An update
from the office of the CAHS treasurer
By Vi Belanger
Treasurer, Board of Directors
I have had the honor of being on the Board of Directors for the Central Aroostook Humane Society (CAHS) for over six years and have held the office of treasurer for the past three-plus years. My genuine initiative started out with a wish to want to help — to help in a way that would make a difference for the administrative operations of this little local animal shelter.
This is my first time in writing an article publicly for our shelter. It is my hope this will help those that may have ever wondered, with these economic times, how our shelter can still survive and remain with the charge of caring for little homeless souls that need love, shelter and medical attention, even within a tough economy and everyone tightening their belts. Well, we are here with consistency, we are making it happen day in and day out, because, simply put, we are needed — and we are full!
The CAHS is a licensed animal welfare shelter in Presque Isle, operating under license within the authority of the state of Maine. To give you some insight, our finances are overseen by our Board of Directors, administered via their authority through me and are fully audited and balanced.
Where to money goes
CAHS contracts with 26 local towns within Aroostook County. The town appropriations from these agreements comprise 47 percent of our total income. This means with these contracts in place, that we take in stray animals from residents of these towns and strays as they come in. We work closely with local and state governments, law enforcement and animal control officers with each town to assure the safety of their residents and care for surrendered, abused and stray animals. We have an amazing relationship with each local town and have provided services — all according to our contracts for these communities.
Our income for this past year is broken down as follows:
• 47 percent local town appropriation contracts;
• 30 percent donations and fundraisers, organized and facilitated by Board members, with the help of many volunteers all over Aroostook County;
• 16 percent shelter operational fees, such as incoming animals, adoption fees, and return-to-owner costs, and baseline provision of rabies vaccines;
• 6 percent cage sponsorships, spay and neuter income fees, sale of merchandise like leashes and collars, and trust funds that have been bequeathed to our shelter; and
• The last area of income is, if you believe it: returnable bottles! This represents almost 1 percent of our income and we have taken steps to try to set aside some of these funds targeted to an education account to assure that our staff have a chance to maintain their education in the field of animal handling, triage and care, behavioral screening and welfare topics — most of which are provided by the state of Maine Animal Welfare Department and are approved curriculum. This all increases our quality of care for our little animals and our staff serve in an educational capacity for the public as well. We often refer pet owners to local vets when seeking medical care and advice, but often, we are the first point of contact and support for concerned pet owners.
Follow the expenses
How do we balance the income vs. the expenses? Well, the truth is, the amount of income does not cover our level of expenses and what it takes to operate a shelter. So, if you do your math, our level of income has not been enough. The financial status of our animal shelter is one that is tenuous.
Our expenses are spread in the following areas:
• 59 percent for staff payroll/limited benefits;
• 17 percent for operational costs — utilities, heat, telephone, snow/garbage removal, water, cage supplies, pet food, litter and modest shelter supplies; and
• 13 percent for medical/veterinarian costs, pet medications and treatments, and spay and neuter fees; and
• 11 percent for insurances — liability, worker’s comp, auto and business.
I have worked with our Board of Directors and have been re-evaluating our costs by line item and having to make some hard choices. What are the necessities of maintaining our operation and where are areas that we can make some adjustments? Our shelter manager has worked so very hard at maintaining a high level of care and medications being administered to our little animals while she has decreased our overall costs for medications and worked with local vets closely for medical care. The local veterinarians have also recognized our hard economic times, joining us in our efforts to provide for homeless animals, with some offering discounts for our shelter and have also helped with cost-effective medications and/or worked to find alternatives for us. Our efforts have been successful in decreasing the gap between income and our expenses but it is a constant battle — one that I am on the front lines to work with.
Donations that are received at the shelter are often used for direct animal costs such as medical and veterinarian care, medications and needed treatments. We’ve also used donated funds to help us for operational costs such as: utilities and heat costs, cage supplies such as food and litter for which costs have risen in the past year. We also rely on donations to help with capital improvements for our shelter upkeep as maintenance for our aging building is becoming more prevalent. This past year we have had to make some electrical wiring upgrades, cage upgrades, exterior dog cage improvements, and due to the high volume of laundering that we do on a daily basis — did you know we have actually worn out a washer and dryer — twice — all within a year!
Ouellette recognized
Our shelter has had the most wonderful, loving people making a difference over the years. I want to tell you of one that comes to mind as I write this. Presque Isle has a young man, Colby Ouellette — he and his family have been amazing supporters of our shelter. I have, over the past years, watched Colby grow and get involved with our Paws for the Cause Walk fundraiser. This past year in June, Colby raised an amazing $300 by collecting bottles and targeting the funds for our walk. He was the single highest fundraiser by any one individual. Can you believe that a teenager has thought about what he can do and then made it happen? I have been so proud of him and this year was no exception. I was able to personally thank him at the event as his efforts really mean something. I know the value of how far our shelter will be able to make this amazing donation stretch and that every dollar he has collected bottles for, will be able to help many of our little animals. Colby and his family are true role models, not only for his classmates and his peers but for our community. There are so many people that do this very same thing, I am not able to write of them all, but maybe in future articles, we can share some with you that you can know what others are doing. It will touch your hearts as it does mine on an almost daily basis.
What can I do?
I hope I am giving you the picture that it is the efforts of many, from many communities and areas, that help us to maintain our services and operations for the sake of animal welfare and care for animals that just can’t help themselves. They need us. We are doing our very best and then some.
I encourage you to just come by our shelter and visit the little faces that are just waiting for someone to take them home and love them. Personally, after being without a family dog for a few years, I didn’t know that my heart could love again as it once had, but a year ago, my husband Julien and I saw, fell in love with and adopted from our shelter a black lab that we have named Beau. He is just so funny and goofy and wonderfully loving. It has changed our whole house and made us whole again.
If you feel you are not able to do this for your own reasons, I can appreciate this. Please don’t think of our shelter as what you can’t do or maybe don’t have the experience or ability to do. I have people stop and ask me a question — what I feel is the right question: “What Can I do?” It’s simple; that is it! This is the way to start. Maybe this topic is for a whole other article as I can go on about this; but for now, let your heart guide you and just ask yourself “the right question.” Any effort you can provide isn’t just for our shelter or for our staff, it is for the little animals that need us. They need us to be their champion and ask ourselves “What Can I do?” — all because they matter.
Call our amazing CAHS staff at 764-4431 Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. We are happy to introduce you to some cuddly and loving little ones that are waiting for their family to come get them! Tell the staff their treasurer sent you!
