UP animal shelters receive funding to improve animal welfare

UPPER PENINSULA, Mich. (WLUC) - If you checked the “Animal Welfare Fund” box on your annual state tax returns, you helped support cute animals.

“There’s a lot of shelters and humane societies and rescues in Michigan,” said Delta Animal Shelter Operations Coordinator Vonnie Bruce.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Animal Welfare Grant offered $150,000. Twenty-eight animal shelters won funds to better care for local animals. Bruce says the shelter is honored to be chosen.

“It’s awesome,” Bruce said. “I mean, we’re a nonprofit, we’re completely run off with fundraising, donations and grants, so it’s a big part of what keeps us going, so we’re very grateful that we were selected.”

Bruce says the grant provided about $2,000 for spaying and neutering supplies. She says medical costs are the shelter’s largest expense. Bruce says the shelter’s ultimate goal is to reduce the population of homeless animals and find forever homes for the animals.

“We don’t want to have animal shelters cause that means every animal has a home, so if we can get these animals spayed and neutered and stop them from having litters of kittens and puppies that are ultimately gonna show up at the shelter and have to find homes; that’s our biggest goal,” Bruce said.

In Ontonagon County, the grant provided $4,000 to Ontonagon County Animal Protection. Grant writer Barbara Braithwaite says her submission was based on the average surgery costs--about $500 for dogs and $200 for cats.

“Every animal that leaves our shelter as an adopted animal has had all its shots and tests and a spay or neuter,” Braithwaite said.

Braithwaite wrote the grant in memory of Loki...a dog who was going to get the treatment but had to be euthanized.

“Because he was found in such mean circumstances along with other animals, we decided--I decided I wanted to name it the Loki fund,” Braithwaite said.

She says the shelter will make the most of the funds, which came from you.

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