Conceptual image of new animal shelter
The organization of ICARE has raised $729,000 for a new animal shelter. ICARE President Ted Schade revealed that remarkably high number at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors’ meeting. The project will definitely move ahead with hopes for a grand opening in December.
Schade told the Board that ICARE has worked for about a year to raise funds for the much-needed new animal shelter. Funds came together from ICARE and from the special Raise the Roof program which brought in $258,000 alone. Schade said $529,000 of the full amount came from direct public contributions. A strong statement of public support for the animals. ICARE officials noted that $70,000 is still needed to reach the $800,000 goal.
For many years, the Inyo County Animal Shelter has operated out of what was an old dairy barn outside of Big Pine with no space for staff or the public and limited space for the animals. Some improvements were made over the years, but ICARE saw the strong need for a new and much better facility. Now, as Supervisor Matt Kingsley said, there is an amazing amount of public engagement.
Ted Schade said literally hundreds and hundreds of people contributed – from Round Valley kids and their loose change to a $100,000 donation in one case. He said Inyo and also people from Mammoth Lakes donated. Schade said a woman on Park Avenue in New York at Vogue Magazine sends ICARE money.
Deputy Public Works Director Jim Tatum focused on the nitty gritty of building the new animal shelter, which will provide space for staff, the public and the animals. He said the aggressive schedule calls for presenting final plans to the Board on May 6th, going to bid May 7th and starting construction July 14th with a grand opening in December.
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Give a dog to a homeless person and maybe that person will also be cared for.
A dog has such a wonderful heart that it will love the homeless person every bit as much as the wealthy person. Every dog knows how to love a human, but not every human knows how to love a dog. Show a dog you love it and it will follow you anywhere.
Wow, thumbs downs. Some hard hearts out there.
The fundraising goal is $800,000, so we still need $70,000. Please help us with the final push! For more info: http://www.ICAREforPets.org Thank you! :o)
Desert Tortoise……There are dogs in heaven !!!….Google the “Rainbow Bridge”……I even talked to a local Pastor about it….he said maybe not like the symbolic “Rainbow Bridge”,but the doggies that graced our lives are there !!!
I sure hope that’s true. This morning the boy I rescued from a Lancaster street last January woke me up by licking my face a few moments before the alarm clock went off. Then I lay on the floor next to “my daughter” (they’re both huskies) and let them both slobber all over my face until I finally had to get moving, shower and shave and dress for work. Probably sounds gross to some but there is just something in how a dog shows you it’s heart that is irreplaceable in my life. Sorry Gunnar, but Karly is a better kisser than you are, lol.
Desert Tortoise…..It’s true….give Gunnar and Karly a milkbone for me….
Grain free treats for my doggies, usually American made chicken jerky. I’ll pat their heads and say Wayne said hi.
I really hope all the locals realize how lucky we are to have the people that run our shelter. They really do try very hard to save the animals. Even the Sheriff dept. people really go beyond there duties to help these animals.
If there are no dogs in heaven I don’t want to go there. i want to go where the doggies are.
The next great news to follow this great news will be the completion of the shelter. I hope to see progress reports and photos at the various stages of construction . Icare Rocks
Again, I’d like to reiterate my hopes that Inyo County has the foresight to include the current shelter director and shelter tech in the design process, so that this project becomes a functional and sustainable communty asset rather than a testament to political ego.
At Tuesday’s BOS meeting, Jim Tatum told the supervisors that the staff at the Animal Shelter are being consulted in the design process.
What about putting the animal shelter at Manzanar? Would be a symbolic gesture.
Historically there were very few pets allowed at Manzanar. None of the internees were allowed to bring their pets…just one more indignation on top of the loss of their jobs, businesses, and civil rights. There is a very small collection of animal graves located just outside of the Manzanar cemetery. It’s my understanding that the pets buried there belonged to the children of those running camp.
It’s not a wrong that can be made right by even symbolically entertaining the idea of an animal shelter there, which is highly unlikely to begin with notwithstanding the fact that it is federal land, not county-owned or leased. As a symbolic gesture it would make no sense whatsoever historically or otherwise.
Give the dogs the court house money. I like them better.