An organization that helps animals in southeast Kentucky is getting some of help of its own. The Kentucky River Region Animal Shelter in Hazard has received $50,000 in grants. The money comes from PetSmart Charities and Petco Love. The shelter has taken in over a thousand animals since the July floods.
Allie Mullins is the Kentucky River Region Animal Shelter manager. She said they’re still facing some hurdles more than two months later.
“We’re still getting calls that people are finding animals out in their yards or roaming around. Two of our counties still don’t have very active animal control since most of their equipment got destroyed. The public are still trying to gather up stray animals and find their homes. When they can’t find they homes, they bring them here.”
She said that makes it tough when most of their funding comes from donations.
“Having this money to spend on the animals is something we’re not really used to. We allotted $25,000 of it for staffing over the next six months to help take care of the animals.”
Mullins said the rest of the money will be used for repairs to the shelter, food, and veterinary care for the animals. The shelter currently is currently housing around 250 dogs can cats. Since the flooding, they have taken in over one thousand animals. Their goal is to reunite or rehome as many as possible.
The Kentucky River Region Animal Shelter serves Knott, Breathitt, Letcher, and Perry Counties. The shelter itself did not suffer much damage from the flooding.
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