CARIBOU, Maine — The Caribou shelter that helps lost, stray and abandoned cats find new homes is in quite the quandary itself after city officials decreed that Halfway Home Pet Rescue volunteers can no longer operate their haven for homeless cats at 11 Pioneer Avenue in Caribou.
With the help of over 25 volunteers who donate anywhere from four to 40 hours of their time per week to the shelter, President of HHPR Norma Milton runs the non-profit temporarily out of her own home, which is nestled in a residential zone. The group has been fundraising to purchase a permanent rescue residence that could accommodate dogs as well as cats, aiming to raise $85,000 over the next five years for their building fund. (They’ve raised about $4,500 to date).
But volunteers may be forced to expedite their moving endeavors, since the city has found the rescue to be in violation of zoning laws.
As of Monday, Milton was cautiously optimistic that city officials would resolve the matter appropriately.
“[Caribou City Manager] Steve Buck called me this afternoon, and we had a lovely conversation; he clarified that nobody wants to close this [shelter] down, and [the city] wants to work with us to help us try to relocate within a span of time that is reasonable,” she said on Monday evening.
Caribou Code Enforcement Officer Steve Wentworth agrees that the city has no intention of shutting HHPR down.
“It’s good to have a pet rescue in Caribou, [11 Pioneer Avenue] is just not a good location for it,” he said.
Halfway Home Pet Rescue is considered a kennel according to the current city ordinance, and kennels aren’t allowed in the specific residential area 11 Pioneer Avenue occupies. (According to that same ordinance, any homes with over three pets are considered kennels and not allowed in most residential zones).
While HHPR volunteers do not concede to their “kennel” classification by the city, Wentworth says there’s no other suitable definition.
“We only have the definition for kennel, and our definition for kennel is a bit ambiguous,” Wentworth said.
The State of Maine clearly differentiates between a shelter and a kennel, and the state recognizes HHPR as a shelter; HHPR recently passed their state licensing inspection with no issues.
But according to the current Caribou ordinance and zoning, the rescue will have to move.
“The building fund is the only thing that’s going to enable us to relocate,” Milton said. “It’s always been our intention to relocate, but we thought we’d have at least five years.”
The pet rescue was first issued a letter from the City of Caribou drafted on July 20, informing Milton of the zoning violation and asked that she please cease operations of the pet rescue from her home; a date restriction was not listed in the letter.
There was initial confusion as to why the letter was sent — HHPR volunteers were told by city officials that a complaint was submitted against them, but when the Aroostook Republican asked Wentworth if a complaint had been filed again the shelter, he responded that “it’s an existing violation of the zoning ordinance.”
Wentworth said yesterday that all the city has done at this point was to bring [the zoning issue] to Milton’s attention in the hopes of working with the shelter to help them find a more suitable site to relocate.
But Milton received her second letter from the city on Aug. 26: it read, “The City of Caribou has been in communication with the State of Maine, Animal Welfare Program. The City of Caribou has requested that the Animal Welfare Program not renew the state license for the Halfway Home Pet Rescue as an Animal Shelter Facility at 11 Pioneer Avenue.”
Should the Animal Welfare Program heed the city’s advice and not reissue HHPR’s license, the shelter would not be allowed to maintain functions at its current location after Dec. 31, 2011 — meaning volunteers theoretically would have four months to find, obtain and move into an appropriate location to continue their operations.
Milton is confident that it won’t get to that point.
“The city is willing to work with us,” she said.
Instrumental to communications between HHPR and the city has been Robyn Smith, Sharon Watson and Zachary Smith, all on the board of directors building committee.
Taking a proactive approach to the zoning issue, they submitted a proposal to the planning board on Aug. 29, addressing possible solutions to the HHPR matter and “addressing the inadequacy of the ordinance,” Smith said.
“We’re hoping to work with the planning board in allowing us to continue operating at our temporary location while we increase efforts to establish a permanent site,” Robyn Smith said.
But the three are also hoping to change language of the ordinance.
“One of the issues we have with the ordinance is that it restricts a home in a residential zone to three animals,” Robyn added. “If you’re going to enforce that at 11 Pioneer Avenue, you’re going to have to enforce that in any residential zone.”
According to Wentworth, the city and its residents have been cooperative about violations in the past: when complaints have been made to the city (usually about barking dogs) where people have had more than three canines at their home, the city has brought the violation to the residents’ attention. “As the dogs go to attrition and the number of dogs in reduced, the owner maintains the required amount of dogs and the complaints stop,” he said.
But Wentworth also agrees that the ruling document could be more clear.
“There’s definitely room for improvement in our ordinance,” he said.
HHPR volunteers are hoping that an official dialogue will begin on Thursday, during the next meeting of the Caribou City Planning Board at 7 p.m. at City Hall, when the communication submitted by Smiths and Watson will be read.
Volunteers with HHPR already work at a sprinting pace trying to keep up with all the services they offer to area felines and their owners — and the shelter only accepts pets after they’ve been rejected from every other possible location. But they’re trying to step it up even more to raise funds for a new facility where everyone can be happy — dogs, cats, volunteers and city officials alike.
Individuals interested in helping the shelter can contribute to their building fund, but Milton understands times are tough for everyone.
That’s why she’s actively seeking help in orchestrating the shelter’s upcoming fundraisers.
“We need at least 10 people to help set up and run our garage sale on Sept. 10 and 11 at 8 Pleasant Street,” Milton said. Those interested in volunteering their time to help the shelter reach their building fund goal can call Milton at 492-1722.
Additional information about the shelter including a list of their upcoming fundraisers can be obtained by visiting their website at www.halfwayhomepetres-cue.org
The shelter’s mailing address is P.O. Box 488, Caribou, Maine 04736.
