[ad_1]
BIG RAPIDS – Caring for cats and canine and offering them a cheerful life is a crucial half of being a pet proprietor, and one Mecosta County group celebrated 9 years of discovering houses for animals within the space.
On Oct. 1, the Animal Rescue Coalition of Mecosta County commemorated its ninth anniversary and is trying to proceed caring for animals in want for years to return. Self-described as a gaggle of involved animal lovers that acquired collectively in 2011 with the hopes of enhancing the lives of canine and cats and has taken in hundreds of animals in its time open.
Cate Arroe, director of ARC, mentioned the group was born out of the dedication of locals who wish to assist misplaced animals discover their homeowners, abused animals discover a extra loving life, and discovering perpetually houses for adoptable animals.
“Nine years ago, the old Mecosta County shelter owner decided to retire so they asked people to submit proposals for a new shelter and we ended up winning that proposal,” Arroe mentioned. “Since our opening, we couldn’t have continued to survive without the support of our community. They are phenomenal and any time we post that we’re out of food or litter and supplies, immediately people will bring or mail-in donations and we never have to go without anything that we need.”
ARC of Mecosta County, positioned at 18400 220th Avenue in Big Rapids, homes each canine and cats. The constructing has two out of doors train areas for canine, in addition to two open areas for the cats to supply a stress-free setting.
The group has taken in nearly 3,000 canine and 1,200 cats since its inception in 2011 and continues so as to add to that quantity each month.
Arroe mentioned neighborhood provide and financial donations have helped the group and its volunteers and employees proceed offering the standard care that the animals deserve.
“Our veterinarian bills can be over $30,000 a year, and people support us monetarily and we never have to make a decision about a pet and whether or not we can fix whatever their medical problem is,” Arroe mentioned. “We have always been able to make every dog and cat as comfortable as possible with the help of the community. Before we opened I had no plans to have an animal shelter so it kind of just fell into my lap, and I’ve learned a lot these past nine years having not worked at a shelter before that.”
“The biggest thing when we look back at all the of and cats that have come in and our of our doors we have a lot of feeling of nostalgia because we’ve cared for and loved every single one,” she added.
ARC will settle for animals regardless of age or breed and can consider reportedly aggressive animals, however won’t settle for feral cats. The group capabilities as a no-kill shelter the place no animal is euthanized resulting from lack of house.
Throughout the 9 years, ARC has been open the group has obtained rather a lot of optimistic suggestions on adoptions and re-homing of their resident cats and canine.
Christian Harr, a resident of Big Rapids, mentioned that him and his spouse’s determination to undertake a cat from the group two years in the past ended up being an eye-opening expertise.
“My wife and I adopted our cat Tomahawk from the ARC of Mecosta on Sept. 21, 2019,” Harr mentioned. “I never was a cat person growing up, but my wife was. She convinced me to adopt a cat and when we went to the ARC, all the cats were walking everywhere but Tomahawk was hiding in a box. We bent down to look inside and there he was, and he came out and followed us everywhere.”
“We knew then that he had chosen us,” he added. “He has changed my mind on cats and couldn’t ask for a better companion. Tomahawk loves everyone who comes over and is now the star of his own Facebook page.”
Another ARC adopter, Nicole SanCartier, mentioned the adoption of her canine Mohalo seven years in the past modified her life for the higher.
“One summer day in 2013, I happened to stop in to see who was sheltering at ARC and was informed there was a litter of puppies that arrived not too long ago,” SanCartier mentioned. “They opened the kennel door, and a litter ran free climbing all over me, licking and playing. One pup stayed back in the cage. Whoever opened the door, scooted the rest of the litter back into the kennel and one little one came out and laid on my lap, and I was chosen. His name is Mohalo and I am so thankful I happened to stop by the ARC that day, it was meant to be.”
The group presently has 9 cats out there for adoption and 10 canine out there for adoption. The shelter will usually have all kinds of canine and cat breeds at any given time, and in accordance with Arroe, the pandemic has truly helped many of their animals discover perpetually houses rapidly.
“The ones that are the most memorable to us are the ones that come out of sadder situations and are able to recover and find homes,” Arroe mentioned. “The dogs and cats either are abused, neglected or scared of people and because of all the love that our volunteers give these animals, we’re able to make them adoptable. We’re a successful shelter and have been able to run as a no-kill shelter, and before we opened other shelters often wouldn’t take cats, so we’ve been able to do that.”
Arroe mentioned COVID-19 impacted their volunteer numbers, however elevated their adoption charges.
“Really we’re doing great and typically before COVID-19 we would have about 100 volunteers at a time which has decreased because of the pandemic but we’re hoping to get back to where we were,” she added. “The only good thing I can say about COVID-19 is everyone was lonely, so our dogs and cats flew out of the shelter. I think they made everyone’s lives more bearable during the pandemic while people were alone, and people have been asking if we’ve gotten any of those animals back and we have not.”
“People are not just keeping them temporarily, and at one point we got down to two dogs in the shelter because of how great we were doing with adoptions,” she added. “That’s one positive thing we’ve seen through the pandemic. As for donations, we can always use monetary donations and supplies for our animals, as well as foster homes for kittens and volunteers at the shelter which we can always use more of and appreciate.”
The ARC of Mecosta is open from 9 a.m. to midday Tuesdays by way of Fridays; 5-7 p.m., 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays; and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sundays.
The group is constantly in want of provides for animals together with pet pads, cat litter particularly recycled paper pellets, Purina cat chow, nylabones, mushy canine treats, Purina canine and pet chow, Purina kitten chow and cat treats. The solely canine toys the group makes use of are nylabones and tennis balls.
[ad_2]
