Shelter’s open house benefits animals
Annual open house raises funds for facility's Emergency Medical Fund
A kitten named Frankie and a puppy named Zelda were brought to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Animal Shelter over the last few weeks with conditions requiring immediate medical attention.
Eight-week-old Frankie has been treated and young Zelda is being treated. Both will be available for adoption once they’ve fully recuperated.
Much of the money needed to pay for both animals’ health care issues is coming from the shelter’s Emergency Medical Fund, which is managed by Friends for Life Animal Rescue.
To help raise funds for Frankie and Zelda — as well as other animals that come to the McKinleyville facility with pricey medical needs throughout the year — the shelter holds an annual open house and Emergency Medical Fund fundraiser in conjunction with the holiday season. It is the shelter’s major (and only) fundraiser of the year — and the public is invited to attend.
“We really, really, really rely on that. … We do pleas occasionally regarding a specific animal, but we don’t do anything this big at other times,” said Andre Hale, animal control and facilities manager at the Humboldt County Animal Shelter.
This year’s open house is on Dec. 14 from noon to 4 p.m. at the shelter, 980 Lycoming Ave. in McKinleyville. Admission is free to the event, which includes refreshments, a silent auction, a large raffle featuring a host of items and services donated by individuals and businesses and much more.
“During that time, we’ll … do shelter tours to tell the public about who we are, what we’re here for. We will also be selling memory stars. All the funds raised during that will go to our Emergency Medical Fund, which helps take care of some of the medical issues that some of the animals have when they come in to us, which can get, in some cases, pretty costly,” Hale said.
On Dec. 14, dog licenses won’t be sold at the facility and there’ll be no adoptions taking place, though folks can take adoption application forms with them. Right now, the shelter has a variety of animals looking for homes, from goats and guinea pigs to cats and canines.
Zelda, who is about 6 months old, is an adorable gray puppy with expressive eyes. She came to the shelter last week with two pelvis fractures, likely from being hit by a car. Right now, she can’t put weight on one of her back legs. She is currently under medical care, and exact treatment will be determined after she’s examined more thoroughly by an orthopedic surgeon, Hale said.
“The surgery will be paid for by the Emergency Medical Fund,” she said. “… We get donations throughout the year and we do our big fundraising in December, but we’re spending that throughout the year. Even (though) I may have enough in the account to pay for whatever she needs to have done, that’s money now I don’t have for the next (animal).”
Hale added: “Our budget per animal is a maximum of $300. We don’t spend $300 on each animal, but once we reach that threshold, anything else comes from the emergency fund.”
Zelda, Hale said, “is as sweet as can be.”
“She’s really friendly. She’s a little nervous of other dogs so far. …
She’s young, she’s clingy, but definitely a puppy — all puppy. She doesn’t seem to be slowed down at all by her condition,” Hale said.
Frankie, a fluffy black and white kitten, arrived at the shelter on Oct. 28 with severe symptoms from glaucoma in one of her eyes. When medication didn’t work on the kitten, Frankie had to have that eye surgically removed. She’s also blind in her other eye.
“She doesn’t see at all, but she is great with sound,” Hale said. “She’s spunky and makes up for her little size and her nuances. … She compensates pretty well for it.”
The Emergency Medical Fund also helped pay for Frankie’s surgery.
“(The fund) is extremely important in order for us to help them, with all the potential things they can come in with and are going on,” Hale said. “For this little kitty, if we didn’t do that for her eye, it was going to rupture on its own and then she would have a bigger problem.”
Once Frankie is spayed, she will be up for adoption. She’ll need continual care and a few special considerations from her new family.
“She is blind, so she’s going to have to stay indoors,” Hale said. “… Because she had glaucoma as a kitten, it’s considered congenital … so she’s on special eye drops for the other eye to try and keep that from happening with the other eye, but there is the potential that it could happen in the other eye and she could lose that eye, too.”
Donations are currently being accepted for the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Animal Shelter’s 15th annual open house raffle and silent auction. To donate items or services, call the shelter at 707-840-9132.
To check out animals available for adoption from the animal shelter, go to https://humboldtgov.org/377/Animal-Control-Division.