Humane society announces open house
May 20—The Cass County Humane Society is ushering in big changes, and the nonprofit is inviting the community to celebrate and learn more at its upcoming open house.
A grant from the Cass County Community Foundation allowed the shelter to move its entryway, update its reception area, repaint the walls, install new flooring and update offices and storage areas.
Additional fundraising also allowed the shelter to buy a hot water heater, install an air filtration system and add to the HVAC system.
"I've been here for a year and four months. The very second day that I was here, my vision was to have a better way to serve the public," Cass County Humane Society Executive Director Lisa Terry said. "The only way was to completely remodel this storage area."
The new entrance was previously used as storage space for A Cause for Paws. It now has a front desk, offices and room for prospective adopters to meet dogs.
Terry said the area will be air conditioned and have a television with pictures and information about adoptable dogs. If someone sees a dog they are interested in on the television, a staff member will bring the dog to them for a meet and greet.
"They don't have to go down where all the dogs are barking and getting very excited. It's a crazy atmosphere to try to choose a dog when everybody's vying for your attention," Terry said. "This way, it's a more peaceful, meaningful engagement with the animal."
Adopters will still be able to meet all the cats available for adoption, and Terry said the adoption process overall will be more user friendly.
"It is cat season," she said. "At one time, we had 127 cats and kittens. They were in closets and offices and under our feet. It just gets crazy because people don't spay and neuter. We try to use this time to educate the public about the importance of spaying and neutering. The overpopulation, especially of the feral cats along the rivers, in barns and under sheds, just gets out of control."
Adoptions will be closed during the open house, but there will be refreshments and potentially a cat with young kittens to show people how small the kittens are.
Kittens must weigh at least two and a half pounds before they can be spayed or neutered and adopted, but Terry said there are plenty of cats and kittens at the shelter.
The humane society is also continuing to work on shading grassy areas on the north side of the building.
"The dogs have doors that open and close so they can go out into grassy areas," Terry said. "We have areas for small dogs, medium dogs, and large dogs. In the summer, it can get very hot back there. At the same time, the dogs really, truly need the exercise."
Terry said that after a lot of research and a grant from the Denham Family Fund, the humane society is working to add shady spots to each of the three grassy areas.
"It may or may not be completed by the June open house, but it is a priority. We'll soon have shade for the dogs out back."
Visitors will have an entirely different experience when walking into the updated humane society through the new front entrance, she added.
"When A Cause for Paws said they were going to move, it enabled us to write the grant to the Cass County Community Foundation and take the vision to make it be sleeker, cleaner, nicer, less smelly, and pleasant for all."
The open house will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. June 1 at 700 Water St. The event is open to the community.
