Hot dog! $5,500 raised for animal shelter A/C

Hot dog! $5,500 raised for animal shelter A/C
BY JONATHAN BARDELLINE
Staff writer

ROYAL OAK — The Royal Oak Animal Shelter is more than halfway to its fund-raising goal to pay for air conditioning at its more-than-40-year-old cinder block building.

The Animal Shelter A/C Fund-raiser at Sangria on Tuesday brought in about $5,500 of the $10,000 needed.

“Last year we had about a week with the temperature in the shelter over 100 degrees,” said shelter manager Pam Hall.

The shelter is starting to feel the heat already this year. On a recent night, the temperature in a room with fans running was in the high 90s, Hall said.

Air conditioning has been ordered and will be installed in about four weeks, said shelter committee chair Dan Godek. The shelter has a fund balance that could cover the cost if enough money is not raised, but Godek said that money is meant for operational costs such as medical care.

“We were concerned about burning through that money,” he said.

The money raised includes $500 from the Royal Oak Police Officers Association and $1,000 from Huntington Woods resident Kay Brady, who had pledged to match the first $1,000 raised.

Brady and her husband, Jim Doyon, have adopted two dogs from the shelter. They had their first adopted dog, Murphy, for about six months before his health issues became too overwhelming for him, Brady said.

While Brady and Doyon were donating dog items to the shelter, they saw Abby, who became their second adopted pooch.

Abby, a chihuahua-terrier mix, had been abandoned with a severe head injury and needs to take medication for her seizures.

“The shelter really took care of her physically and emotionally for about two months before we got her,” Brady said. “This is one small way I can pay back to them for all the wonderful things they do for the animals in this area.”

Their two dogs are just a few of the many pets the shelter has found homes for. Last year the no-kill shelter adopted out 600 dogs and cats and returned 80 percent of pets found wandering to their owners.
Donations from games

The shelter is also getting help from a new business owner.

Donna Pentecost of Royal Oak has recently become a consultant with SimplyFun, a game and puzzle direct sales company that holds in-home parties.

She is donating 20 percent of all her sales of SimplyFun games, puzzles and puppets to the shelter until July 15.

“I chose to donate to the animal shelter as part of my business launch because as a resident of Royal Oak, I know how important the animal shelter is, not only for adoption, but for lost pets as well,” she said.

Pentecost said she once found a lost dog, and after trying to find its owner, took it to the shelter. The dog’s owners came looking for it at the shelter the next day, she said.

source: www.hometownlife.co