The latest news and updates from Friends of the Animal Shelter.
With the Shelter closure and fewer workers able to come to the Shelter to support the daily workload, Friends of the Animal Shelter is recruiting a larger Foster volunteer force to handle the many animals needing temporary homes at this time.
Find out more about Fostering, it’s a truly rewarding experience!
There are 5 ways people can be of immediate help:1. ADOPT: Adopting a cat or dog into a loving home is the most obvious way to provide the animals with a happy life. Doing so also makes room at the shelter for incoming strays that need a place to stay. The regular adoption procedures remain in place to help ensure the animals are being adopted into appropriate homes for individual needs. View available animals online using the link below. Then contact the Shelter at 541-774-6654 for an appointment. Social distancing procedures will be followed while at the Shelter.
View adoptable cats and dogs online.
2. FOSTER: The shelter’s foster program, in which adoptable cats or dogs are cared for in people’s homes for a limited amount of time, has been an invaluable resource in the past. Now, with so many people working from home, the shelter is hoping that additional people will be able to provide a temporary home for an animal until the crisis is over.
Find out more about Fostering
3. VOLUNTEER: More Friends of the Animal Shelter volunteers are also now needed to walk the shelter dogs and care for the cats since some of the shelter’s volunteers are older and staying home. There may also be help needed in the future cleaning the kennels and feeding the animals.
Interested in learning more? Call the Friends of the Animal Shelter office at 541-774-6651.
4. HELP A STRAY: If you find a stray cat or dog, please call in a “Found” report to the shelter by phone at 541-774-6654, but, if possible, keep the animal in your home until the owner is located. This will help reduce the number of animals on-site who need staff care.
5. MAKE SURE YOUR PETS ARE LICENSED: Rather than renewing pet licenses at the shelter, this can be done either by mail or by calling the shelter at 541-774-6654 with a credit card payment.
The public’s help is definitely needed and much appreciated so the shelter can avoid taking other steps should resources or space be lacking. Those situations could necessitate stopping the intake of owner-surrendered pets, so that shelter space is available for strays. Instead, owners would be encouraged to keep their pets with them until the COVID-19 crisis is over or rehome the pet themselves. Another potential outcome might be the need to stop taking in cats if there are insufficient resources to care for them. Neither outcome is desired and the shelter’s staff is working diligently to maintain animal care and well-ordered processing.
For additional information, please contact:
Barbara Talbert, Shelter Manager, at 541-774-6644
