Marshfield Area Pet Shelter Now Able to Provide Quality Care to Stray Dogs Found Within City Limits
Starting July 1, Marshfield Area Pet Shelter will officially assume the contract for stray dog care in the City of Marshfield. Currently operating out of a temporary home on West 29th Street (in the former airport terminal building), staff and volunteers are eager to take on stray canine care at the facility.
Previously, stray dogs were taken to a kennel north of Marshfield, owned and operated by Gus Wenzel. Dogs whose owners never came forward were then turned over to MAPS.
“We have been offering our services to provide adoption opportunities to these dogs for years, but we were never paid to provide these services. We did it because we wanted to help the unclaimed dogs find new forever homes,” explained Karen Rau, MAPS President. “By taking over the city contract, we will now be paid for the services we provide and the funds we receive will be used to provide medical care such as spay/neuter surgeries to get dogs ready for adoption.”
“Additionally, by having the dogs in our facility from day one vs day eight will allow staff to evaluate the dogs more quickly for both medical and behavioral needs which will result in getting them available for adoption quicker,” she added.
Already outfitted with kennels and an outdoor dog running area, MAPS has also been actively caring for surrendered and stray dogs found in townships outside of City limits that do not have a place for dogs. Starting next week, the organization will finally be able to officially provide care to dogs within their own community.
“Our goal has always been to provide higher standards of care and services for our community’s homeless animals. Now that we have two paid staff members, we feel we are in a better position to pursue taking over the city contract to provide housing for stray dogs,” said Rau. “We feel confident in our ability to provide that higher quality of care as Marshfield’s first animal welfare organization.”
Dogs in MAPS’ care will receive preventative measures such as dewormer, flea/tick treatments, Bordetella and distemper vaccinations (which are given the first 24-48 hours of intake to keep incoming and current animals safe in the facility).
“This service has never been provided to dogs before,” said Rau. “Additionally, dogs that are returned to their owner from our facility will receive a FREE microchip courtesy of MAPS to ensure dogs are reunited more quickly.”
Animals will be housed in a climate controlled environment providing air conditioning in the summer, heating in the winter, and a City-donated ventilation system to keep them safe and healthy.
Furthermore, MAPS location within City limits provides increased convenience for both ordinance officers and pet owners.
“We are conveniently located within city limits where potential owners can view dogs without a police escort,” said Rau. “We have two employees who can train and mentor volunteers to care for the dogs and we have a team of about 12 people/volunteers waiting to help socialize, care for and walk the dogs four times per day.”
By obtaining the stray dog contract, staff and volunteers will also be able to take photos of stray dogs and promptly post them on social media in hopes of facilitating a quick reunion.
“The goal is to reunite more pets with owners, provide resources and education, and create a quicker turn around to get pets back into their homes,” said Rau.
Learn more about MAPS here.
