Friends of Orange County Animal Shelter
P.O. 9652 Chapel Hill, N.C.27515-9652 --
919-942-2503
  

"**ROSES to FOCAS**"


News & Observer
March 24, 2005

Shelter success comes at price
Author: Cheryl Johnston; Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL -- Running the Orange County Animal Shelter has cost more than expected in its first six months of county operation, according to a six-month progress report.

Orange County took control of the shelter July 1 from the Animal Protection Society of Orange County, which had been operating the county shelter under contract for 25 years. That contract was not renewed after months of controversy surrounding the APS shelter practices and the operation of its board.

Temporary staff and overtime during the transition, new supplies, health screenings and inoculations, and one-time expenses associated with the search for an animal services director will add up to about $90,000 in unbudgeted expenses this fiscal year. The county budgeted $886,520 for the first year of operation.

The report also notes that, since July, fewer animals have been brought to the shelter. Although the report calls the drop significant, it gives no numbers or reasons for it.

From July to January, 55.6 percent of adoptable animals were adopted or returned to owners, according to the report.

The report describes the transition of the shelter from the APS to the county as "seamless."

Joe Pulcinella, the shelter director, noted that the shelter has attracted experienced new staff, expanded its education and adoption outreach program, and benefited from the service of 70 volunteers.

Pulcinella has implemented health screenings for animals before they are made available for adoption. The shelter has also added two spay/neuter providers, which means adopted pets can go home with new owners on Saturdays.

The report also outlines plans to start an education outreach and low-cost spay/neuter program.

TONIGHT

The Orange County Board of Commissioners will receive the report at 7:30 p.m. at a work session at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill.


Chapel Hill News
August 1, 2004

What can residents do to help animal shelter? Volunteer


My view

By Joe Pulcinella

Since becoming director of the Orange County Animal Shelter, I have been heartened by the generous support from the community. Many people have come forward to offer assistance, and the community's support has been instrumental in keeping the Orange County Animal Shelter thriving.

We are truly grateful and value the generosity of all who offered their support.

The question that I hear most often is, "What can I do to help?" The answer is, "Many things." The most obvious forms of support are donations and volunteers. Many people do not know that they can still make tax-deductible donations to the shelter. While the county finances the shelter, there are many programs that we want to implement that will require resources beyond what the county can reasonably be expected to supply. We hope that the animal lovers of Orange County will step forward and support the shelter's fund-raising activities.

Volunteers are also a valuable resource. Many of our programs would not exist without the help of our many wonderful volunteers, and the shelter will continue to offer a variety of opportunities. In the shelter we need people who can walk dogs, train dogs, socialize animals, help with temperament testing, clean cages, groom animals, and do clerical work and data entry, to name just a few.

If you don't want to work in the shelter, we can use foster homes where animals can be rehabilitated and placed. We also will have an outreach program that takes animals and educational materials to places like Petsmart and on the lawn at Weaver Street. This program enables us to go outside the shelter to give our animals a broader showcase and extend our ability to educate the community about animal related issues and proper pet care.

In addition to the county shelter programs, there is a new group, the Friends of the Orange County Animal Shelter, or FOCAS, which is forming to help the shelter by raising funds and supporting shelter programs. The group is looking for members to build this new organization, and it also will offer a variety of exciting ways to assist the shelter within the context of a nonprofit, separately incorporated group. For information, contact Margie at 929-1828 or friendsofocas.org.

In this area of dwindling free time and tight finances, there are people for whom the above opportunities are not possible. Can they still support the shelter? Yes, in ways that are easy to incorporate into any lifestyle.

Shelters, especially at this time of year, are inundated with millions of pets. In order to place all these animals, every person would have to own 15 dogs and 45 cats! While the Orange County Animal Shelter is committed to placing as many animals as possible, clearly adoption alone is not the answer.

If you own a pet, please have it spayed or neutered. This is one of the best and easiest ways to help both our shelter and your pet. Sterilized animals are less prone to often fatal diseases like mammary and testicular cancers. Neutered dogs and cats will not mark territory and thus are easier to housebreak, and they do not exhibit the aggressive, dominance behavior that can lead to bites, especially with children. They are less likely to roam and get hit by cars. Spayed females will not attract hoards of amorous, often rather testy, suitors to your door.

Another way to support the shelter is to adopt an animal. Shelters offer a wide variety of pets that fit every lifestyle. Many people first think of puppies when they think of adopting. They are adorable but they require a large commitment of time in the first year for supervision and training. If a puppy is not a realistic choice, the Orange County Animal Shelter has a number of older dogs who would make great pets. They are already housebroken and are past the "chewing" stage that all puppies go through.

Cats and kittens are perfect for apartments, or anyone with physical limitations or irregular schedules that preclude set dog walking times. There are also many "pocket pets" such as rabbits, gerbils, hamsters and guinea pigs for those whose inclinations go beyond dogs and cats.

With more than 5,000 animals a year at the shelter, there is something for everyone who is willing to exercise a little patience.

For those terrific souls who have adopted and neutered their pets and supported the shelter there is one more way to help the animal shelter spread the word. Please let people know how you support the shelter, whether it's with donations or volunteering. Is there an unneutered dog or cat in your neighborhood? Maybe the owner is not aware of the low cost options for spay/neuter or its health benefits. Let everyone who admires your beautiful pet know that you adopted him or her from the shelter. We want every Orange County citizen to know that the shelter is a resource for the entire community.

With the strength and support of a united community, we are looking forward to a bright, innovative future. For information contact the shelter at 967-7383 or animalshelter@co.orange.nc.us.

Joe Pulcinella has worked with animal shelters for 34 years, primarily in the Philadelphia, Pa., area. He was director of education and shelter manager before moving to North Carolina.


Chapel Hill News
July 28, 2004
Roses & raspberries

Roses to Friends of the Orange County Animal Shelter for creating a volunteer arm for the new county shelter.

The county took over operation of the shelter last month from the Animal Protection Society of Orange County. The new shelter, and more importantly the animals inside, need all the friends they can get. The transition has meant long hours and lots of catch-up work by the shelter staff to bring a major operation under county control while maintaining animal care standards.

That can't be done without volunteer help, and that's where the Friends group comes in. It's set up to raise funds, provide volunteer staffing, collect supplies and provide educational programming to support the professional staff. If you want to be in on the ground floor of a good work, call 929-1828 or contact FOCAS.


Chapel Hill News
July 25, 2004

Animal friends at work in three locations

A volunteer group forms to help the county animal shelter, while APS works to open its shelter and wildlife shelter gets a boost.

By Dave Hart, Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL _ Hoping to leave behind the rancor and controversy that swirled around the animal shelter for the past two years, a group of local residents has formed a new organization to support the shelter in its new incarnation as a county-run operation.

The county took over operation of the shelter from the Animal Protection Society on July 1. APS had run the shelter for 25 years, but a series of controversies dogged the organization from 2002 until last spring, when the county Board of Commissioners decided to make the shelter a county function.

Friends of the Orange County Animal Shelter, or FOCAS, plans to support the shelter in any and all ways it can, said Margie Huggins, one of the group's organizers.

"We're not trying to pretend the past didn't happen, but I think everybody who cares about animals is ready to move on and go forward in a very positive way," Huggins said. "That's what we're going to do. We're modeling ourselves on groups like the Friends of the Library. Our only purpose is to focus on the shelter and do whatever we can to help. They're just getting started over there, so this is a great time to start this group up and help out."

The group is a fledgling organization thus far, with perhaps 15 members, Huggins said. But, she said, FOCAS hopes to grow by many times that number in the months and years to come.

"We're a small crowd now," she said. "We're trying to become a big crowd. We'll take all comers. Everybody knows the long story of the past few years. We want to make it a short story: What can we do to help the animals?"

They plan to raise funds, recruit volunteers, collect supplies, and do educational programs and anything else the shelter might need. Huggins said some residents might be under the misperception that now that the county runs the shelter, volunteers and donations are no longer needed.

"Yes, the county runs the shelter now, but they still need volunteers, and the amount of money they get covers the bare basics, but that's about it," she said. "One of the important messages we want to get out is that there are many, many ways for people to help. If you don't have time to volunteer, don't let that stop you from joining us; if you can't volunteer time, there are 10 other things you can do. We're here to coordinate that.

"We're just getting organized, so we're still in the brainstorming phase. And the more people we get on board, the more we can do. There are so many talented people in Orange County, I'm sure we can get a lot of great things going on."

At the shelter, director Joe Pulcinella welcomed the FOCAS effort. He said he and his staff are working out the various kinks that accompanied the transition from APS control, and all the while managing a full house of dogs and cats.

"We're starting to get things settled down," he said. "It's a big job. There's a great deal of coordination that has to be done, and we're getting there. We've been lining up vendors and suppliers -- Orange County never needed kitty litter before -- and that's been complicated because some of them require special licensing, and so on. We're getting our liaisons with the county office set up. Our volunteer coordinator will be here in two weeks, and that'll help us get our volunteers running smoothly.

"We're happy to see a group like FOCAS. We can really use the support of the community. We need volunteers, we need additional funding, and we need people to adopt animals. If anybody is interested, we very much want and need them."

Meanwhile, APS continues to work on a new adoption center at its 50-acre Nicks Road facility in western Orange County. The society hopes to have the adoption center -- with 18 dog rooms and two communal cat rooms, among other features -- open by the first of September. Wet weather and minor changes to the building plan have slowed some of the work, said APS president Ann Peterson.

When the center is finished, she said, APS will be able to take on some of the overflow animals from the county shelter.

"I wish we could open right now, and I know they wish we could, too," she said. "But we're progressing. It'll be a great facility, and we're working to get up and running as soon as we can."

In the meantime, APS has some adoptable dogs and cats in foster homes, and others at pet stores such as PetsMart and Dubey's, she said.

While the Orange County Animal Shelter and APS care for domestic animals, a third group that spun off from APS is working to rescue and rehabilitate wild ones.

The Piedmont Wildlife Center, formed by former APS veterinarian Bobby Schopler, recently relocated from temporary quarters in Orange County to a site in Durham County.

The wildlife center is treating record numbers of wild creatures, including some unusual species such as a bald eagle and an endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.

"Our rehab facility is doing well," Schopler said. "We're taking in animals at twice the rate we did last year. Our new location in Durham, which is more central to the million people in the Triangle, is one reason, I think, and another is simply more general awareness of the wildlife center."

In addition to providing rehabilitation services for wildlife, the Piedmont Wildlife Center offers a variety of volunteer, fellowship and internship opportunities. The organization plans several fund-raising activities and a membership drive this fall.

"We're at about 550 members," Schopler said. "We'd like that to be up to 1,000 by the end of the year."

A benefit concert by a group of musicians including John Howie, Dexter Romweber, Katharine Whalen and Taz Halloween at Cat's Cradle last Saturday raised about $3,000 for the Piedmont Wildlife Center, Schopler said.

"I was very impressed that such a great group of musicians believed in our cause enough to put on a show like that," Schopler said. "We raised over $3,000. We raised awareness, and I think we raised the roof of the Cradle."

Contact Dave Hart at 932-8744 or dhart@nando.com.


Chapel Hill Herald
July 19, 2004


Nonprofit group forms to support animal shelter
Friends of the Orange County Animal Shelter

BY GEOFFREY GRAYBEAL : The Herald-Sun

CHAPEL HILL -- A new nonprofit group has formed to support the Orange County Animal Shelter.

The Friends of the Orange County Animal Shelter -- also known as FOCAS -- plans to eventually file for tax-exempt status.

Although early in its existence, the group has about 10 members, said spokeswoman Margie Huggins.

Orange County assumed control of the shelter, which is next to Chapel Hill's public works yard off Airport Road, this month.

The Animal Protection Society previously managed the shelter on a contract basis, but two years of public controversy over its work prompted the Orange County Commissioners' decision to terminate their government's relationship with that group.

"Basically, there's been so much going on in the past that we feel that a group modeled after the Friends of the Library group would be a wonderful way to get everybody focused on moving forward," Huggins said. "Our mission and our goals are to support and enhance the services offered at the shelter."

Friends organizers would like to help the county attract a base of shelter volunteers to help with education, dog training, shelter operations and spay and neuter programs, among other things.

Huggins said the group also wants to seek grants to help find a way to decrease the unwanted pet population.

"The mission of FOCAS is absolutely to support and help the shelter," Huggins said. "We've met with [Shelter Director] Joe [Pulcinella] and are very excited about coordinating with him and giving him as much support and help as possible."

Huggins said the group would be open to the public, and anyone who wants to join can do so.

"Our only mission is a positive one -- that is to help with the day to day things such as doing a blanket and toy drive, putting boxes at local stores for dog and cat food, being an available resource for the shelter staff to call us if they need help," Huggins said. "We're just looking at whatever we can do to help the shelter."

Huggins said organizers hope to hold an open house and publicize events in the future.

"We are very excited to get a group together with hopefully as many people as possible from the whole county working toward helping the animals, which is what is the most important thing," she said.

More information about Friends of the Orange County Animal Shelter can be found on its Website. Anyone interested in joining the group or volunteering can call Huggins at 929-1828.