The Union County Animal Protection Society is once again accepting animals, albeit on a case-by-case basis.
“The community, I feel, has responded positively and understands the position we’re in,” said UCAPS volunteer Angelica Wurth.
In May, the UCAPS staff had to limit intake at the shelter due to severe overcrowding. Wurth said at the beginning of May that the shelter was holding 350 animals, almost 20 percent higher than their typical population of 300, which is also the shelter’s maximum capacity.
Since then, though, UCAPS staff and volunteers have made some headway in lowering the shelter’s population back to about 300, through both fostering and adoption as well as a transport program that allows some animals to be moved to shelters in northern states.
“Over 20 dogs got accepted into that (transport) program,” Wurth said. “That was really good. Typically they take 10 or 12, but this time they took 20.”
UCAPS has held several adoption events since May and shelter manager Tanja Jackson is always on the lookout for foster pet parents.
Throughout the summer, UCAPS is also holding an adoption special, lowering the one-off adoption fee everyone pays when they decide to take in an animal. Typically it costs $150 to adopt a pet from UCAPS, with that cost including veterinary treatment like spaying or neutering, if the animal is old enough, and checks for heartworms and fleas.
This summer, adoption fees will be lowered to $50 for senior dogs and those dogs that are over five years old; $75 for dogs between one and four years old; $50 for adult cats; and $75 for kittens.
“That’s really going to help. We hear from a lot of people ‘I wish I could have a pet, I just can’t afford $150.’ They can’t afford it. … We want to help those people that do want to have a pet,” Wurth said. “A whole bag of cat food, like Iams, which is a good brand of cat food, is like $27 and it feeds a cat for six weeks. That’s not bad, but an upfront cost of $150, not everybody has that.”
To help promote adoption as well as spaying and neutering one’s pets, UCAPS currently has 60 vouchers that will allow pet owners to receive spay or neuter services from a local vet at a lower cost than they typically could. To participate in that program, one must purchase a voucher from UCAPS at $50 for male dogs and $60 for female dogs; one will then take the voucher to one of three participating local veterinary clinics, El Dorado Animal Hospital, Goodwin Animal Hospital or Ward Veterinary Clinic, where they will receive spay/neuter services in exchange for the voucher.
“I have a dog and it costs $125 to get it spayed or neutered; usually spays are more expensive, so let’s just say neutered. Now I have this $60 voucher and I’m going to get him spayed or neutered,” Wurth said. “We have people lined up … waiting for vouchers.”
Wurth said UCAPS had their biggest adoption numbers yet this year last month, in May. UCAPS is also working on several long-term initiatives that Wurth said she thinks will help sustainably curb the stray animal population in Union County.
In March, UCAPS started a trap-neuter-return program for the city’s stray cats. Through the program, UCAPS staff and volunteers use humane traps to catch cats in areas they have congregated and kittens have been spotted; any cats caught in the traps the next morning are transported to a veterinarian, who spays or neuters them. After that, the cats are released back into the neighborhoods they were found in.
The TNR program helps to reduce the number of stray kittens born in the city, reducing the feral animal population. UCAPS held their most recent TNR event Thursday, catching 17 cats that evening that have since been spayed or neutered. In all, 36 cats in El Dorado have been spayed or neutered thanks to the program.
Wurth recently drew up a proposal for the El Dorado Works Board requesting city funding for the TNR program. Each TNR event costs UCAPS about $3,000 right now, so Wurth’s proposal, which calls for having 150 cats spayed or neutered through the TNR program, asks for $20,000. UCAPS started with a $10,000 budget for TNR and has already held three events.
“We get lots of calls from lots of citizens, but we only have a limited budget, so we want to get the support of the city to do this kind of program,” she said. “They came back with some questions, so we’re going to work on getting answers to some of their questions. We want to reach out and have some discussions with our City Council-people just to see what they think about it, make sure that they think it’s a valuable thing for the city, and then we’ll go from there.”
Staff and volunteers from UCAPS are also working now to prepare their Adoption Center for its grand opening. The Adoption Center, also announced in March, will be a supplement to the UCAPS shelter, where some of their most adoptable animals will be available to meet in a facility closer to the El Dorado city-center.
“We’re getting closer and closer,” Wurth said. “Slowly but surely. And honestly, it’s all been through the kindness of the community and the fact that more and more people know what we’re dealing with and the kind of stuff that we’re trying to accomplish.”
Wurth said the goal is currently to finish the Adoption Center by August. Renovations to the ground floor of the Center are about 75 percent done, she said, with new flooring installation and building dog kennels and cat condos being the only major projects remaining.
Once the Center is open, it will be home to cats and dogs available for adopting. Wurth said the public will also be welcome to come just to visit the animals.
UCAPS also plans to use the Adoption Center as a community outreach facility. Educational events, like classes on responsible pet parenting, the importance of spaying and neutering one’s pets and approaching strange animals, will be staples there.
“The strategy to improve the overpopulation of animals in the county and in El Dorado is a three-pronged approach of spay/neuter, education and the TNR program, managing cat colonies,” Wurth said.
Wurth estimates that it will cost about $500 a month to keep the Adoption Center running. That’s in addition to the $10,000 UCAPS still needs to raise for the final touches on the home, she said.
To help offset some of their costs, UCAPS often asks for help from volunteers. They are making a call now for volunteers to help with several of these projects.
Wurth said the TNR program can always use volunteers to help set out traps and transport cats to a veterinarian. This week, volunteers from Murphy USA will help to paint the UCAPS Adoption Center; in mid-July, shortly after the July 4 holiday, UCAPS will need more volunteers to help build a fence at the Adoption Center for the dogs housed there to have an outside space.
With summer now in full swing, Wurth also noted that it is important for pet owners to watch for signs of dehydration in their pets. It is important to ensure that outside animals have access to fresh water and a shady place to rest, she said.
To learn how to get involved at UCAPS, email [email protected] or visit ucapsshelter.org.
Caitlan Butler can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].