After years of planning, Cache Humane Society finally has a shelter

By Jeffrey Eddington

October 20, 2008 | "Life with 14 indoor cats was hard," explains Terri Baker. "There were two litter boxes that needed to be changed twice a day, countless hours spent vacuuming and cleaning, and vet bills that were 14 time more expensive than we would like."

Her life wasn't always this way though. At one time Terri only had three cats; and as a self-proclaimed animal lover, three was fine. Terri lives with her husband and four children in a rural area of Cache Valley. She is proud of her children and the volunteer work she does for the community. Terri is the kind of person that will give her last dollar to someone she sees in need. And for that reason, her house has become a dumping ground for unwanted cats.

"People know I will take the cats, so they dump them off when we are not home," she says.

Each of Terri's 14 cats was dumped as a kitten -- some were litterally tossed from moving cars and suffered injuries as a result. When Terri finds a new kitten on her property she takes it into her home, bathes it, feeds it and nurses it back to health. Her hope is that the kitten can be adopted out, but lately it hasn't been easy to place the kittens and cats in a home.

"People want kittens, they are cute and fun to play with. What people don't think about is that all kittens will become cats," said Kamille Chlarson. Kamille is also an animal lover that has rescued many animals that were abandoned on her parents' property in rural Cache Valley. "People don't understand that taking a cat into the country and dropping it off is not giving it a better home -- it is exposing a domesticated animal to disease, predators they haven't been taught to avoid, and severe weather conditions."

A newly opened facility in Cache Valley gives hope to people in Terri and Kamille's situations. After 15 years in various planning and construction phases, the Cache Valley Humane Society opened its doors last week. This shelter will become the central location for animals that have become lost in the valley. Animal Control will begin taking lost animals to this location with the hopes that the owners will come to this shelter to be reunited.

"This is exactly what the Cache Valley needs, a real shelter," said Kamille.

Not only will this facility be reuniting pets and owners, it will also be a place for people to adopt pets as well. The Humane Society's Web site contains an online database of the animals currently in their shelter. To see the Web site, click here.

The Cache Valley Humane Society isn't the only resource for those looking to adopt a pet. Four Paws Animal Rescue is a local animal rescue organization established in 2000.

Craig Limesand and his wife began volunteering with Four Paws because they were looking for a way to give back to the community. They both love animals, so for them it was a perfect fit. Limesand explained that most of the animals in the Four Paws shelter were either abandoned at Four Paws or were rescued from high kill shelters that would have euthanized them. The cost to operate such a facility is very prohibitive, so Four Paws relies heavily on donations from the communtity, fundraisers, and adoption fees. According to Limesand,"The real solution is to do the Bob Barker thing and get people to spay or neuter their pets." Limesand urges people who want to get involved, either through donations or by giving their time, to go to the Four Paws Web site .

During the month of October low income families can get their pets spayed or neutered for free. There is no limit to how many animals each family can bring in, they simply must meet the income requirements. Click here to see if you qualify.

"I hope people take advantage of this deal. It can cost a lot of money to get an animal fixed, but it costs more to take care of the kittens or puppies," said Chlarson.

For Terri Baker, who is now down to nine indoor cats, life is a bit easier. "We just adopted out Zoe, and the family that took her was so excited, so she is in a good home," said Baker. "I know I could dump these cats off at one of the shelters in town, but how would that help anyone? If I can get these animals healthy; spay or neuter them; and find them a home myself I am leaving room for other animals in the shelters that will hopefully find a home."

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