Many people do not realize that the Lamar County Humane Society and the
Animal Shelter (located by the Fairgrounds) are actually two different
entities!!! Even though they share the same building, the Shelter is run
by the City of Paris and has a few paid employees. They have Control
Officers (and Tech Assistants) who are responsible for picking up
animals when calls come in. They do the paperwork (which is enormous),
reception work, answering the phone, and take care of the basic
necessities of all the animals such as cleaning cages, feeding and the
general health/well being of animals. Unfortunately, the budget does not
cover enough man-power and that is where the LCHA comes in to help.
The LCHA is made up of many volunteers. Their duties include assisting
in the cleaning of cages and feeding of all the animals. They also have
individuals who will walk dogs, play with the various animals
and give them as much loving as possible. I specifically work in the
Cat and Kitten rooms. We clean the cages daily, provide fresh food and water,
fresh litter, fresh blankets, and supply them with toys!!! We also
monitor their health and do the basics as necessary. Of course we spend
a lot of time LOVING on the cats and kittens, which most ALL of the
Volunteers do with ALL the animals at the Shelter. That alone is a very
important and time consuming job! The LCHA also tries to educate
people on the importance of having pets spayed and neutered - the
constant flow of our four-legged friends which come in each day shows
that people are NOT doing this! The LCHA also hold Pet Adopt-athons
almost every Saturday at various locations - many times at Petco where
we also have the privilege of putting some of our nicer cats and kittens
on display on a regular basis and their employees look after them. Fortunately they have a very successful adoption rate. They also have a
Fostering Program where people can save animals by fostering them at
home while trying to find them permanent homes at the same time. We
have one person who specifically deals with rescuing and fostering the
dogs, as well as one main person who does the same for the cats. The
Shelter is open weekdays from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM and on Saturday you
can see them at various locations as advertised, or at the Shelter from
10:00 AM until 2:00 PM. We are ALWAYS looking for volunteers!!!! Many
people have said they could not do it because it would be too hard
emotionally or they would want to take all the animals home. It's not
as bad as people think......playing with these babies, giving them some
love is SO important and I have found it emotionally and spiritually
fulfilling!!! 5 minutes of loving is better than nothing!!! Visit the
Shelter - of visit the Lamar County Humane Association Facebook page for
more information.
Thank you.
Alan Jones
Here is the link to the Lamar County Humane Association: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lamar-County-Humane-Association/140587172654934?ref=ts&fref=ts
Here are some sweet photos from their Facebook page. Some of these animals might have already been adopted.
Thank you so much, Alan, for providing me with such a special article!
