves the Fox Valley and also portions of Kane, DuPage, and Cook counties. 

Holly explained that the shelter takes in strays, animal rescues, and animals from "high-kill" shelters in Chicago. Generally, a "high-kill" shelter limits the number of days an animal may stay before being killed ("euthanized," "put down," "put to sleep"). The Anderson shelter itself is "low-kill," meaning that animals are killed/euthanized only for medical reasons or extreme behavioral issues. Some animals stay up to 5 years at the Anderson shelter. The capacity of the Anderson shelter is 40 dogs (with another 10 or so out in foster homes) and 100-125 cats (with another 20 to 50 out in foster homes). There were 650 adoptions last year. Holly encourages us to "get the word out" - especially encouraging people to look for a pet at the shelter. Using the web site petfinder.com can be a way to do this (call ahead before coming to meet a potential pet as some may be in a foster home, not at the Anderson facility). Folks may also call for a personal tour, and of course volunteers are highly welcome. Anderson doesn't just warehouse the animals; it takes time and effort to take them out for walks every day, play with them, etc.