The Shelter
The San Luis Valley Animal Welfare Society is a labor of love (heavy on both the love and the labor) by a dedicated couple who have championed humane animal education and animal rescue for 15 years. This driving force behind the shelter is Aileen Peek, who couldn’t fulfill her mission without the support of her husband Frank. The Society has rescued and found permanent homes for well over 5,000 helpless animals in the last eight years, with the help of their volunteers.
Biggles, the former Education Assistant
The Society volunteers are staunch advocates of spaying and neutering, and part of every adoption fee goes to help low-income residents of the San Luis Valley spay and neuter their pets. (The San Luis Valley is the poorest area in Colorado: one-third of the residents live below the poverty line, and the numbers of unwanted, at-risk cats and dogs are staggering).
Every Saturday, a few cats, some good-natured adult dogs, and dozens of fluffy puppies, (plus their crates, play pens and water bowls) are loaded up to make the three hour trek to the north side of Colorado Springs. Pet Adoptions are held at the PetSmart on North Academy Blvd. from 11 to 5, where many of the pets (but never quite enough) will begin their rightful lives with their loving new owners.
All animals are up to date on their shots. The shelter is primarily funded through adoption fees, so the more pets adopted, the more pets saved.
The SLVAWS operates on a shoe-string budget, and donations of time, talent, money and supplies are genuinely appreciated. The Society’s current wish list:
- Volunteers to walk and socialize (i.e. play with) the dogs, and perform general duties at the shelter
- Volunteers to wash and paint walls, to ready the shelter for volunteer vacations
- A 15 person or larger cargo van – the current van, used to transport the animals to the adoption fairs, has racked up 270,000 miles
- Volunteer contractors to help make the facility more energy efficient, (the shelter buildings used to be part of a gold mining operation, and need to be retrofitted)
- Volunteer contractors to add floor drains, to make more of the indoor space usable, which will allow the shelter to save more dogs
- Grant writers and grant researchers
- Veterinary care to supplement the regular vet visits – the closest vet is an hour away. Aileen and her helpers would be eternally grateful for any Vets or Vet Techs who would be willing to see the animals at the shelter; even a one-time visit would be wonderful! They’re also looking for Colorado Springs Veterinarians that would be willing to help (one of the volunteers could transport the pets).
- Veterinary supplies
- Crates, pet carriers and playpens (x pens)
- Sheets, towels, blankets, dog toys, cleaning supplies, etc.
- Volunteers to help load and unload the pets and their crates at the PetSmart on North Academy Blvd. in Colorado Springs, and to help with the adoption fairs.
Visit the San Luis Valley Animal Welfare Society’s website for more information, and to see the list of adoptable pets. If you’re interested in a particular animal, call the shelter and ask Aileen to bring him or her that Saturday.
Please remember to spay and neuter; there aren’t enough homes for them all.
Please note: this blog is written by a volunteer, and any opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the San Luis Valley Animal Welfare Society. Thank you.
Tags: Adopt Puppy, Colorado Animal Rescue, Colorado Animal Shelter, Colorado Springs Animal Rescue, Colorado Springs Pet Adoption, San Luis Valley Animal Welfare Society
December 30, 2008 at 4:04 am |
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Betty
http://www.my-foreclosures.info