East Newton Animal Coalition Assists Animals in Need

Wow, the summer is almost over, and it just began! Hopefully, the extreme heat has gone away, and the dogs and cats have a more comfortable outside life again. Rudi, my German Shepherd, certainly thinks so. He spent most of the summer in the air conditioning, but is back to chasing squirrels outside, and the squirrel in turn sits on the power line chattering at him. It is an ongoing war between the two.

I spent a little time with one of our pounds/rescues that could use a little help, the Granby Pound, which is managed by the same person who runs East Newton Animal Coalition. Catherine works seven days a week keeping the kennels clean, laundry, fundraising, sharing the available pets (dogs, cats and an occasional rabbit), finding volunteers and fosters, asking for rescues to take many of her animals, then taking part in the transport effort, and generally, everything that needs done for the pound and shelter. I worry about Catherine and so many of the animal care volunteers who spend their own money and certainly most of their life, helping the dogs and cats that someone else heartlessly disposed of, so if you can help a little, please do.

Like many of the shelter directors and managers, Catherine says she has never seen a time like this, when all shelters were full, adoptions are low, and more and more dogs and cats are being dumped. Even some breeders are unable to sell their dogs and some of those wind up at shelters, if they are fortunate. The Granby kennels have been consistently full since before Christmas. She told me that one of the hardest things for her to do is to say "no" to someone who needs to find a place for a dog that was found by a good Samaritan who cannot keep the pet.

I recently took part in a transport for Catherine, when a senior yorkie was dumped when she could no longer breed. The poor dog was in bad shape when it arrived at ENAC but a good bath and haircut, good food and lots of love changed a shy and discouraged dog into a happy go lucky senior who knew the transport would give her a chance at a new life. My daughter and I drove her and 3 other dogs to Butler, Mo., where we met up with a wonderful person from Friends of Parkville Animal Shelter (FOPAS), North of Kansas City. The yorkie sat in my daughter’s lap all the way, with a smile on her face. As always though, Catherine shed a few tears over Destiny and Cooper, the other dog from ENAC on the transport who had been with her for 3 months.

Some of the less reputable breeders will release dogs who can no longer raise puppies and so many of the released dogs will have health issues, such as heart murmurs or congenital diseases. The motto "Adopt, Don’t Shop" is still very much in effect. There are responsible breeders, but they are unfortunately in the minority in Missouri. 

As usual I asked Catherine what her most immediate need is and she replied that since so many animals were either neglected, or were injured on the road or otherwise hurt, she is always looking for funds to be able to provide good medical care. And since ENAC has no facility of its own, she has fosters who take care of pets that are taken in by ENAC, so if you are interested in fostering, call Catherine. There are plans to build a facility for ENAC, but with the current load of animals, all the funds, including her salary, seem to go toward care of the animals.

Catherine and I spent quite a bit of time discussing the current situation and truthfully, we did not wind up with any great solutions, except to make the public aware of the situation and to continually ask owners to spay/neuter their animals and to take care of them in all kinds of weather and circumstances. Being animal lovers, we feel there are few legitimate reasons for surrendering an animal, death being one of them and we are seeing more animals losing their homes due to an elderly owner passing away.

Many times, the deceased’s children will take an animal in, but sometimes they do not, and the pets wind up in shelters or pounds. We decided that the younger generations are taking our warnings and requests for spaying and neutering to heart, they are more likely to adopt a dog rather than buy one and they are willing to learn how to take care of a pet and they will speak up for a mistreated pet. Being optimistic, Catherine and I were both very pleased with the direction these young people are going.

So, take a look at some of these pets available through the Granby Pound or ENAC:

BRAVO, the Husky mix, is approximately 10 months old and has been at the pound for about 3 and a half of those. He is a sweet and energetic pup who was dumped by being dropped over the 6 ft fence that surrounds the Granby pound.

DOBY is a Cairn Terrier mix who was semi feral when he arrived at Granby. Catherine kept working with him and one morning, suddenly, a tiny paw reached out for her, and the next morning when she arrived, there was a big tail wag! What a success!

TINKERBELL may be a Dalmatian/Boxer mix who was found by the side of the road by a kind Newton County patrolman who, when he opened the door on his patrol car, promptly found a new passenger – no handcuffs required! The patrolman contacted Catherine, and of course, he was taken in.

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