Houston animal shelter closes because of a lack of funds and wider issues

A Houston-area animal shelter called "Adopt-a-Cat has had to shut down after 30 years of operation because of a combination of unfortunate circumstances, the most important of which is that the Covid-19 pandemic changed the world and it appears to have changed the amount of disposable income people have and therefore can give to charity.

Dr Harper is closing Adopt-a-Cat in Houston due to a lack of funds by Michael Broad

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I think this is due to the fact that after Covid there was high inflation which resulted in financial hardship and also countries had built up debt. Businesses were disrupted and lifestyles were also disrupted. People had to tighten their belts and therefore some charities lost out.

And sadly, this has happened to Adopt-a-Cat. The founder is Dr. Beverly Harper. She says it costs about $7000 to care for the cats and pay for the shelter's three employees per month I believe. It's an expensive business. But they've  been successfully operating since 1994 but they no longer have the money to keep going.

Dr. Harper said that the donations started to dry up during the Covid-19 pandemic and after the pandemic there are few people willing to donate which has been compounded by recent storms apparently in the area.

Dr. Harper said that "People don't have the money that they had [and] they're doing things like getting rid of the trees in their yard". I take that to mean the trees that have uprooted by the storms.

It became clear to Dr. Harper that she would have to close. She says that she is a realist and she knows that everything ends. The shelter has stopped taking in new cats and are hoping to adopt out the remaining cats at the shelter (80).

Sadly, some people still dump cats at the shelter in boxes outside despite being told that they are not taking in any new cats.

My research indicates that many animal shelters in the Houston area have been experiencing financial struggles. The factors contributing to this unfortunate situation include:

Increased demand: There are high intake rates animals due to overpopulation and abandonment according to my research. This might also be linked to the post-Covid situation causing financial stresses and other disruptions to normal lifestyles.

Limited resources: many shelters operate on tight budgets and rely on donations and volunteer support. It's quite troublesome to keep things going sometimes.

Rising costs: there have been increase costs as we know due to inflation and these include increase costs in veterinary care and pet food. And also maintenance expenses have increased making it harder for shelters to sustain operations.

Economic impact: there is a broader economic aspects to this as mentioned which can reduce donations from the public and impact fundraising efforts.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Auto repair shop in Tyler, Texas collects pet food donations for animal rescues

NEWS AND OPINION: This is a wonderful development. I hope that it trends and other commercial enterprises get involved. It's a wonderful act of altruism by Stewart's Donnybrook Automotive. And it is thanks, as I understand it, to the managing partner Gary Stewart who saw a problem with local animal rescues that needed help.

Thought: the scheme is a great way to promote the repair shop's business too 💕😊. It is a win-win.

Pet food piling up at  Stewart's Donnybrook Automotive. Image: KETK Tyler

Some of them are saying that there is an epidemic of unwanted cats in the area. I've heard this sort of thing before with animal rescue after the pandemic.

And so Gary Stewart decided to step in. He turned to the community for help in the form of cat food donations. Local residents are delivering cat food to his automotive repair shop and he takes them to one animal rescue in Henderson and another in Kilgore.

Stewart's Donnybrook Automotive. Image: Google search.

Of course, the animal rescues are delighted because with gifts of cat food it frees up their funding to pay for medical requirements.

Stuart said: "It just exploded, you know, and we have people bringing food, amazon shows up with food and people I don’t even know show up with food that just love animals, like we do."

Heather Payer-Smith the owner of Cat's Meow Rescue said: It’s really helpful, not just in the supplies, but it helps us be able to put our money towards the vet bills and other needs as well."

Stewart said that he will take donations for as long as he can and he wants to expand his assistance to help other animal rescues in the area.

Comment: it made me think if this idea could be expanded to other areas. There is no reason why commercial enterprises in any area can't act as agents (donation drop-off points) to help animal rescue organisations in the same area by receiving donations of cat and dog food. Just a thought. I think the idea is so good that it should be expanded.

Of course, it depends on the circumstances and the facilities available within the organisation as to whether they can take in donations but if it is possible I would love to see it expanded.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Imaginative Humane Society fundraiser goes viral

The Animal Friends and Humane Society, in Hamilton, Ohio have come up with an imaginative fundraiser on their Facebook page. They are asking visitors to provide them with the name of an ex-partner who they believe behave badly towards them. That name will go onto the base of a litter box and the litter box will be used for the rescue cats in their care.

Humane Society fundraiser goes viral on news media. Image: MikeB

They are accepting donations between February 1-12 and on their Facebook page there are instructions on how to make the donation. It is via an American mobile payment service called Venmo which is owned by PayPal.

There is a QR code on their Facebook page which you can scan using your smartphone or "search the Charity @AFHStreasurer2011." Your chance to kill 'two birds with one stone' to use an appropriate saying. You can clear your conscience of that pesky relationship that you had which bugs you and you can do some good for animal welfare.