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SEPTEMBER 2021
www.GlobeMiamiTimes.com
The Struggles of Sheltering Animals in Rural Gila County
The High Desert Humane Society is operating out of a 5000 sq ft historic building on Mesquite street having turned the back yard space into dog runs, with a thrift shop in the front and living space above. Photo by LCGross BY JENN WALKER
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ny animal who ends up at an animal shelter has a story to tell. Perhaps its previous home was overcrowded with animals, and the owner was forced to let go of some pets. Oftentimes, people surrender their pets to shelters because they’re moving, and pets aren’t allowed in their new homes. “I’ve seen grown men cry because they can’t keep their dog,” says Cheryl Brazell, who has been president of the High Desert Humane Society since its reorganization 12 years ago. Sometimes animals are simply abandoned, like the puppies who were left alone in a crate in Dripping Springs during the Telegraph Fire. Four of the seven puppies survived and were taken in by High Desert’s dog rescue. On the other hand, well-meaning people will stumble upon litters from feral (wild) animals, especially litters of kittens, and assume the young animals need to be taken to a shelter, not realizing the mother will return to care for her young. The greatest challenge is meeting the demand to shelter and adopt out all these animals in rural Gila County – from Globe, Miami, and San Carlos to Roosevelt and Tonto Basin. There are only two locations to take them locally: High Desert Humane Society in downtown Globe, or Gila County’s Animal Care and Control Division, which just opened a new facility at the county fairgrounds. High Desert cycles roughly 170 dogs and 200 cats through its shelters each year, Brazell estimates. This doesn’t include the 500 or so feral cats who have gone through High Desert’s “Trap-Neuter-Release” program since 2019. The program helps members of the community catch feral cats, have them altered, and return them to the neighborhood they came from. (Unless socialized with humans as a kitten, a feral cat is nearly impossible to handle enough to ever become a household pet, and neither High Desert nor Animal Care and Control can successfully adopt these animals out. Trap-neuter-release is the next best option.) High Desert’s dog and cat rescues are intended to hold about 35 animals at a time each. When this article was being written, both shelters were full. In July, High Desert’s cat rescue, nicknamed Cat House, was housing 56 cats. Thanks to guidance from the former director, Cheryle Mariscal, who resigned earlier this year after holding the position since July 2019, the new director of Cat House brought the population down by reducing cat adoption fees from $40 to $5. The fees include vaccinations and alterations. “We need to have a [population] limit so we can offer better care for the animals, rather than taking too many, and then some
RIchard Brazell cleaning out dog pens at HDHS dog shelter.
Laurie Manzano (L) has found herself helping out the cat rescue again despite crippling pain in her hips and joints. Now in her late 70s, Manzano continues to foster kittens which need extra care at her home, paying for food, litter and supplies out of her pocket, Ann, a volunteer who drives from Florence quit coming under the former Director, but is back helping Manzano and the Cat Rescue until a new Director can be found. end up suffering,” says Megan Chism, who took over as director of Cat House in April. Overcrowding can lead to the spread of highly contagious illnesses and parasites in shelters, ranging from ringworm to parvovirus to upper respiratory infections. “Cats died there at the shelter,” Mariscal says, recalling her time spent as director at Cat House. “Some of them were so sick, even after trying to save them for months.” It’s also increasingly difficult to keep a shelter clean in overcrowded conditions. On numerous occasions during high occupancy, Cat House has struggled with sanitation issues and complaints about smells. Globe local Laurie Manzano stepped in on numerous occasions in the past to help clean up the building. At one point, Cat House was holding up to 90 cats without enough cages for them all; they were left to roam freely. “It was filthy there,” Manzano recalls. Prior to Cat House’s inception, Manzano
housed and cared for High Desert’s cats in her art gallery, the Blue Mule, in downtown Globe. Cat House is in a better place now. Cats no longer roam the building freely. Now that Cat House is just at capacity, Chism hopes to keep things this way. People get angry when the shelter refuses an animal, she says, yet preventing overcrowding of the shelter is critical for its survival. “It’s not easy or cheap to take care of this many animals,” she says. At Animal Care and Control, the requirements to surrender an animal are more stringent. If a person has fed an animal for more than six days, that person is considered the owner, and Animal Care and Control is unlikely to take the animal. The organization is particularly pressing dog owners to not “surrender” their dogs. “We’re trying to make owners more liable for their dogs,” department head John Castaneda says.
Last year, the organization reunited hundreds of animals with their owners. They impounded another 400 animals. Many were transferred to the Valley to prevent overpopulation, and between 40 and 50 were adopted out, according to Castaneda. As it is, they have often been full, he says. Ideally, Animal Care and Control should always have space to house animals, especially in the event of a natural disaster or emergency, like the fires and floods that occurred this summer. Sometimes, shelters don’t have a choice, though. People have been known to drop off animals outside Animal Care and Control and High Desert shelters in the middle of the night. This doesn’t always end well. Last winter, volunteers showed up to Cat House one morning to find dead kittens at the door; they were too young to regulate their body temperature in the cold without the warmth of their mother. “People think they are doing the right thing,” says Manzano. Actually, abandoning an animal that you have been caring for is a criminal offense, punishable by Arizona state law. Manzano is all too familiar with abandonment stories. During her 12 years running the Blue Mule Art Gallery, she cared for approximately 1,700 cats. People constantly abandoned cats at her front door. Manzano, who is 76 now and struggles with physical ailments, recently resumed fostering kittens for Cat House – even kittens with ringworm and upper respiratory infections. Kittens are highly dependent upon their mothers and need frequent, specialized care (even more so when they’re sick), and Cat House doesn’t have the staffing to bottle-feed and tend to kittens around the clock. Beyond time consuming, caring for kittens, and for animals in general, is costly. Between getting an animal spayed or neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, treated for any ailments, and transported, High Desert may spend as much as $3,000 to $4,000 on a vet bill for a single animal. To make ends meet, the nonprofit relies on revenue from its thrift and furniture stores in downtown Globe, financial support from United Fund and Southwest Gas, adoption fees, cash donations and fundraisers. However, the nonprofit hasn’t been able to hold any fundraisers or auctions as of late. “We are struggling, yet managing, to stay in the black through COVID, fires, and floods,” Brazell says. In addition to cash donations, food and other tangible donations help keep the nonprofit afloat. Southwest Gas recently donated an air-conditioned truck for High Desert to transport animals.
RESCUE, Continued on page 21
