Animal shelter faces cash crunch

By: Lindsey Wiebe
Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

WINNIPEG - A city animal shelter has stopped taking in new animals, faced with dwindling adoption numbers and roughly $10,000 in unpaid bills.

"2010 was the worst we’ve ever had with donations, adoptions, and extra cash flow to get us through," said D’Arcy’s A.R.C. owner D’Arcy Johnston. "It didn’t happen this year."

Johnston said the no-kill shelter is behind on bills, including a $2,400 hydro and $7,500 vet bill. Adoptions netted roughly $50,000 last year, down from a typical $90,000 to $100,000, he said.

Johnston doesn’t plan to close, but is cutting back services for now in a bid to last the year. He said small, no-kill shelters struggle without funding from the city or province.

As for callers with unwanted animals, "right now I’m telling them to send them to 510 Main Street," said Johnston. "The city has a huge problem. They’ve not addressed it."

If you can please donate.

http://www.darcysarc.ca/

Over the years we have tried several times to give them strays buy they are always 'full'.

There is a reason that their adoptions have fallen off.

Many charities are reporting a decline in gifts. It is a sign of the times.

I imagine they are always full is because they are a no kill shelter. There is only so much room at the inn. They did move to a larger facility and I noticed they've opened a second facility.

Any organization that will provide a no kill shelter is a-ok by me...

Careless animal owners ought to be spayed and neutered.

Maybe its time to make it mandatory for pet stores and breeders to spay and neuter the animals before they can be sold.
Any animals not spayed or neutered would be sold at a premium.
Thoughts

Maybe its time to slap these pet stores (and the humane society) around and have them charge a more reasonable price for their pets.

Deank wrote:Maybe its time to slap these pet stores (and the humane society) around and have them charge a more reasonable price for their pets.

It seems counter-intuitive to charge such high adoption fees. That said, the humane society includes insurance, spaying/neutering, etc... Not sure what is included in D'Arcy fees.

As outside proposes the pets should be fixed before they leave the facility.

Adult Cats (over 6 months)	$79.00
Kittens (between 4 and 6 months)	$129.00
Kittens (under 4 months)	$179.00
Mom and Kitten	$169.00
Older Cats (7+ years)	$40.00
Long-term Cats (have been here over 2 months)	$39.50

.. the older the cat.. the more costly it is for them.. YET... look at the price point.

Adoption Fees Include

• Health Exam by shelter veterinarian
  
• First vaccine(s)
  
• Two week Health Period
  
• Ownership Handbook
  
• Spay/Neuter for all dogs, cats, and rabbits
  
• Ear Tattoo
  
• Support System to help with any difficulties
  
• City of Winnipeg Dog License
  
• 6 weeks Petsecure Pet Health Insurance (cats & dogs)
  
• Behaviour Evaluations on adult dogs
  
• Iams food coupon for cats and dogs
  

There is only one thing in that list that is actually needed, the rest are make work/money projects for them.

Ace Burpee and hot103 are planning something to help D'Arcy's arc out.

You're being too hard on them Deank. This is not a profitable venture for these agencies (D'Ardy and WHS).

As to the older cat fees... Everyone wants a kitten. Few want to adopt an older cat. Hence the lower fee to make it more attractive. Of all my cats only one was a kitten. I'd always go for the adult cat when adopting, probably because they may never be adopted.

Not too hard on them at all.

Want to move the cats out the door faster so you dont have to feed and house them longer? Make the fees reasonable.

update

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Local-businesses-come-to-aid-of-animal-shelter-113461914.html

"
D’Arcy’s A.R.C. looks likely to stay afloat after half-a-dozen local
businesses donated around $5,500 and offered to take on the struggling
animal shelter’s hydro bill for the rest of the year.

D’Arcy’s A.R.C. owner D’Arcy Johnston said Wednesday he would no
longer be accepting new animals in light of a severe cash shortage
stemming in part from fewer adoptions and donations.


The flood of cash for the shelter came in through a fundraising drive spearheaded by Hot 103 radio personality Ace Burpee."
FARKIN A!

The prices are the same as the Humane Society's. Still, they do seem high. C'mon....$180 for a kitten is steep.

Adult Cats (over 6 months)	$79.00
Kittens (between 4 and 6 months)	$129.00
Kittens (under 4 months)	$179.00
Mom and Kitten	$169.00
Older Cats (7+ years)	$40.00
Long-term Cats (have been here over 2 months)	$39.50

But if you take mom too we will give you a $10 discount!

hell... what moron would not take mom? you could just walk out the door, drop her off and continue on your way with a $10 discount on your kitten

The root of the problem is not the shelters and their prices/policies, the root is the horredous cat overpopulation problem in this city.

CBC had a good documentary on last week (Cat Crazed, on the Doc Zone), that described how Calgary's humane society is now not full and hasn't put any animals to euthanasia because of space in months... this is because of a) a cat licensing program, and b) the city having the bylaw officers to enforce licensing, and also spay/neuter, no free roaming cats bylaws.

The will to do something about the cat problem is something I can't imagine our city council being able to manage, somehow...

They charge high for kittens because they can. The kittens are the ones most in demand and people are more willing to pay the price. The older cats have a hard time getting adopted, so lower price can be one of the incentives to adopt an older cat.

If their goal is to make money then the high price point is appropriate, but if the goal is to have these animals in homes as quickly as possible, then their high pricing is counter-productive imo.

JTF wrote:If their goal is to make money then the high price point is appropriate, but if the goal is to have these animals in homes as quickly as possible, then their high pricing is counter-productive imo.

100% this.

But that's the thing. Even at those prices, they have very little trouble finding homes for the kittens - kittens are cute and people want them - they get adopted pretty quickly. The price on kittens isn't counter-productive to finding them homes, and it generates needed revenue for the shelter to feed/support the other cats in their care.

That's not true. They do have trouble finding homes for ALL their animals, including kittens.

My neighbour fosters kittens for them so I have an inside scoop...I've been telling her this for years.

I believe if there are two cats to choose from, a kitten and an adult, the kitten will be selected more often than not.

But to jtf's observation, a couple years ago the WHS had something like 200 (300?) cats up for adoption. So many, they were using some of the dog kennels to house them.

There were many kittens and young cats available.

I think the shelters are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Costs keep rising and I guess donations aren't keeping pace. They need to keep the doors open so they raise the adoption fees. And they charge what they feel the market will bear. And the market has said they will pay more for kittens...

When I "go", and some people I know that have already gone, I will ask people to donate to the WHS in lieu of... Part of my estate will also go there...

Imho, to rid ourselves of this problem (way too many animals around) and, at the same time really piss off some people, we (the government) should hire a bunch of vets (or some experienced cowboys) and give free "fixins" for a couple of years, or for as long as it takes.
That, along with a program to catch, neuter and release ferals, should do it.

Generally, I believe that we must lower the ceiling on these two things to fix this.