Ulster SPCA focuses on finding good homes for pets
When it comes to making sure every pet has a home, sometimes the best way to help is to make sure the owners can care for their own animals.
At the Ulster County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, many of their services are geared toward keeping dogs and cats in good homes, not just finding homes for adoptable animals, Executive Director Gina Carbonari said. She said the shelter offers lowcost spay and neuter services for dogs and cats, as well as a low-cost vaccination clinic. Carbonari said the spaying and neutering are done three times a week, while the vaccination clinics are offered twice a month with the next occurring Feb. 27. On top of the vaccinations, the clinic also offers to test for diseases such as heartworm or feline leukemia and aids, she said. Carbonari said it also has preventative products for dogs and cats, including heartworm prevention and flea and tick treatments.
There is also a microchip service through the clinic to make sure a lost pet can quickly be reunited with their family, Carbonari said.
“We don’t do any kind of income verification,” Carbonari said of the clinic’s low-cost offerings. “It’s a service that we provide that’s available for anybody.” She said the only requirement is that the cat or dog is healthy enough to have surgery or vaccinations.
Carbonari said making sure the pets have their vaccinations and preventative care means those owners are on the path to keeping their dog or cat healthy.
In addition to the adoptions and the clinic, the shelter also performs dog control services for the city of Kingston and town of Hurley, Carbonari said. She said the shelter also provides boarding to other municipalities throughout the county. That means the shelter has become a “onestop shop” for people looking for their lost pets, Carbonari said.
The added benefit is that some municipalities have been able to close their animal boarding facilities, which is “a big cost savings to the taxpayers,” Carbonari said.
Carbonari added that the shelter has the only humane law department in the county. She said the department deals with the true animal cruelty and neglect cases that come up, but on a daily basis, it is also dealing with people who do not have the means to handle issues with their animals, whatever they may be. So the shelter tries to step in to help those people provide the care needed for their pets so they do not feel like surrendering them is the only option, Carbonari said.
If the person does not have food for their pet, the shelter has a pet food pantry, Carbonari said. She said if the person cannot afford a veterinarian bill, the shelter will try to make its vet on staff available to help or work with another agency to provide the necessary care.
“When you talk to a lot of these people, they love their animals,” Carbonari said. “And they want to be with their animals. It’s just that they may not have all the means that others have to care for them the best way they possibly could.” A lot of what the shelter does is helping pets by helping their owners, she said.
And in March, the shelter will begin offering its “Down and Dirty Dog Training,” Carbonari said. She said that training is $175 and includes a training leash. Carbonari said it will meet once a week for six weeks and the participants will learn the basics of understanding and communicating with their dogs to minimize any misbehavior. She said the focus is to teach the dog what its owner wants them to do.
Carbonari said many dogs are surrendered because their owners cannot handle their behavior problems. Correcting those problems is a way to keep dogs in their homes, she said.
In addition to helping pets already in good homes, the shelter also provides spay and neuter services to help control feral cat populations, Carbonari said. She said the shelter receives approximately $23,000 from Ulster County for its trap, neuter, and return program. Carbonari said a group of volunteers from all over the county bring the feral cats to the shelter to be sterilized and then return them to where they came from.
“It’s really a huge network of community volunteers who are able to bring the cats to us and be able to afford to do this,” Carbonari said. She said before the county’s grant, many of these people were paying for the spay and neuter services themselves or joining together to do fundraising for the work.
While the county does provide the grant for the feral cat program, it does not provide any other funding to the shelter, Carbonari added. She said the shelter is funded by private donations and does not receive money from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals organization. Carbonari said anyone who would like to donate can do so online at www.ucspca.org or in person at the shelter, 20 Wiedy Road. And the donations do not have to be monetary in nature, she said, noting that there is a wishlist of items for the shelter and its animals on the website.