This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 19, 2011 - Just one month after the completion of the new dog yard at Stray Rescue of St. Louis, Randy Grim, founder, knew the shelter needed more, quite a bit more.
That exercise yard, funded by a $125,000 grant from the Kathryn Favre Foundation, opened at the end of November and is on the east side of the facility at 2320 Pine Street. The yard, divided into three sections, allows for multiple dogs or groups of dogs to exercise at once, Grim said.
Although Grim said the exercise yard has been beneficial to the shelter, words couldn't paint a picture of what the shelter really needs.
Grim said Stray Rescue, with the help of foster families, cares for roughly 500 dogs and cats on any given day. He says that, because of the number of animals, overflow is necessary and it's been hard to design the six-month-old location, which is what the grant was to be used for.
"Sure, we need money to build this place and to keep it running, but we really need the general public to step up to the plate and take some civic responsibility," said Kathleen England, director of media relations. "It's like people don't care. Not like they don't care, they don't. Period."
The shelter operates daily through the work of volunteers and minimal staffing. Temporary pens have been set up, and cages have been placed in place of cubicles to adjust to the overflow of dogs rescued.
"It's all temporary. It seems to be working, but we do what we need to do," England said.
"For now, because of the amount of dogs (we have), it doesn't look like it (a permanent design) is going to happen any time soon," England said. "We're going to have to regroup. Now we're seeing what we can do to make it more comfortable for the dogs. That's our priority."
The shelter houses a variety of dog breeds, but a noticeable majority of them are terrier (mostly pit bull) and shepherd mixes. Grim said the number of terrier mixes can be explained by dog fighting rings in and around St. Louis.
In general, England said, "People get tired of their dog and they throw it on the street. Then they aren't spayed or neutered so they mate on the street and they have puppies, and it all snowballs. It's really a responsibility issue."
In July, Stray Rescue of St. Louis received a $550,000 grant from Nestle Purina PetCare Co. that helped support opening the new Pine Street location, according to a Nestle release.
"The Purina money, that was just a start," England said, "that's barely enough to survive on."
Grim said the shelter would require at least $350,000 for expanded space, cages, veterinary services, puppy isolation and related electrical and plumbing costs to properly care for the dogs and to meet city's requirements so Stray Rescue could receive government funding. That is separate from $500,000 that's needed to complete the original dream of a full and modern adoption and education center.
When the city's Gasconade shelter was closed in July, the demands on Stray Rescue escalated. It took many of the dogs that had been at that south-side facility, England said, and responds to calls that go through the citizens service bureau reporting stray or injured dogs. So far, however, that added burden has not been lessened by city funding for the expanded veterinarian clinic and other costs.
The Pine Street shelter is split into multiple parts that provide a separate place for each stage of a dog's time. The first area allows workers to check out and evaluate a new dog. In the second, animals go through a vet clinic and their health is monitored and they are spayed or neutered as needed. Some lucky ones have spacious play areas they call home, while others are in cages.
Pointing to a room filled with smaller cages, England said, "This is not what we're all about."
Stray Rescue is about trying to find homes for the dogs.
England said canines may be adopted straight from Stray Rescue or through foster homes that are paired with the shelter. A complete list of dogs available for adoption can be found at https://www.strayrescue.org
Leah Randazzo, a senior at Missouri State University, was a Beacon intern over the winter break.