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WOOD RIVER WEEKLY
YOUR VOICE IN THE WOOD RIVER VALLEY
Free | Feb 23 - Mar 8, 2022 | Vol. 3 - No. 4 | woodriverweekly.com
“ L i f e i s M a r c h w e a t h e r, s a v a g e a n d s e r e n e i n o n e h o u r. ”
ESSENTIAL WORKERS – R a l p h Wa l d o E m e r s o n
Animal adoptions, by appointment, have taken on a new format at Mountain Humane. Photo credit: Mountain Humane
Animal shelter has one more month to earn a $25,000 matching gift
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By Eric Valentine
or better or worse, something the pandemic forced upon folks was a re-evaluation of our professional role in society and what the term “essential worker” means. For Mountain Humane, a re-evaluation of the no-kill animal shelter’s philanthropic role in the Valley was forced upon it only 10 months after it moved into its new 30,000-square-foot facility and just weeks before the pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to the nonprofit whose mission is: To change lives by connecting people and pets.
“One thing I hope the community understands is that we’re using every square inch of this building to save animal lives.” —Annie McCauley Mountain Humane executive director
Among those whose lives would change for other reasons were now-former executive director Jo-Anne Dixon, who resigned after 13 years at the helm and after watching organization expenses skyrocket by more than $300,000 in one year at the new facility. Her departure had local media clamoring for a transparent explanation by the board of directors and had locals swirling everything from embezzlement rumors to money laundering theories. Meanwhile, amid a Valley housing crisis that was only getting worse, Mountain Humane still had the one sort of quirky irony it was always anticipating it’d have to work around: That the stray and surrendered animals of the Valley were living in a nicer place than some of the local working class. Today, Mountain Humane finds itself on solid ground
as it attempts, within its Rocky’s Medical Fund campaign, to raise $25,000 by March 31. Doing so triggers a $25,000 matching gift and makes it possible to continue a program that ensures every homeless animal gets the medical care it needs. The fund also provides no-cost vet services to pet owners who can’t afford essential medical care for their pets. At the same time, the organization is working with the Graybird Foundation, a nonprofit that donates marketing services to other nonprofits. “We begin each client engagement with a stakeholder survey to understand the perceptions of those close to the organization, and that’s what we are in the process of doing for Mountain Humane,” said Shelley Willig, Head of Education Practice for the foundation. The survey isn’t available to the entire community, but Mountain Humane executive director Annie McCauley explained that people within every “stakeholder” group in the community will be invited to take part in it. “We’re trying to understand how the community sees us now in 2022, what’s their perception?” explained McCauley. “Once we glean that, we can better understand how to focus our resources.” An Essential Resource One of those things Valley pet owners learned during the pandemic was how much their pets help cope with adversity and, sadly, how much they can cost. Shelters across the country hit record numbers of surrendered pets during the pandemic, and locally things weren’t much different. However, Mountain Humane was able to energize its fostering program in early 2020 and it has tripled in size. Continued ANIMAL SHELTER Page 2
Rocky: Rocky’s Medical Fund helps make Mountain Humane’s veterinary services possible. The fund is named after Rocky, a stray cat who was hit by a car and brought to MH by a good Samaritan. His leg was amputated by our in-house vet and special recovery oversight was provided to ready him for adoption. It didn’t take long for a family to fall in love with this courageous kitty and give him a forever home. Rocky’s Medical Fund gives thousands of animals a chance at a healthy life. Photos and animal bios provided by Mountain Humane