SHAMOKIN - An abundance of animals in need of housing in Northumberland County has spurred a fundraiser to build a no-kill shelter.
Ron Hollister, a police officer for the Phoenix Rescue Group Humane Police Department, which prosecutes animal cruelty cases in the county, said the area desperately needs someplace to house animals temporarily.
"There is no place to go with animals, whether we seize them with a search warrant or they're found on the street, or if it's an owner surrender," he said. "For the past two years, I've been bringing animals from Northumberland County down to Cumberland County and Dauphin County - but they're saturated down here, too."
Hollister is leading the initiative for the shelter with Carol Kalinowski, owner of Mommy and Me Rescue in Shamokin.
"The need for a rescue here is extreme," said Kalinowski. "We are turning away dogs all the time."
Mommy and Me Rescue can hold approximately a dozen small dogs and is frequently at capacity. Kalinowski said Mommy and Me Rescue found owners for 139 dogs last year. She has a strong online presence, and people have come from as far away as Canada and Florida to pick up their new best friends.
"If we could just open a shelter, we could adopt out so many dogs," she said.
Kalinowski said the impetus to start fundraising for the shelter came last week when dogs seized in a cruelty case were sent several hours away because no area rescues had space.
"In the last two weeks we've taken in sixteen dogs, a ferret and some turtles. A couple months ago we took in some cats and a boa constrictor," said Hollister. "That's just in Shamokin, Coal Township and Mount Carmel."
According to state law, animals seized in cruelty or neglect cases must be held until a judge makes a ruling barring them from being returned to their owners. This typically takes around a month, Hollister said.
Two dogs that are part of cruelty cases are currently being held at Mommy and Me Rescue. Because 30 days is longer than she typically holds an animal, Kalinowski said she worries about the dogs she's had to turn away while awaiting the hearings.
"You have to say, I'm sorry but I can't help you," she said.
"There is a great need for shelter or somewhere we can house these animals until we can get them to rescues," said Hollister. "On a daily normal day (in Northumberland County) there's anywhere from two to eight dogs."
Though Mommy and Me Rescue solely houses dogs, Kalinowski and Hollister said the new shelter will house animals of all types, including hamsters, guinea pigs, snakes and cats.
"I've got a place that's got 30 cats," said Hollister. "There are no places up in Northumberland County that can help us with that many cats."
Kalinowski said she has plenty of offers from would-be volunteers, and a shelter will provide the space needed for helpers to work with the animals.
"I get calls all the time, 'Do you have a big facility? We want to volunteer,'" she said.
Hollister described an ideal starting point as taking an unusued building an converting it to the shelter. He hoped to get local municipalities on board with the plan, which he believed would benefit everyone.
"If we could get an existing building donated to us then we're looking at electric, water and sewer bill," he said. "We're not looking for a place for 400 animals."
Kalinowski described herself as an animal person rather than business person, and said in addition to donations she is looking for people to help organize the shelter and move the project forward.
"I just know that it needs to be done and I'm willing to give everything I have to see that it gets done," she said.
To donate visit:
www.youcaring.com/shamokin-area-shelter-408448
To read more about the project visit:
www.facebook.com/shamokinshelter