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Local animal shelters rely on donations to stay open

Jerome Animal Shelter
Posted at 10:37 PM, Jan 11, 2022
and last updated 2022-01-12 13:57:09-05

JEROME, Idaho — Cleaning the kennels, feeding the dogs, providing medication and managing office work are some of the tasks Jerome Animal Shelter Technician Brittney Sterling completes each day.

“A lot of people think that working in the animal shelter means a whole lot of playing with animals, having fun with the animals,” Sterling said. “That’s not it at all, that’s about 10% of my job.”

To keep their kennels open, the Jerome Animal Shelter relies on donations to provide dogs with veterinary care, vaccines, treats and enrichment programs.

Sterling said many people don’t understand the monetary need behind running a facility.

“All of those little extra things we do in our facility come out of donations, or our pocket,” Sterling said. “And when we don’t have those means, we can’t do them.”

RELATED: Magic Valley animal shelters saw an increase of animals in 2021
Jerome organization raising funds to build new animal shelter facility in Glenns Ferry

Mary Holley is the co-founder of Anythings Pawsable Foundation Inc. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to building shelters and rescuing animals in the Magic Valley, especially in smaller communities.

Holley would love to save every animal, but cost maintenance can become a challenge for facilities.

“Building a facility is rather, step by step easy,” Holley said. “It is once the facility is built, the price of taking up animals has just skyrocketed.”

Shelters take on the expensive cost of things like animal care, euthanization and transportation.

Sterling said bigger animal shelter facilities or humane societies have more access to resources. And as a small facility, the Jerome shelter often runs into the issue of overpopulation.

When there is no more space in the kennels, staff search for a shelter that can take the dogs into their facility.

To donate to the Jerome Animal Shelter click here.