Community support critical to animal shelter

The Panhandle Animal Shelter dog walk was a fun event last Sunday  as we walked the dogs from the old shelter to the spacious new one on Kootenai Cutoff Road. Maybe you saw our long line of dog walkers? This community is so blessed to have the donation of the shelter building as well as the thrift shop, by the Wild Rose Foundation.

Since the building is so much larger, there will be bigger utility bills to pay. Donations are going to be needed more than ever, for the shelter and the thrift store. Sandpoint does not pay anything for the PAS out of the city budget. So it is up to us in the community, to do all we can to help on a continual basis.

Bonner County has a much higher than 20,000 population, yet there are only 350 members of PAS. I know there are more than 350 cat and dog lovers here in Bonner County. For the person who has everything, how about a gift of membership in PAS? This only involves a fee of $25 a year. Better yet, every family should  support the PAS. Please join.

Volunteers are also needed. It's  a pleasure to work in a beautiful, new shelter. Sign up for dog walking or any other job you want to do that is needed at the facility. Play with the kittens? They would love it. There are so few people on the staff at PAS, that volunteers are urgently needed.

I urge you to put PAS on your gift list, not just now ,but every month for as much as your heart tells you.

ANNETTE ORTON

Sandpoint