Animal shelter still accepting donations, facilitating pet adoptions
Friends of the Gilmer Animal Shelter (FOGAS) are leading an effort to deliver free pet food to those in need, while reminding the general public that donations of pet supplies for the local animal shelter are still being accepted.
“We have limited availability on the pet food, but we wanted to help senior citizens and people who’ve been put out of a job because of the health crisis,” said Gilmer Animal Shelter Director Daniel Laukka.
The animal shelter remains closed to the public till further notice.
“We’re still there every day taking care of the animals and still working with rescues. We still answer the phone and check messages as often as we can,” Laukka said.
The primary purpose of FOGAS is to provide fundraising and other forms of support to the animal shelter, but the small nonprofit has been sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several of the group’s fundraisers and adoption events, including the downtown Ellijay St. Petrick’s Day parade and festival, have been canceled.
Sales of tickets for a raffle fundraiser conducted by FOGAS were also cut short by the health crisis, noted group member Susan Lebert.
“We’ve had to cancel everything,” said Lebert. “Our raffle wasn’t that successful because we couldn’t get out and sell those tickets. We’ve also canceled a barbecue and silent auction in August.”
Any certificates that were sold for an April 17 reduced-cost spay/neuter clinic that also had to be canceled will be honored after clinic location the Gilmer Civic Center opens back up and a reschedule date is set, noted Lebert.
The animal shelter welcomes any donations of items like pet food, bleach, paper towels and washcloths, Laukka confirmed.
“We have a picnic table set up outside the shelter that people can put donations on and we’ll take them inside,” he said.
“The shelter still needs help. Even if it’s just a blanket or some dog food, anything that can help us to support the animals,” Lebert added.
Anyone who wants more details about the free pet food program can contact FOGAS at 706-635-6005. A name and phone number should be left for callback purposes.
Laukka said, with the shelter still being closed, FOGAS will handle any pet food inquires and those who need the service should not come directly to the animal shelter unless they are dropping off donated items.
“FOGAS will screen (the applicants). Once they give me the people’s information, we will take the pet food and deliver it. That way, we don’t have a whole lot of people coming to the shelter during the health crisis. So far, we’ve had three deliveries and we’ll keep making deliveries as long as we have food available,” he added.
Pet adoptions still possible
Laukka noted that the number of animals coming into the shelter during the past month has been lower than what was originally expected.
“When the health crisis first started, we knew the shelters would have to shut down and we saw animal rescues start doing the same thing. We were in a bit of a panic mode because we were worried that people were going to start dumping their dogs and cats because they couldn’t take care of them anymore,” he said.
“We thought we would have animals galore at the shelter and the rescues wouldn’t be able to take anything, but it’s actually been the opposite. We haven’t taken in as many animals because we’ve been closed, but we also haven’t really gotten many calls to take animals in either. It might completely reverse when things all open back up, but right now we’re in pretty good shape.”
Numerous animal rescues that work with the local shelter have actually seen a recent increase in pet adoptions, Laukka noted.
“We did a few adoptions in our parking lot right before we closed to the public. Then the rescues started seeing their adoption numbers go up and a lot of the shelters in the Atlanta area have emptied their shelters out with fosters and adoptions. The next thing I knew, rescues were calling me to find out if we had any dogs or cats to adopt. I guess, with so many people staying home right now, they are wanting some companionship with a dog or cat,” he said.
Adoptions of Gilmer Animal Shelter dogs and cats can still be arranged and some of the facility’s longtime residents are being spotlighted on the shelter Facebook page with a new effort called Hopeful For a Home.
“If somebody calls and they’re looking for a specific animal and we feel we have (what) they’re looking for, we can schedule to meet. If someone just wants to come in and look around, we’re not doing that. We’re keeping it as limited as possible until we get the go-ahead to open back up to the public,” Laukka said.