Bursting at 
the seams

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For years, the Friends of Strays No-Kill Animal Shelter has been a safe haven for stray cats and dogs in the Bureau County area. But with more animals than ever, coupled with dwindling donations, the facility is struggling to survive. (BCR photo/Barb Kromphardt)

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PRINCETON — Think about it. What if you had 441 mouths to feed every day? On top of that, what if you were responsible for the health care, the safety and the well-being of all those 441 souls? How would you accomplish that? How would you provide food, shelter, health care and more for 441?

Those questions are the ones that greet Friends of Strays Director Bonnie Doty when she opens her eyes in the morning ... and they’re the last questions that run through her mind when she lays her head down at night. How in the world is she, along with a handful of volunteers, going to provide for 400 homeless cats and 41 homeless dogs.

“We’re full,” Doty said, seemingly lost in the reality of the number of cats and dogs that call the Friends of Strays No-Kill Animal Shelter home.

“We’re getting animals dumped on us all the time,” she continued. “A few weeks ago, someone tied two dogs to our fence (at the shelter in Princeton) and left five cats in a box with them. Two of the cats were pregnant. And then somebody walked in the other day with a puppy mill dog they didn’t want anymore. It never ends.”

Doty said she gets a minimum of 10 telephone calls a day from people wanting to give away their pets. To say she’s frustrated with the situation would be an understatement, especially since the shelter is bursting at the seams.

“We’re at the point now where it depends on the situation, whether we can take their animal or not. A lot of people are losing their homes going into an apartment where they can’t have a pet,” she said. “If we can’t take them, we try to refer them to another shelter, but most no-kill shelters are filled to the max ... On the other hand, you always have a few irresponsible people who get tired of their pet, or they get a German shepherd and bring it back because it got big. Duh!”

Friends of Strays also works with the local animal control.

“They’ve also got three puppies over there right now I can’t take. We won’t let them die, but we’ll probably have to pay boarding on them until I get them into a home,” she said.

At this time, the shelter is home to 41 dogs of all shapes, sizes, breeds and ages. Likewise the colors, sizes and ages of the approximately 400 cats there are nearly overwhelming.

Despite their best efforts, Doty said adoptions have been down, and she believes this is a direct result of the economy.
“Pets are the last thing people think of. Of course, kids have to come first. I understand that. There are people who are struggling terribly. I know that, and I sympathize with them,” she said.

Still, the $50 adoption fees for cats and the $185 adoption fees for dogs don’t begin to cover the actual costs Friends of Strays invests into each animal. All adoption fees include the spay or neuter, all shots, heartworm/leukemia/FIV testing, flea and worm treatments and micro-chipping, which is a state law.

“It doesn’t even come close,” Doty said.

Just to have the basic necessities the animals need, Doty said the price tag is hefty. Veterinarian bills are at least $3,000 every month; food costs about $2,400 a month; other supplies like cat litter, garbage bags, laundry detergent, etc. run about $1,200 a month.

“The minute a puppy or kitten comes in the door, they cost us roughly $25 for one vaccination, one worming and one flea treatment. That doesn’t count spay or neuter or any of the tests we have to do like leukemia, FIV testing on the cats and heartworm and lyme disease on the dogs,” she said.

“Some of the animals need special diets. Puppies need puppy food; kittens need kitten food ... Then there’s the insurance costs, plus tremendous liability costs, power bills, water bills, phone bills,” Doty said. “And the medicine ... Believe me, none of these animals come in healthy.”

To add salt to the financial wound, Doty said donations have dropped off drastically, again she believes an indirect result of the poor economy.

“Donations and fundraising are how we primarily operate,” she said. “We are not supported by the city, the county or the state. Without donations, I don’t know what we’ll do. I can never walk away from this; my conscience wouldn’t let me ... But it’s just heartbreaking,” she said. “Our adoption fees don’t even cover the expenses we have in the animal, but we can’t raise them. People don’t adopt now because they can’t afford it.”

Doty said Friends of Strays will continue to do their fundraising efforts in hopes of making the ends meet. Some of their more popular fundraisers include Lunch in the Park, the cookouts at Sullivan’s Foods, a drawdown, bake sales and Bingo every Friday night in Peru.

“It’s day to day,” Doty said. “We survive day to day. Just when you think you don’t know where it’s going to come from, somebody will come in the shelter with a couple cases of food or laundry detergent or bleach. It means so much — not just to us but to the animals too.

“We’ve been worried about survival for 15 years. Now that we’re more visible, we have more animals being dumped on us. On top of that, our building is five years old and starting to need some repairs here and there, but it’s just not happening.

“There’s really just no end to this. We’ve adopted out about 8,000 to 10,000 animals since 1993. We’ve saved a lot of lives and prevented a lot of unwanted animals. We’ve spayed or neutered 3,000 animals since we moved into our new building in 2004. That’s a lot of lives saved and a lot of unwanted animals prevented,” she said.

To learn more about Friends of Strays, contact Doty at (815) 872-PETS.

Comment on this story at www.bcrnews.com.

Friends of Strays' Wish List

• Money

• Canned cat food (Friskies mostly or 9 Lives)

• Pedigree canned dog food

• Clay cat litter (not clump kind)

• Purina Cat Chow

• Purina Dog Chow

• Liquid laundry detergent

• Bleach

• Liquid hand soap

• Mops and brooms

• Used towels

• Small dishes or stainless steel pans

• Paper towels

• Copy paper

• Legal size envelopes

• Volunteers who love animals

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