Raining cats and dogs

Grant County Humane Society opens new quarters

Published Monday, March 10, 2008

What a year it’s been for the people behind the Grant County Humane Society. Based in Elbow Lake, the group has settled into a new building, and for the first time in a long time, is housing all of its animals in one location.

For years, the humane society’s volunteer staff had hoped to move out of their office in Elbow Lake’s Central Court Business Center. Society president and veterinary technician Kari Anderson said the space held only seven or eight cats, and required dogs be kept with foster families out in the country.

That all changed late last summer with surprise funding from Joan Fjoslien, a local pet-enthusiast with ties to humane society treasurer Chris Mitchell.

“(Fjoslien) gave us a significant donation and strictly for the purpose of finding a new building,” Anderson said. “As soon as (Mitchell) told us we all started to cry because we were one step closer to having the facility that we so desperately needed.”

Volunteers began the search for a shop, and by October, had settled on a building once owned by Mark and Vicki Brekke, just east of downtown Elbow Lake along Highway 79.

“This just happened to be the only building that was in our price range and had enough room for the dogs and the cats,” Anderson said.

By November, the humane society had moved into their new location, but with one glitch: Without a fence adjacent to the building, there was no room for the dogs to run and no way they could live at the site. At the same time, the woman keeping society dogs out in the country had plans to retire.

“That probably would have meant we’d be a cat-only humane society for awhile,” Anderson said.

It would have also affected the society’s budget, which depends on stray dog contracts with area towns. In this arrangement, the Grant County Commission matches the $125 fee paid by each town, and the humane society takes in up to five dogs from each community. But those contracts wouldn’t be possible if there wasn’t a place to keep the dogs.

So in early November, humane society volunteers approached the county commission, hoping commissioners would fund the remaining $3,600 needed to install the fence. But the day of the meeting — the first after the death of commissioner Craig Rupp — there simply was not time on the agenda for the group to make its case, Anderson said.

By this time, the plight of the humane society had attracted the attention of the Grant County Herald.

Anderson said she believed the publicity prompted the string of donations which eventually led to the purchase of a fence. That fence was erected mid-January, with plans for the dogs to move in by mid-February.

In the midst of the changes, hard work from volunteers like Lynn Vetrone has remained consistent. Vetrone, the society’s cat supervisor, joined the group about two years ago after she found a stray animal on her property and brought it to the office.

“I had this beautiful injured cat in my yard,” Vetrone said, “and I was so impressed with how everything was handled that I thought I’d like to get involved and give something back.”

Vetrone, Anderson, Chris Mitchell and Candy Johnson comprise the humane society board and are among seven to eight volunteers.

“The volunteers we have are wonderful,” Anderson said. “They’re just super.”