The Commercial-News, Danville, IL

Local News

April 10, 2009

Volunteers are matchmakers for pets, people

If you don’t want to drive out to the Vermilion County Animal Shelter in Tilton, the shelter will come to you.

The shelter’s outreach program is so successful that more than 1,000 fewer animals were euthanized last year.

In 2007, there were 2,010 animals euthanized and 941 adopted. In 2008, there were 929 euthanized and 1,444 adopted, according to interim director, Pete Smith.

For various reasons, potential pet owners don’t want to go to shelters or don’t find it convenient.

“They don’t like to see homeless pets in distress,” Smith said, “so we give them the opportunity to see the pets in a different environment.”

One program involves taking dogs and cats to the Village Mall each Saturday.

Another successful program is the shelter’s partnership with PetSmart. Most weekends, volunteers take dogs and cats to the stores in Champaign, Darien (near Chicago) and Schererville, Ind.

Of those adopted last year, 67 found homes through the PetSmart outreach, Smith said.

“I’m happy with the PetSmart partnership,” Smith said, and the shelter is exploring the possibility of adding other towns.

One requirement is that dogs and cats put up for adoption through the store must be healthy and spayed or neutered, if they’re old enough.

Last weekend, four volunteers were busy answering shoppers’ questions and showing off the seven cats, five dogs and two puppies they had brought to the PetSmart in Champaign.

Two of the dogs, both beagles, went to a rescue group and the two puppies found homes, as well as two cats.

The volunteers are at the Champaign PetSmart from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. each Saturday, and have been doing the outreach since last fall.

Volunteer Abby Schraeder of Mahomet said on some weekends, no pets are adopted; on others, as many as five find homes.

“The best thing is getting noticed and getting the dogs socialized,” she said. “You can see how they react to men and other dogs.”

Schraeder is a certified veterinary technician in the emergency room at the University of Illinois animal clinic. She got involved in the county shelter after adopting a Chihuahua-miniature pinscher mix that had been brought to the U of I to be spayed.

She also goes to the shelter on the Catlin-Tilton Road to help the dogs with obedience training and socialization every week.

Kimberly Warner-Blodgett of Danville has seven cats of her own, and is fostering another, but she still finds time to volunteer at the shelter.

“It’s the hardest and the best thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she said.

It’s difficult to see the animals that become ill or don’t find homes. But the happy endings are worthwhile, she said.

People tell her they don’t volunteer at the shelter because they’d want to adopt all of the animals.

But Warner-Blodgett has an answer for that: Working around the animals has a lot of benefits for her and the pets, without the disadvantages.

“I can go to the shelter and get some kitty therapy when I have a fight with my husband,” she said with a smile.

Schraeder agreed, saying, “Getting a dog adopted to a good home is an incredible feeling.”

She calls herself a matchmaker for dogs, as it’s important to find the right fit with a potential owner.

Other volunteers last weekend at PetSmart were Donna Walraven of Mahomet and Dustin Zook of Catlin. Boy Scouts from Vermilion County sometimes help out, as well.

The county shelter has a motto: It takes volunteers to save a life.

That’s so true. The homeless dogs and cats are lucky to have people who are willing to give up their Saturdays so those animals have a better life.

FOR PET LOVERS

Mark your calendars for the fourth annual Petstravaganza, which will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 25 in the Stock Pavilion, 1402 W. Pennsylvania Ave., at the University of Illinois.

The event will feature a number of interactive exhibits, such as how to interact safely with pets and wildlife, the importance of pet identification, and the benefits of pet adoption.

A new feature this year is an admission charge — an item for a homeless pet, which as food or kitty litter. See the wish list on the Web site http://www.cuhumane.org.

For more information, go to http://pets.ansci.uiuc.edu/outreach/petstravaganza.com.

If you would like to have your pet featured in this column, contact Mary Wicoff at 477-5161, send an e-mail to mwicoff@dancomnews.com or write to Commercial-News, 17 W. North, Danville, IL 61832.

Text Only
Local News
  • quilts Spirit of the West

    Museum workers run out of adjectives when describing the “Spirit of the West” quilt exhibit, which opens Friday. “It’s mind boggling,” Sue Richer, director of the Vermilion County Museum, said as she admired the quilts. “It amazes me. They’re works of art, the way they’re put together.”

    May 29, 2012 1 Photo

  • County looks at power deal

    Vermilion County Board committee members will discuss a contract letting Integrys extend electric savings to residents now.

    May 29, 2012

  • DHS Six to retire from Danville High

    Six longtime District 118 employees said goodbye to Danville High School at the end of the school year.

    May 29, 2012 1 Photo

  • Teacher’s aide retires after 33 years

    Jan Kovacic meets the students at Covington Elementary School when they arrive in the morning, and she is the last one they see in the afternoon when getting on a bus or in a car.

    May 29, 2012

  • Fountain OKs nurse position

    Fountain County Council members approved restructuring changes Tuesday in the Fountain-Warren Health Department.

    May 29, 2012

  • United Way close to goal

    The United Way of Danville Area is in the home stretch of its annual campaign and wants residents’ help in reaching that goal.

    May 29, 2012

  • City rummage sale nears

    May 29, 2012

  • Home tour helps museum

    May 29, 2012

  • Police, Fire Reports

    May 29, 2012

  • KaSandraMitchell.jpg Teacher weaves life skills in with lessons

    KaSandra Mitchell’s fifth-graders probably think all the cooking and sewing they do in class is a lot of fun.

    May 29, 2012 1 Photo

E-edition
AP Video
Sister Says She Reported Brother in Patz Killing Patz Suspect's Sister: I Went to Police in 1980s Diplomatic Expulsions Follow Fresh Syria Report 15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake Angry Birds Spreading Their Wings Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108 Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students Pope's Butler Vows to Help Vatican Investigation Mother of Allegedly Abused Girl Denies Claims Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
NDN Video
Couple doesn’t let tropical storm ruin their big day Tori Bares Baby Bump in Monokini Even Fla. Police Shocked by Face-Mauling Attack Letterman on Family Life Post-Scandal Evans: Serena in shock Pregnant Reese Wears LBD Volcano covers Colombian cities in ash Meet the Crew and Good Ship 'Prometheus' Los Angeles Bar Bans Bachelorettes Hamster Plays Dead Beyonce Shows Off 60 Pound Weight Loss at Concert Drunk Women Breaking Into Houses: A New Trend? LeAnn Rimes Rocks Short Shorts Raw Video: Cop Shoots Man Eating Another's Face Gordon Ramsay Carried Off Field Man Dies Getting Lap Dance Kim Kardashian Claims Items Stolen from Her Luggage Bear cools off in Calif. family's pool Ep. 3: Chopped Desserts Air Force dad surprises family at baseball game