EMMETT, Idaho — The Pet Adoption League in Emmett is the only shelter in Gem County helping animals find their fur-ever homes, relying entirely on community support and volunteer efforts to make a major impact on local animal welfare.
"We're looking for people that want to adopt and provide good homes for these animals. That's what we can use help with," Shell Wiley, Pet Adoption League President, said.
WATCH | Discover which animals are waiting to be adopted at the Pet Adoption League—
The Pet Adoption League started in 1989 with just a couple of people saving dogs and keeping them in their houses until they could find homes for them.
The organization eventually took over the original Gem Veterinary Clinic building, which has served as its shelter for about 18 years.
Wiley has been volunteering at the shelter for 22 years and recently became president about three to four months ago.
Brenda Halone has been volunteering at the Pet Adoption League for 11 years, starting as a dog walker and evolving into multiple roles, including fundraising coordination.
"I started about 11 years ago, and I wanted to volunteer and so I walked into the office, and at the time, the office manager that was here said, 'Can you give us a specific schedule? Like, can you come in on, you know, Mondays at 9 or whatever?' And I said, 'No, I really can't. I have to be flexible.' She's like, 'Okay, you're a dog walker.' So I became a dog walker and we walked dogs early in the morning," Halone said.
The shelter operates entirely on community donations and volunteer support.
"Everything that we do comes from the gracious support from our community. So all the donations that we get support our shelter," Halone said.
The shelter employs various fundraising methods to support its operations. Outside the facility, hundreds of pounds of aluminum cans are collected each week, bringing in extra funding for the shelter.
"We have aluminum cans that the community also supports with this. So we have some bins out front of PAL where you can bring your used aluminum cans, throw them in the bins, and then about once a week, the cans have to go over to Payette to Treasure Valley recycling," Halone said.
Some supplies come from partnerships beyond Gem County, including regular donations from major retailers.
"Amazon has been an amazing company for us. They give us a trailer full of donations about once a month. So I go over and pick up the donations at Amazon, load them up from Amazon, and then come over here and unload them, and we put them into our storage unit. So great, great support for us from Amazon," Halone said.
The shelter also operates a storefront where visitors can make a donation and leave with supplies for their own animals.
"You can come in, you can look around, you can buy stuff in the storefront, and then while you're here, you go talk to the front desk and you can adopt an animal," Halone said.
For volunteers, the Pet Adoption League represents more than just a shelter. It's a place where every hour given changes lives — both for the animals in their care and for the people taking them home.
"It's happy because you know the things that you do are making a huge difference in these animals' lives, right? So you have to look at it that 'I'm making a difference and you know anytime I spend with them is making their lives a lot better.' So it's a happy place," Halone said.
The shelter provides various services beyond animal adoption, serving as a safety net for pet owners facing difficult circumstances.
"We offer the services to the community so that if you can't keep your dog or cat, which is, you know, heartbreaking for anyone, but that happens for a lot of reasons, right? You know, maybe you lost your housing, and so now the place that you're living doesn't allow you to have pets. We get a lot of people that have to surrender their dogs and cats because they're going into assisted living, and they don't have any family members that can take them, or you know someone has passed away, and so there's no family members that can take the animals," Halone said.
The shelter also accepts stray animals brought in by community members.
"We will take in the strays. People find the animals that are out and no one's claimed them, so they can bring them in, and we will take them in as well. So lots of different things that we provide for the community, and it's a safe place. Everyone knows it's a safe place to bring the animals," Halone said.
The shelter operates with a variety of daily activities that serve both animals and the community.
"There is no typical day. People come in, they want to adopt a dog or a cat. We love that. People come in and need to surrender their animal because they can't keep them anymore. People bring animals that were strays that they found running around. We accept those usually," Wiley said.
The facility also operates a pet food pantry and provides spay and neuter vouchers for feral cats.
"People come in for dog food and cat food. We have a pet food pantry that we use to help people in the community that need dog food and cat food. We sell vouchers for feral cats, spay and neuter, so they come in to do that. And, there's a whole range of things that that we do to help the public," Wiley said.
Contrary to popular belief, the shelter experiences its busiest period during the fall rather than the spring.
"You know, believe it or not, this is kitten season, but people think it's the spring, but it's actually the fall, and we're getting a lot of kittens. People are finding kittens all over the place and wanting to bring them in, we are pretty full," Wiley said.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the shelter operates entirely on community donations and volunteer support.
"We are a nonprofit shelter. We are volunteer-run for the most part, and I think we do a pretty good job for this community," Wiley said.
The Pet Adoption League conducts one major fundraiser annually to avoid over-soliciting the community.
"We do one major fundraiser a year. We used to do a lot of little ones and we still do some little ones, but, we try to do one major fundraiser a year and the reason that we only wanna do one is because again the community is so supportive of us and of all the other charitable, organizations that are out there that they get hit a lot to donate, right? So we've said to the community we'll do one large fundraiser a year," Halone said.
This year's fundraiser features a Honda Pioneer 1000 UTV as the prize.
"It's just an amazing machine. I love it, so we're gonna do a drawing for that," Halone said. "If you have a $100 donation, you get a ticket to go into the drawing. The drawing's going to be on December 13th, and that will be our major fundraiser for the year," Halone added.
The fundraiser limits ticket sales to improve the odds for participants.
"We are going to limit the tickets to 600 tickets sold, so that increases your odds to win, right? So it's a lot better odds to win because, you know, 1 in 600 you could win. So it's just a great fundraiser for us and we're really excited about it," Halone said.
Tickets can be purchased up until December 13, unless the 600-ticket limit is reached earlier.
The shelter constantly seeks volunteers to help with various tasks.
"We're always looking for volunteers. If you can spare 2 hours a week, we will be happy to put you to work here. You can be working with the dogs, with the cats. You can work in the office. We need people to do maintenance around the shelter," Wiley said.
Halone encourages community members to consider volunteering.
"It's a place where you go that makes you feel good. You know you're making a difference. You know you're making a difference in those animals' lives," Halone said.
Those interested in volunteering or adopting can visit the shelter's website at petadoptionleagueofgc.com or visit them at 1526 North Washington Avenue in Emmett. They can also call 208-365-1359.
The shelter's hours vary due to their volunteer-based operations: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For potential adopters, Wiley emphasizes the time commitment required for proper pet care.
"These creatures are very social. They want to be with you as, as your, um, you're their person. So, um, just make sure that you have time in your life for them," Wiley said.
