The Cass County Humane Society has recently changed its name to Pets R Us, but this new change in names has not brought new changes to the facility. The Humane Society has been struggling for many years for reasons some Cass County residents might overlook.
“I feel like the biggest struggles that Pets R Us has is space, funding and resources,” senior Madison Moore, who volunteers for the facility, said.
The facility is currently at maximum capacity with both cats and dogs. Every cage is full. Surrounding cities are facing the same situation. Residents from Kokomo, Lafayette and even Indianapolis call Pets R Us to see if they are accepting drop-offs. Sadly, executive director Lisa Terry has to decline these animals.
“It’s not just us,” Terry said. “No one has the room. No one can take these animals in.”
Without the room, the shelter looks in no other direction but to expand, but they can not afford that. The shelter is a charitable nonprofit organization, which means they receive money from the IRS to support their mission. The purpose is to further a cause deemed important to the community. Unfortunately, the money they receive is not enough to keep things running smoothly.
“We are a no-kill shelter,” Terry said. “This means putting down these animals to welcome more is not an option, even if we wanted it to be.”
Being a no-kill shelter, they also face struggles with animals that have been dropped off in the past. Regardless of an animal’s situation, whether it is infested with fleas or covered in mites, the shelter must accept it and try to help the situation.
“This is a problem,” Terry said. “Who is going to want to adopt a dog covered in fleas? So, we have to take care of it until either it gets better and someone adopts it, or it passes away in the shelter.”
Some of these animals are brought to the shelter and spend the rest of their life there. Volunteers, like Madison Moore, explain that their assistance to the shelter is light work, but the reward is heavy. They spend days on days with these animals. Their overall job is to make the animals feel loved and appreciated.
“I clean the cat cages, play with the cats and give the cats lots of love,” Madison Moore said. “It helps by giving these cats a more comfortable life. Some cats have been there for years, and all they have known is their cage. I try to put myself in their shoes and try my best to give them a better life.”
On the other side, Pets R Us employees like Madison Moore’s mother, Christy Moore, express that they aren’t the ones doing the helping. It is more like the animals help them.
“It’s my therapy,” Christy Moore said.
Volunteering at the shelter is one thing Cass County residents can do to help, but there are also many other things. Donations are the biggest one, anyone can send a check through the mail to Pets R Us at 700 Water Street, Logansport, IN, 46947. Another way to donate is through Venmo: @NatMarieScott.
