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Alcona Humane Society works to help county’s strays

LINCOLN — There may not be a single dog in the Alcona Humane Society shelter right now, but that doesn’t stop the staff from a daily cleaning of the cages and kennels.

Cleanliness is very important to Manager Jenna Richardson, and even though in the past few weeks the humane society is on a downturn for dogs currently, it is still important to keep everything clean and presentable for the health of the animals and presentation to the public.

Richardson said there still are 35 cats to care for in the shelter as staff work to find homes for the animals.

“We have a very high adoption rate,” she said. “We work very hard and make sure we do everything we can to find every animal a home.”

The staff at the shelter are not the only ones who work hard to find placements for the animals that may enter. To fund the operation volunteer operation volunteers fund the Precious Paws Boutique, an upscale resale shop housed in the Harbor Town Plaza in downtown Harrisville.

Manager Connie Sysak said the purpose behind the shop is to raise funding for the shelter, as well as give people in the area an upscale place to shop.

“It’s different from strictly resale,” she said. “There is nothing wrong with resale but our goal is to turn things over quickly.”

She said often people come into the shop, select a gift and are able to take it right home.

“It’s not going to have to be cleaned or anything,” she said. “We do that ahead of time.”

Many of the items, which come in the form of donations from the public, are researched and priced.

“We have a lot more collectable items,” she said. “We search around on eBay and we price it out and it’s priced less than eBay, but people are still getting a deal.”

According to Richardson, the shop is a vital part of the shelter’s operations.

“This past year they brought in $60,000,” she said. “It’s all volunteer. I don’t know what we did before them. We would probably be out of business today if it wasn’t for them.”

Richardson described some of the issues in the community with animals that warrant having a shelter at all. She said often dogs and cats are left as strays by residents.

“If a dog comes in as a stray, usually it is spotted by someone on the side of the road,” she said.

She said a person has to be an Alcona County resident to bring in a dog in most cases. Often the animals are caught by the Alcona County Sheriff Department, which acts as the county’s animal control.

“Once the animal is here we do well checks, and check if they have a microchip immediately,” she said.

Richardson said often strays are repeat offenders; people who own a dog but let it run loose. She said they keep the animal to make sure it is fed and safe, but also charge the owner $10 to watch the animal.

More than anything they have house cats in the shelter though many have been adopted recently.

“We get cats like crazy,” she said. “We have not had a low number, like fewer than 10 cats, for about a year. Right now we have 32 cats, which is nothing compared (to other shelters.)

According to Richardson the shelter is lucky because it haa a high adoption rate compared to other shelters. For a cat that is already fixed the adoption cost is $40. For a kitten it is $50, and half that adoption fee is given back to the owners if there is proof the animal has been fixed after adoption.

Spaying or neutering an animal is extremely important, Richardson said.

“We are here because people don’t fix their animals and they do not have anywhere to go,” Richardson said. “The overpopulation is bad and to see cats everywhere is sickening.”

Cats can starve to death, get hit by cars, and become the target of predators and other ill fates when they are stray, Richardson said.

She said people should not be ashamed to bring in a cat if they can’t take care of it.

“You shouldn’t be ashamed, you should never be ashamed,” she said. “We will do anything we can to assure they get adopted.”

The shelter employs four people to work 365 days a year to care for the animals and Richardson said there always is the need for more volunteers.

“We could use volunteers for cleaning, for walking dogs, coming in and playing for an hour with the cats,” she said. “And we always need volunteers at Precious Paws.”

For those who can’t take time to volunteer, Richardson said the shelter is conducting a bottle and can drive through January. She said donations are accepted seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the shelter.

To volunteer at the boutique contact Bonnie Braden at 736-6550.

Jason Ogden can be reached via email at jogden@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5693. Follow Jason on Twitter @jo_alpenanews. Read his blog, Sunny side up, with Jason at www.thealpenanews.com.

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