Tunica County, MS—
FAST FACTS:
- Tunica operates outside shelter
- Looking for donations for building
- Hoping to operate no-kill animal "sanctuary"
dennis.turner@wreg.com
(Tunica County, MS 3/10/2010) Tunica County animal lovers are looking to provide better homes to stray animals they're trying to adopt.
They're looking to buy a building to serve as a better home for discarded dogs until they can find good homes for them.
Since its founding only about a year ago, the Tunica Humane Society has been through a lot.
Members built an outdoor shelter from the ground, up. They staff it with volunteers, and they jumped to action after a fire at a local puppy mill.
They've found a building they want to move into, but need help coming up with the money to do it.
Tunica's animal shelter is full of happy dogs. Many were rescued from rural areas where they ran wild, starving.
Now, volunteers care for them, in a compound built as a temporary shelter.
But these animal lovers have a dream of turning a nearby building which was once part of a lumberyard, into a permanent place for the strays, until they find good homes. "It's the start of a perfect shelter for us, so we're just kinda stepping out on faith that we can put this deal together," said the Humane Society's Sandy Williams
It's not cheap. Williams needs $115,000 to buy the building, and two adjacent acres.
She's looking for donations from the public to pull it off.
Williams has pursued grants to help pay for the building but most of those grants are given based on population and she's found Tunica doesn't have enough people to qualify.
Tunica gets twelve million visitors a year, and too many of them leave pets behind.
This shelter has about a 75-80% adoption rate, thanks to aggressive adoption efforts.
Williams wants this property to become a "sanctuary" to help the animals make the transition from stray to pets.
"This property a has two acres and it offers a lot of green area and so what we want to do is put 'em to bed every night but during the day they're gonna be out playin' in fresh air and it'll be a good situation," said Williams.
Willams has plans for a golf tournament, and a 5k run to help raise money, but she needs donations as soon as possible to buy the building while it's still available.
She says the timing to close this deal is critical.
If you have questions call 662-519-1700 or 662-363-1625 or visit the website at www.tunicahumanesociety.com or mail donations to Tunica Humane Society, P.O. Box 236, Tunica, Ms. 38676
