HSOY in need of supplies after influx of animals
Surge seen after fireworks, storms
Due to the influx of animals during the Fourth of July holiday and the recent storms, the Humane Society of Yuma is running low on supplies.
“Unfortunately this time around we not only had the fireworks that went on but we had the thunderstorms and dust storms,” said spokesperson for HSOY Lana Shapiro. “We saw a pretty large intake of animals come in just overnight from those storms as well so that didn’t help our situation by any means.”
Shapiro stressed that preventative measures taken by pet owners are vital, such as making sure their animal is licensed, wears a tag or has a microchip with up-to-date information.
Additionally, while HSOY saw an influx of all animals during the holiday and the storms, Shapiro said there are quite a lot of kittens in their care.
“Although kitten season is kind of at the tail end of essentially mating season we are still dealing with the aftermath and backlog of kittens,” she said. “It takes a while to ready them for adoption and to get to a point where they can be spayed or neutered, etc.”
The organization recent-
ly put out a call for donations to purchase supplies such as kitten formula, kitten wet food, and pine pellet litter. Or, HSOY will also take in-kind donations of KMR kitten powder milk replacer and Fancy Feast canned kitten food-Tender Turkey Feast.
Shapiro noted that since a large number of dogs came in as well, HSOY is in need of wet, canned dog food. Those who wish to help can purchase the aforementioned items on Chewy.com and have them shipped to HSOY at 4050 S. Ave. 4 ½ E.
According to Shapiro, the reason for the specific brands of kitten food is that the organization strives to stay consistent with the brands and even the flavor of the food that they give to them.
“Kittens’ immune systems and digestive systems are just a little more sensitive and we need to make sure that we are staying consistent with the food that they eat,” she said.
Kitten powder is also preferred over canned liquid formulas because it lasts longer, Shapiro noted.
“Liquid formula only lasts for 72 hours once the can has been opened,” she said.
Additionally, she said HSOY has found Chewy. com to simply be the “cheapest” and most economical option for kitten food in particular.
“We want to advocate for people to spend their money locally as well but in this case to get our biggest bank for our buck it’s much easier if people go online and purchase things from their computers,” she said. “They don’t even have to make the trip to the shelter to drop off the items. They can have it shipped here directly.”
Currently, Shapiro says there are more than 600 animals in HSOY’s care.
“We had an influx of all animals from July 1-July 12,” she said. “We’ve received 140 stray dogs compared to last year we got 128, so that’s definitely more stray dogs. We’ve returned 58 of those dogs compared to 2017 we returned 46. For stray cats, people brought in 110 cats so far. Compared to last year it’s down but we had no one reclaim a cat so far.”
The 110 cats, she said, also includes kittens. In total, Shapiro said HSOY has around 200 animals in their foster care system.
“Most of the kittens that people see here are of a healthier weight that don’t necessarily need as much hands-on care as somebody who would need to bring a kitten home and care for the kittens,” Shapiro explained. “We try to get as many kittens in foster care as possible. The majority of the foster care animals are kittens that either need to be bottle fed, be on formula, stay on kitten food, etc.”
Supplies that are needed, she added, are extra purchases that the shelter cannot buy through their contracted company that they purchase pet food from.
“Those are extra supplies that that company doesn’t supply,” she said. “Typically, we don’t pay wholesale prices. For these items, however, we would have to pay retail prices which as you can imagine with the volume of animals that come in gets very costly for us. We really need the assistance right now.”
During the hotter months, Shapiro noted that HSOY also sees a lag in donations.
“With summer being the way it is in Yuma in general our donations go down just like most nonprofits I would assume in Yuma County,” she said. “We just can’t afford to purchase those extra things so if we can reach out to our community to help us get those items it saves us a lot of money.”
Shapiro said monetary donations are also welcome.
The shelter can be reached by calling (928) 7821621.