Loving pets for you from the Suwannee County Animal Shelter

Open House/Adopt-a-Thon a success

On behalf of the staff and volunteers of the Suwannee County Animal Shelter, located off US 129 in McAlpin, our sincerest thanks to all who came to the shelter recently in support of our shelter animals. Despite the heavy rains of the night before and several other events in the area, our Open House/Adopt-a-Thon at the shelter turned out very well.

Thanks to the many talents of our dedicated volunteers, the pulled pork dinner under the organizational and catering talents of Terri and Jim Grebs provided a delicious lunch to all who attended. Among the volunteers who worked very hard at our Open House are: Terri and Jim Grebs and Sylvia Morton at the food table and the bake sale table, Janet Dineen, who did the face painting, Rose Northuis who took care of the “bean bag toss” game, Kathy Furlo at the “coins in the hay” game, Wendy Webster, who took care of the adoptions and “tours” of the animals at the shelter, Becky Baldree, who manned the shelter table where T-shirts, calendars and lots of informational materials were available, and Gail Petterson, Carole Sellers, and Gail & Bill Dolly, who helped with the setting up and acted as “floaters,” working where ever there was a need. Thanks also to Janis Hunter and Joe Brown, our two animal control officers, and Judy Rowe, shelter secretary, for all their hard work through this event and on all the other days of the year. If I have missed anyone, I’ll be sure to name them in next week’s column. Several others distributed the flyers, procured donations from the business community and did much of the driving around to collect donations and run errands necessary for this event. Couldn’t have done it without you folks!

Our sincere thanks also to those who helped make the event a success: Cody and Marty Westall, who brought and manned the “Bounce House,” the members of the “Outback Band,” Roy Welch and Butch Harrison. It’s the kind donations of time, talent and support that make something like this happen. That includes many of our local businesses that donated so much to help this event be a success. Special thanks to Ben and Lori Miller of Suwannee River Log Homes for the donation of the terrific “Log Style Dog House” that is being raffled off and will be drawn at the November Animal Fair at the Fairgrounds, and to David Walker for the donation of the kayak that was won in the silent auction.

It is still so surprising to me how many members of our community still confuse us with the Humane Society, and that came up several times Saturday. The Humane Society is a caring animal shelter that is located in Lee, Florida, over in Madison County, and we have no affiliation with each other. The only county shelter in Suwannee is our shelter, off US 129 on the same road as the large landfill. The only other shelter I know of in Suwannee County is the city shelter located in the city limits serving the town of Live Oak only. We continue to work hard to help folks distinguish these shelters. We all do our best in the interests of the animal population of our county.

At SCAS we are doing our best to help our citizens understand the responsibility of being a good pet owner, and we will continue to help our citizens understand the need to spay and neuter all animals in our county. Thanks to all who have constantly supported this shelter, and we look forward to working with all of

The Suwannee County Animal Shelter is located about eight miles south of Live Oak at 11150 144th Street, McAlpin, on the same road as the large county landfill off highway 129. We are open on Monday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., on Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to about noon. Please call first at 386-208-0072 if you plan to come out on Saturday to make sure someone is still there.

Thanks for your support of our shelter, and do remember to have your pet spayed or neutered. God bless!

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