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Millville dog lover, others are saving hundreds of pets from death By
Bryce Davidson
The movement to rescue homeless pets rather than kill them is alive and well in Utah. The nation's largest no-kill animal shelter, Best Friends, is just a few miles outside of Kanab in southern Utah. Best Friends receives animals from all over the country, and on any given day there are never fewer than 1,800. This shelter and many others in Utah are helping to end the killing of thousand of animals. Within the growing number of animal welfare organizations is FourPaws, a Cache Valley shelter started by Lisa Shaw of Millville. Shaw started the FourPaws shelter about five years ago, and she has helped save the lives of nearly 300 cats and dogs every year. Shaw started the organization in Cache Valley because she saw a big need. "If local animal control picks up a animal they will put it to sleep with in two or three days if it's not claimed. This doesn't give an owner on vacation enough time to save their pet, let alone give someone time to adopt it," Shaw said. Local officials don't want to put up money to care for the animals any longer than they have to, she added. According to Best Friends, the animals that come to these shelters are usually great animals that come from a variety of backgrounds: some are strays, others are service dogs such as greyhounds that were once used for racing. During the past 12 years, there has been a dramatic reduction in the numbers of dogs and cats being destroyed in shelters and pounds across the country, from a high of 17 million in 1987 to a low of less than 5 million last year, according to the Best Friends website. Shaw said that the almost all the animals she receives would make great pets. Often the animals belong to people who just can take care of them any more, people who have had to move or elderly people who became sick. "We rarely see a dog that is a problem," Shaw said. "If we do then unfortunately we have to put it down." Along with providing a little tender loving caring, FourPaws and other most other no-kill shelters also provide necessary medical services. Part of this includes spaying and neutering all cats and dogs to prevent more unwanted pets. "There are already too many homeless animals in this world. The last thing we want to do is save an animal and then turn around and see the animal parent more unwanted animals," Shaw said. The shelters operate using private donations and grants. "Most of our support we get from the community funding is comprised from number of small donations---funds are tight but we are thankful for everything we can get," Shaw said. Most shelters charge a small fee for adopting animals. The money is used to help offset the cost of caring for and neutering the animals and providing necessary health care. The FourPaws Shelter would like to be a safe haven for all unwanted pets in Cache Valley, but is financially limited to about 30 dogs and an additional 30 cats at any given time. In the future FourPaws would like to build an indoor shelter, Shaw said, but until then they will keep using kennels along with trying to find people in the community to be foster parents to the animals. Shaw says that having people in the community serve as foster parents helps to insure that the animal receives proper attention and are suitable for adoption. "It can be rewarding when you take in a shy animals and bring back their spirit through love and kindness," Shaw said. Some dogs really need the one on one contact that only a foster family can bring, she said. With so many animals the shelters can't provide them with the attention the animals so desperately want. "The people that serve as foster parents oftentimes fall in love with the dog and decide to adopt it. This is great but it usually means they can't foster any more dogs," Shaw said. If you are interested in serving as foster parents, adopting, volunteering or want to donate, FourPaws and Best Friends are just a couple of the shelters in Utah. Other shelters in the area include Companion Golden Retriever Rescue, Northern Utah German Shepherd Rescue, and No More Homeless Pets in Utah.
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