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One of our favorite animal charities sent this along. This is one of those times when even a $1 will make a difference. So if you can, please help!
Dear Animal Lovers
We are asking, rather begging, at this point for your help. Our shelter is financially in very critical shape and in grave danger of closing. Our small membership continues to raise funds through every means possible, but its not enough. We need more members, we need more volunteers, but most of all, we need donations.
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Granite City Animal Shelter in Dire Need of Donations
Those of you, who feel as we do when… you’re handed a dog with a 50lb tow chain embedded in his neck for so long that when it was removed he can no longer hold his head up… when two cats are dropped off so infested with fleas that they have scratched their own eyes out… the Akita that was beaten with a 2×4 daily for discipline… Sweat Pea, a bait dog for dog fighting with such a grossly scarred face it was hard to look at… or a skeletal 75lb Great Dane unable to stand who was being starved to see how long it would take him to die!
These horror stories are the facts of daily shelter cases! Where as other shelters may have deemed them lost causes, we are happy to report ALL of these animals were given medical care and love are now living happily in their own homes!
Our shelter successfully adopted out over 600 healthy, happy dogs and cats last year and we hope to always be able to continue our good work. This task becomes more and more overwhelming as the stray, ill and unwanted animal population continues to grow as our economy becomes more pinched.
As much of the public is unaware, being a “NO KILL” shelter restricts our shelter to private donations for all the operating costs to maintain our facility. Because we chose to heal, reform and love our critters rather than euthanize them, we are unable and do not qualify for city, state or government funding.
Daily operations require heat, electricity, water, telephones, enormous amounts of foods, cleaning products, office supplies but foremost preventative medicines, operations (such as spays and neuters) and vet bills to rehabilitate and cure those animals that have come to us in the worst possible shape.
For these “rejected, unhealthy and unloved animals” we ask for your pennies, dimes and dollars. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Though every puppy lick and kitty purr is worth a million to us! Please consider ANY donation a step toward our future and continued success. HELP! HELP! HELP! AND MUCH THANKS!
Click Here to Become a Guardian Angel
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Granite City Newspaper Article Excerpt – No kill shelter may be headed for the doghouse
By Marissa Vickers
Wednesday, February 6, 2008 8:20 AM CST
The Granite City Association for the Protection of Animals, a no-kill shelter, is in desperate need of donations if the facility is to remain open.
Several renovations have taken or are taking place at the shelter thanks to contributions, however, those monies are specific to the remodeling and refurbishing, and it’s the operating costs that are draining the resources.
“Our operating funds were down all of last year, like, ridiculously down,” said Lisa Confer, vice president of the APA. “We’re not getting the donations. “We don’t want to lose it. We’re trying to do anything we can. We just need more support from the community and I know a lot of people don’t know about us.”
Part of the problem with not having enough money is due to the fact that the APA is a no-kill shelter. Because of this reason, the shelter is ineligible for state or federal funding.
“That’s the problem — if we would promise to euthanize them we’d have to agree to keep them for X amount of days and then put them down, and we refuse to do that,” said Nancy Hall, president of the APA.
“We get no state or federal (funding) because we’re no-kill — not one dime. We refuse to become a kill shelter just to get state and federal funding.”
Hall said the only time the APA will put an animal to sleep is if it is too vicious, therefore, unable to be put up for adoption, or if the animal is sick and nothing can be done to help it.
At any one time there are approximately 75 pets waiting for adoption. Some have been there for months, other for years.
Hall said the monthly operating costs are quite high, as they do have paid employees.
“At a bare minimum our operating expenses are very large. I’m venturing to say between $18,000 and $20,000 a month — that’s for vet bills, utilities, heat, telephones, water, medications, food — just the everyday things you have to have,” Hall said.
She also explained that to wash the bedding for the pets is practically a fulltime job in itself. The APA has an industrial sized washer and dryer that Hall said are both going non-stop.
Hall admitted she is surprised by the fact that most of the facility’s donations don’t even come from the APAs hometown of Granite City.
“They come from Missouri,” she said. “Maybe the people in Granite, or this area, don’t realize how much we rely on the donations. (But) I realize times are hard for everybody.”
“We probably have enough for three months, but then after that, everything would be gone, we’d have nothing to fall back on. If we could get most of the operating expenses from donations then we wouldn’t have to take as much” from the emergency funds, Hall said.
“I’m absolutely fearful we’re going to shut down. If we can’t meet our operating expenses we’re going to shut down.”
According to their Web site, www.gcapa.org, $5 will feed a cat for a month, $10 will feed a dog, $15 will provide rabies shot for one animal, $500 will pay for a major surgery for one animal, and several other services at varying dollar amounts are listed in between.
Moreover, volunteers are needed as well.
To donate time or some much-needed money, please log onto their website, www.gcapa.org, or mail donations to Granite City APA, P.O. Box 1311, Granite City, IL 62040. The phone number is (618) 931-7030
The shelter is located at 5000 Old Alton Road down the street from the Knights of Columbus Hall.
Please Donate Now
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You may donate on-line at www.gcapa.org or by mail at:
Association for the Protection of Animals
P.O. Box 1311
Granite City, IL. 62040
Darla