Agenda - 09-19-2006-7b - Laserfiche WebLink

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Orange County Animal Services Sheltering Practices and Philosophies 65 From the Ground Up A decade ago, Lynne Fridley, one of the key players in obtaining Maddie's money for shelters in Alabama, could not have foreseen that the animals in her region would benefit from the generosity of a foundation associated with the "no- kill" movement, At the same time that the San Francisco SPCA was relinquishing its animal control functions and gearing up to develop a collaborative relationship with the newly created municipal agency, the Humane Society of Chilton County was struggling to figure out a way to leave its WWII-era Quonset but-a place that had more in common with the wooden buildings of the San Francisco SPCA of 1890 than it did with the multimillion_dollar Maddie's Pet Adoption Center of its awn era, "When this humane society started, it was a joke to the county," says Fridley, executive director of the humane society. "And they sort of stuck us over in the Quonset but and waited for us to fail." The only shelter for homeless animals in afour-county area, the humane society had a budget of only $13,000 but a staff determined to construct a facility that was disinfectable, comfortable, and clean. With her own bare hands and a little help from some friends, Fridley built the shelter from the ground up, After begging for county land and asking the city to dig the footings, she filled the foundation herself, Contractors erected the concrete block walls and finished the slab for the floors, but all other projects-including the roofing, plumbing, electricity, and fencing-were homemade jobs. Fridley lived, breathed, and dreamed about the shelter-at least, that is, when she actually had time to sleep, During the construction, she was not only manning the project but also still running the Quonset-hut facility. The job could not have been done without her commitment; the organization simply didn't have the money to hire builders. "To have it built by a contractor would have cost about $300,000," says Fridley, "We built this building for $90,000." In the ensuing years, Fridley addressed one of the biggest problems in her area: unsterilized animals, Since mast counties in Alabama, including Fridley's, have no leash laws far dogs-let alone cats-unchecked breeding was resulting in ever-increasing numbers of animals coming into the shelter, About five years ago, with the help of foundation grant money, Fridley instituted the Spay/Neuter Assistance Program, Originally available to people living on an income of $25,000 or less a year, the program was later opened up to anyone wanting to use it, Pet owners pay $25 for a cat surgery and $40 for a dog surgery, and the humane society's fund matches that amount so that local veterinarians receive $50 or $80 depending on the animal,