“Who let the dogs out?” The Baha Men never answered that question. However, the Cache Humane Society welcomes all dogs and cats who are brought through their doors in need of their help.
On Wednesday the Cache Humane Society began its Winter
Warmer fundraiser in an effort to raise money for the upcoming winter. With
winter fast approaching, donations will help the Humane Society to provide a
warm place to harbor the 40 dogs and 60 cats currently being taken care of.
“Costs go up during the winter,” said Roland Bringhurst,
executive director of the shelter. “The building is really tough to heat.”
With the shelter functioning as a non-profit organization
Bringhurst knows well the difficulties of coming up with money to pay
employees, take care of the animals and pay the bills.
“What we earn and spend depends on us,” Bringhurst said. “Right
now is one of the hardest times financially for us. Our employees haven’t
received a pay increase since 2007.”
With no government funding and little other sources of
revenue, the Cache Humane Society depends heavily on contributors and donations
made by the public. These donations keep the Humane Society functioning.
“One anonymous member of the community really helped us
out,” said Bringhurst. “He donated $6,500 and challenged us to match it. That’s
how we set our goal.”
With the money raised the shelter hopes to make small upgrades.
“We hope to get extra blankets, warmers and beds to keep the
dogs warm,” said Cath Manrique, the coordinator of the Winter Warmer
fundraiser. “We want to be able to purchase Kuranda beds. They are beds that
are raised up a few inches to keep the dogs off the cold ground.”
Since Wednesday the shelter has managed to raise $1,800 and
hopes to stay at a good pace with the month that’s left.
“This internet fundraiser is a first for us,” Manrique said.
“We aren’t handing out any flyers or anything. We are using social media to
advertise, and we’ve been happy with the success we are seeing so far.”
