EAST CENTRAL 鈥� In the first full fiscal year since the Harry and Eve Vickar Shelter opened, the North East SPCA (NESPCA) had 203 animals adopted, 25 euthanized, and four unexplained deaths.
These numbers were given to the public during the organization鈥檚 annual general meeting on March 4.
According to Kristy Mason, shelter manager, all euthanized animals were performed out of medical or behavioral necessity.
鈥淭he majority of them are medical. There are a few that were behavioral, that were beyond control. Most of the medical ones though, they were out of compassion,鈥� Mason said. 鈥淚t was to save them from suffering any longer.鈥�
She said that veterinary care is a major component to avoid these preventable outcomes. Mason believes that for some people, there鈥檚 a learning curve where they aren鈥檛 aware of how regularly their animals require vaccination
鈥淚f people were to vaccinate and take their animals to the vet and get them the help that they need before things like this happen, then that would be the biggest help,鈥� she said. 鈥淚mmunizations and just regular vet care 鈥� deworming, things like that.鈥�
Some of the animals that went through the shelter in the last year include a guinea pig, bunnies, a betta fish and almost a stray chicken.
鈥淭here is a chicken running at large that we鈥檝e gotten a few calls about but no one could catch it, so we were willing to help out, had they caught it,鈥� Mason said. 鈥淎s far as I know it was caught and one of the farmers helped it out.鈥�
The fish, named Squishy, was surrendered in the fall, and according to shelter staff, became 鈥渟ort of a mascot鈥� for the NESPCA, with a new tank and a position as a permanent resident at the shelter.聽
鈥淗e鈥檚 a really pretty betta fish.鈥�
In the year, the shelter had around 278 intakes, not including pound animals, which brings the number up to about 400.
NESPCA chair Pat Shiels said that she was surprised by the number of people who wanted to surrender their animals and various reasons why.
Owner surrenders accounted for 115 animals within the year.
鈥淚t was definitely shocking to see how quickly we filled up,鈥� Shiels said. 鈥淭here definitely wasn鈥檛 a slow buildup. It was a lot of cats all at once, but at the same time it doesn鈥檛 shock me because there wasn鈥檛 an option in the past.
Mason said there were times throughout the year the shelter鈥檚 cat population rose to 50 and the dog population rose to 30.
鈥淲ith no significant fundraisers to raise funds, affording vet care and building maintenance has definitely been tough,鈥� Mason said. 鈥淭hanks to the support and patience of the community, volunteers, fosters and our clients we鈥檝e been able to navigate through.鈥�
She said the staff is currently looking into more COVID-19 friendly fundraisers, such as nail trim clinics and another Caged for Critters, which was held last June and involved volunteers sleeping in the kennels to raise funds.
The last Caged for Critters raised $17,251. Online GoFundMes for animal care raised $1,750, and NESPCA themed retail items for sale raised $1,740. The remainder of the fundraisers earned $1,500.
The Harry and Eve Vickar Shelter opened in September, 2019.
There were 43 animals located at the shelter at the time the numbers were prepared for the annual meeting.
