I am always a little apprehensive when I walk into a county run animal control building. It's usually a whole different vibe than a Human Society or a rescue group. First of all, it's a law enforcement department. Secondly, because it's a government run shelter, there are always laws, policies and rules that must be abided by, whether they make sense or not. Thirdly, it's almost always a higher kill shelter than the others.

That said, there were some positive things I found out about the shelter. The county does allow volunteers, but because they are often unreliable and the animals HAVE to have their needs met, it's not something that usually happens. The shelter does have a washing machine, and unlike our own animal control department in Grand Traverse County, the dogs are allowed to have blankets and toys. In fact, blankets, toys, food and cleaning supplies are very much needed by the shelter. So if you have any of these things in your house, please consider donating them to the shelter. I also saw an honest respect and caring for the pets at the shelter. When I walked in, the office assistant was cuddling a small puppy who had been crying in its cage.

There were also some things that I think need improvement on, but because the county lacks the staff and the money, it needs to happen with a community effort. I didn't like the fact that most of outside dog pens are uncovered. It would take a lumber company and some volunteer hands to build some kind of tall structure with a cover so that the dogs wouldn't have to brave the elements directly. The day that I was there was one such example, when it was raining. 

Some other things inside of the building are harder to address - the small dog cages and the draftiness of the cat area. It's an old building. My suggestion would be to ask for a higher millage on the next go-around and try to find a better facility for the animals - or build a better shelter on the same property. That's an issue for the community to decide on. The last millage was voted on in 2010. It's up every four years. Here's a link to a story about the millage from last year. I remember reading a story about the animal control staff wanting to find a new facility. Maybe a building fund could be set up for that specific mission?

The county has limited information on the animal control department on their website. One very important improvement to the services of the animal control office would be to place their pets to be on Petfinder so that people in the city - and outside the city - know what kind of pets they have available. It would undoubtedly increase adoptions. If I am searching for a female Beagle and they have one, they wouldn't currently come up in my search criteria. I don't have time to drive out to all of the shelters in a 100-mile radius. The internet is great for finding pets. The only hitch is that with only two staff members (and one having her hours cut down to 32), it's hard to find the time to take the photos, post the information and respond to the increase in inquiries from the public. But I do think it's worth the effort if it can be done. I think lives would be saved. If the staff can't afford the time, maybe it should be a volunteer position or delegated to someone else who works for the county.

One last suggestion would be to have more community friendly hours than their current hours of 8 am to 4 pm. Obviously, they are too short staffed to have extended evening hours or weekends. But most people can't go to the shelter during those hours. This might be another area where they could utilize a volunteer to come in and assist them while a staff member is already there cleaning and feeding the animals. Even a small two hour block would be helpful to people who want to claim their animal or adopt a pet after-hours or on the weekend.

The shelter itself can hold fifteen dogs (if in individual kennels) and ten cats. There is no funding to test the animals for diseases when they enter but if there is an obvious injury or illness, they are taken to a vet. They also don't have funds to spay or neuter animals upon adoption but they do require a deposit to do so from the adopter (state law).

The shelter takes in owner surrenders and stray dogs and cats. They don't pick up stray cats as there are no county laws governing them. They have, on occasion, had to deal with issues involving horses, cows and other animals. Most of the dogs at the shelter appear to be Hounds and Pit Bulls. Animal Control Officer, Chuck Hill, said that it's about 50/50 as to whether the animals they take in are stray or owner surrendered. They are an open admission animal control, but there is a waiting list for owners if the kennels are full. Under Michigan state law, animals without a collar and tag are held for four days and animals with a collar and tag are held for seven days. These days do not include the intake day, holidays or weekends. After that time, the pets are available for adoption if they are healthy and non-aggressive. The shelter has a microchip reader which was given to them by Banfield Pet Hospital in Traverse City. 

Animal Control Officer Chuck Hill has been there for 11 years and works full time. He's responsible for enforcing ordinances relating to animal abuse, neglect and animals at large. He's had animals all of his life and has always been in the animal business one way or another.

Office assistant Sara Crawford has worked for animal control for five years and was a volunteer for about four or five years before that. She currently works 32 hours a week. Someone has to be at the shelter at some point every day, even on a weekend or holiday. The office deals with a 580-square mile range. They serve the needs of Kalkaska County, not just the city itself. The policies and procedures of the animal control office are under the direction of the Sheriff's Department and Sheriff Dave Israel.

The shelter doesn't do fundraisers but others in the community have raised money for them, including Glen's Food and Rapid City Elementary. If you'd like to make a donation, please stop by the animal control building at 605 North Birch Street in Kalkaska. All donations are tax-deductible. As always, time and money are biggest factors that decide how they are able to care for the animals that come into the shelter. Please consider helping them out in anyway that you can. Their phone number is 231-258-3309.

There is an animal welfare organization in Kalkaska that has helped the shelter in the past called Northwoods Animal Coalition (NAC). They were previously called KCA (Kalkaska Citizens for Animals) and started their group in 2000. They are a grassroots all-volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to addressing issues related to the humane treatment of animals in the greater Kalkaska area. In the past, they provided equipment, fencing and dog houses to the shelter as well as helped rescue and place numerous dogs for them. Currently, I don't think they are working closely with the shelter anymore.

NAC regularly holds spay/neuter and vaccination clinics and provide low-cost or free vet care and spay/neuters to low-income owners in Kalkaska and the surrounding area. I think a group like this is a great start to helping the shelter with some policy and physical improvements that are needed, as well as saving staff time and saving taxpayer money. Perhaps there could be some kind of shelter/community liaison to facilitate volunteer work with the shelter schedule so that both animals and taxpayers could be better served.

As I stated above, government run shelters have limited resources and rules and policies that the general public often isn't aware of. They are also slower to respond to changes, even good ones, but some are open to suggestion and help from outside.

My suggestions are being offered to the county and the community in the best interests of the animals in Kalkaska. It's up to the community to work with the county if they want changes to be made. I am hoping that the community is, in fact, dedicated to saving more lives at the shelter. It's kind of sad to see this run down shelter behind a glorious sports complex and wonder why ice skating and hockey are more important than saving the life of a Kalkaska pet?

A Visit to the Charlevoix Humane Society Shocases Playful Cats (December)

There is an area in the Charlevoix Humane Society (in Boyne City) that the cats probably miss when they get adopted - the outside cattery. As I watched the cats play in the screened in area, I knew that if my own cat were to visit, he probably would want to stay so that he could enjoy the gentle breezes and watch the birds fly by.

The inside cat area is nice too with open cages and cats rotated throughout the day so that they can play together, mingle with potential adopters and enjoy the outdoor cat room by going through the little cat door. Allowing cats to live a more "normal" life and not be continually confined to a cage helps their stress level and adopters can get a better sense of the cat's true personality.

The welfare of the dogs is also given a high priority. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to photograph them as they were being walked in back of the building while I was visiting the cats. The dogs are given beds, blankets and toys for stimulation, walked several times a day and get a lot of yard time. Like most other shelter these days, Pit Bulls and Pit mixes make up a large amount of the dogs that end up in the Charlevoix Humane Society.

They also get a lot of hounds and hound mixes as well. The shelter makes use of local trainers and have trainers on staff to work with the dogs. The shelter manager even holds a degree in Biology with a special interest in canine behavior.

The Charlevoix Humane Society is equipped to hold 20 dogs and 30 cats. However, they are often overwhelmed by the number of cats coming in and many times have upwards of 50 cats in their care, using a combination of foster homes and using every available space in their facility.

In the last two years, they have been able to foster, transfer and adopt any healthy and adoptable animals, thus providing for what they said was a "live release rate for dogs in the 93% range." Cats, because it is an ongoing educational issue, provide a challenge since a large number of cats coming into their open admissions shelter are feral and thus unadoptable. They attempt to convince the people bringing the wild cats in to let them alter and return the animals, but as of yet their success rate with that strategy is only about 20%. They do have traps available for people who want to do TNR (trap/neuter/return).

It is their policy to give every animal a chance. If, after temperament testing (they do two separate sets of testing) they find an animal too aggressive or too poorly socialized to handle the stress of being housed at the shelter or even in a foster home, they will euthanize the animal.

The Charlevoix Humane Society is a 501(c)3 non profit with a volunteer board structure which makes policy under the guidance of the executive director. They have a service contract with the county to care for incoming strays and to deal with the public when redeeming their pets. This agreement allows for a small stipend and a fee-free building lease. They do not own the building or the land and therefore are unable to expand beyond our current level of service. The board is currently in the process of developing a plan to build a new facility which will allow them to offer more community services such as education, training, boarding and grooming, pet day-care and more appropriate facilities for longer term holding of animals awaiting adoption. The current facility would continue to house strays and serve as short term holding.

The current building went into use in 1998 but the Charlevoix Area Humane Society has been in existence since 1974. It is currently attached to the animal control but they are separate entities. The Humane Society receives their animals from animal control and the public as owner-surrendered pets. When the cats arrive, they are tested for feline leukemia, FIV and heartworm. Dogs from the hunting breeds (hounds primarily) are tested for heartworm and if they are transferring dogs to other rescues or shelters they will often test for heartworm as well. Any animal that comes in injured is seen by a veterinarian and treated within financial reason.

The Charlevoix Humane Society started spaying & neutering every pet before adoption three years ago. All pets are now altered before leaving the care of their facility. They are also up-to-date on vaccinations and microchipped as well.

From April through October they hold one to two clinics per month with discounted spay and neuter prices as well as discount vaccinations through the services of a "retired" veterinarian that spends his summers close by in northern Michigan. The rest of the year the Humane Society works with the public for as long as their funds last to provide assistance to low-income pet owners looking for help with spaying and neutering their pets and also emergency medical when they can.

In addition to adoptions at the shelter, they also take the animals to off-site adoptions one or two times a year so that they can be seen in other venues. In addition, they also will transfer animals to other rescue groups and breed-specific groups is the organization is a legitimate 501©(3) non-profit. They regularly use national breed club rescues to take on purebreds that come into the shelter.

The Charlevoix Humane Society allows volunteers in their facility to help with animal care and are always looking for people who can help with fostering animals or can work on fundraisers.

When asked what would help them have less euthanasias, they said that a formal, organized TNR program would be the biggest help at this point. Additional space and a facility more adequately designed for long term holding of pets with space for activities to stimulate and work with the animals would also be extremely helpful.

The most current pressing need is financing their current programs and eventually funds for expansion. They are spending nearly $15,000 per year on their spay and neuter program but could easily spend twice that assisting the community at large so donations to their operating funds and their spay and neuter program are the most pressing needs they have.

If you want to adopt an animal, donate or volunteer, please contact them:

614 Beardsley Street
Boyne City, Michigan 49712
Phone (231) 582-6774
www.charlevoixhumane.org