The most wonderful time of the year can bring extra challenges to animal care organizations. The Animal Welfare Alliance of Southeast Missouri and its community partners are prepared with new fundraising opportunities and continued outreach.
According to AWA Director Corretta Bishop, the main Christmas fundraising effort is an ornament drive, where participating businesses display ornaments with the shelter’s wish list on them. Many of these businesses are regular supporters.
“On the back of them (the ornaments), we’ll have our Amazon wish list QR code, and it will also have the QR code to our website in case people want to donate monetarily,” she said.
Businesses without trees keep the ornaments in boxes.
Businesses participating so far include Prestige Salon, Whitworth’s Gift Chest Jewelers, Hick’s Animal Hospital, Hillcrest Animal Hospital, Key Drugs, Doggy Designs, Doggy Adventures, Charlie’s Fast Lube, Artfully Framed and the Poplar Bluff Parks & Recreation Department.
After Christmas, the shelter will launch an ongoing funding project through GotSneakers?, a company that recycles or refurbishes used sneakers. Participating businesses in Poplar Bluff will have bins where people can drop off old shoes, which the AWA then collects and ships. GotSneakers? will pay the AWA for each pair of shoes regardless of condition and also provide free shipping.
“During the holidays, people get new stuff. So rather than throw them away, they can bring them in and drop them in this box,” Bishop noted.
Donations help run the AWA No Kill Shelter in Poplar Bluff, but they also fund programs in the background like the community pet food bank, foster-for-treatment agreements with local care agencies and vouchers for reduced-cost spays and neuters.
The food bank provides one bag of dog or cat food per month to help pet owners get through hard times, which also keeps animals from arriving at the shelter in the first place.
“We try to find a way to keep the pet in the home,” Bishop explained. “So we’ll offer them, ‘If we can help you feed your pet, would you be willing to keep it?’ And most of the time they are, because their pet is like their family.”
The foster-for-treatment program is a collaboration with Haven House, Recycling Grace, the United Gospel Rescue Mission and the Veterans Administration to house animals whose owners are seeking help.
“For instance, if they have to leave an abusive situation or they need to go into treatment for an addiction, or they’re in transitional housing... and they won’t get help if they don’t know where their pet is going to be,” said Bishop.
At that point, their caseworker can contact the AWA. Currently, there are four cats and dogs in the foster-for-treatment program.
The AWA was founded in 2009 and promoted animals’ well-being for years even without a shelter, Bishop said. A continuing method for this is distributing spay and neuter vouchers worth $50 to help families fix their pets without breaking their budgets. When pets are not spayed and neutered, the population of abandoned and surrendered animals keeps shelters at their limit.
“Unfortunately yes, we are at capacity ... but that is because of the lack of people getting their pets spayed and neutered,” Bishop noted.
Thus, she hopes more people will apply for vouchers. Forms are available at the shelter, and applicants typically hear back within four weeks.
“We can’t help if we continue to have this situation of people not spaying and neutering their pets, because we’re always full,” she continued.
The No Kill Shelter has facilitated hundreds of adoptions since opening in 2021. However, for anyone considering gifting a pet for Christmas, Bishop has a word of caution.
“The one thing that we really would like to stress is do not run into or rush into a decision to adopt an animal during the holidays as a gift... We’re not discouraging it, but we would like for people to really think it through,” she said.
In January shelters see a spike in calls about animals who cannot be cared for, as well as abandonments. To prevent families from accidentally getting more than they can handle, Bishop advised careful consideration of the time, energy and training required with a new pet.
But if even the best-laid plans go awry, “Please return the animal to the shelter,” she asked. The AWA takes back any dogs and cats the owners have to give up.
Both donations and volunteer turnout decrease at Christmas, according to Bishop. Another way for animal lovers to help is simply to show up.
“Volunteers can come in anywhere Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and they can do just about anything,” said Bishop.
This could be basic cleaning, socializing with cats, or helping dogs learn basic obedience in the weekly Wag ‘N Train program.
Overall, Bishop hopes people remember the AWA and its dedication to outreach this December.
“It’s not just a place that people can drop their animals off and we house them. It’s a lot more than that... We help our community by helping others.”
More information about the Animal Welfare Alliance and its programs is available at awasemo.org and the AWA Facebook page, or by calling 573-808-0664. The shelter is located at 1904 S. Westwood Blvd.