To donate to the Lakeland Animal Shelter’s “60 in 60” medical expenses fundraising drive, go to www.firstgiving.com/60in60 or send a check to Lakeland Animal Shelter, P.O. Box 1000, Elkhorn, WI 53121.
Donations of food, litter, toys, paper towels or bleach can be dropped off at the shelter, 3551 Highway 67, Elkhorn. All donations are tax deductible.
For more information, call (262) 723-1000 or go to www.lakelandanimalshelter.org.
In a cramped room in a trailer at the rear of the Lakeland Animal Shelter, veterinarian Sandra Miller (l) and shelter medical coordinator Sue Payson spay a cat. The shelter is trying to raise money to cover the costs of medical care for the year for the animals they treat.
A dog lies passively at the door of his kennel at the Lakeland Animal Shelter on 01-15-09. The shelter is trying to raise money to cover the costs of medical treatment for the animals during the year.
ELKHORN — The slumping economy is putting pressure on the Lakeland Animal Shelter, which is bursting at the seams with abandoned cats and dogs and struggling to pay for the medications, vaccinations and surgeries needed to ready them for adoption.
“Last year was pretty interesting,” said Alexandrea Dahlstrom, fundraising director at the shelter. “It was above and beyond what we’d ever seen before—just out of control.”
The shelter took in more than 2,700 cats and dogs last year, she said.
“It was a record,” Dahlstrom said. “We expected the numbers to increase (as the economy worsened), but as many animals as we took in, we did not expect that.”
In tough economic times, people take a hard look at what they can live without, often making the painful decision to get rid of their pets, she said.
“It’s sad but true,” Dahlstrom said. “And it crossed all of our minds, but we didn’t know how it would go.
“We had a feeling that it would be bad, and that’s a feeling that pretty much has been confirmed.”
It’s impossible to gauge the number of cats and dogs surrendered or abandoned as a result of the economy, she said, but the flood of animals coming through the doors certainly is a situation the shelter has never encountered.
“It seemed a few years ago, everyone was getting a pet, everyone was getting a dog, getting a cat, everyone wanted to help,” Dahlstrom said. “But now, it’s a hard time.”
The shelter also incurred more than $88,000 in veterinary expenses last year, she said.
“That was a record, too,” Dahlstrom said.
The shelter provides medical care for each cat and dog that comes through its doors. Each animal is vaccinated, tested for disease, treated for illness and spayed or neutered, and injured animals get the surgery needed to mend their wounds, she said.
“We can’t give an animal less medical care,” Dahlstrom said. “And we’re not turning animals away. We’re not going to do that.”
At the end of 2008, the shelter found itself stuck between fulfilling its mission to care for unwanted, neglected and abused animals and having enough money for bleach to clean the cages, she said.
“It’s more sad than anything,” Dahlstrom said. “It’s something we’ve all been working really hard against, and then when this happens, you get kind of stuck.
“Something has to be done.”
That something is to appeal to the community for donations, she said.
Lakeland Animal Shelter is conducting a “60 in 60” fundraising drive to raise at least $60,000 in 60 days to cover the majority of medical expenses the shelter expects to incur this year.
A $5 donation would cover vaccinations for one cat or dog. A $50 donation would cover spay or neuter surgery for one cat or dog. A donation of $100 or more would help defray the cost of amputation for an injured cat or dog.
The fundraising drive began Jan. 1 and runs through March 1.
“It’ll just give us a sense of security knowing we’ll be able to keep operating,” Dahlstrom said of the fundraising drive. “We won’t be worrisome when an animal comes to us injured.”