BONNEVILLE COUNTY - Nearly 5000 dogs and cats are euthanized each year in our region. To save the animals, many people in Bonneville County want to build a new shelter to give them a longer lease on life and hopefully find a loving home.
Irene Brown works at the Idaho Falls Animal Shelter. Her job is to pick out the animals that need to be euthanized. It's not easy, so they have a system.
"I decide which ones get put down but I don't actually have to do it," said Brown "They do it so they don't actually have to decide which one it was so we can all go home at night and sort of sleep."
Many of the dogs and cats here are adoptable, but there isn't enough room, so they're killed.
"There are simply too many animals in our community that are not being properly adopted out. We've exceeded our current capacity. We need to build a facility and staff it so we can address the need in our community," said Trina Pullman, North Wind's Executive Assistant.
There is hope a new Snake River Animal Shelter will relieve the burden of housing the extra animal giving Fido and Fluffy more time to find a loving owner. It sounds like a perfect idea, right? But there is one problem, money.
"We need to have the money before we can build the facility. But there is relatively a small amount needed before we can break ground. And once we get started we can continue and fulfill that goal," said Pullman.
Shelter board members want to raise $2.5 million. They don't have all the money, but construction is scheduled to begin early next year. With enough money, Irene's decisions won't be so hard to make.
"It would be great to be able to say, this dog came in on Monday and we're going to keep it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. And Friday, if there is nobody on the list, it's going to be transferred over to the new shelter. That would be great. It would be wonderful," she said.
Even with the $2.5 million, they are not out of the woods just yet. They will need an additional $2 million to fund operating costs.
If you would like to donate, log onto www.snakeriveranimalshelter.org. or call 208-557-7833.
By Hailey Higgins, Local News 8 Reporter
