Our mission is to provide a shelter where unwanted and abandoned dogs and cats can be humanely housed until adopted to qualified homes. We serve Sheridan County, which is mostly rural. We accept and care for stray dogs and cats. If their owners do not claim them after five days, we assume ownership and put them up for adoption. We accept owner surrenders for whatever reason. All animals are spayed or neutered before being made available for adoption.
If we have room, we also accept animals from Johnson County, WY and Big Horn County, MT, which contains the Crow & Cheyenne Indian Reservations, a large poverty area. We cooperate with breed rescue groups in our region.
We also care for animals whose owners are evacuated for natural disasters, reside temporarily in the local Homeless Shelter or who are placed in secret housing by the Advocacy Center to protect them from abusive spouses.
In addition, we work to educate the general public on responsible animal ownership and care. We also sponsor a yearly Rabies Clinic in cooperation with local vets.
We have room for individual accommodations for 38 dogs and 98 cats, but have had up to 65 dogs and 165 cats at one time. The new shelter can accommodate roughly 3 times the animals that the old shelter could handle (18 dogs & 48 cats). The old shelter didn’t have facilities to separate animals but the new one has accommodations for new arrivals, for those ready for adoption and for sick or injured animals. The new shelter also has individual outdoor runs with inside loafing areas.
Brief History of the Shelter: The first attempt at caring for homeless animals in Sheridan was the “Lion’s Den", a tiny enclosure in Kendrick City Park. In 1969 a group of people who were concerned about the treatment of these animals organized the first shelter, which was housed in a small space in Dr. Robert Connell’s Veterinary Clinic. In 1971 the Dog & Cat Shelter was incorporated as a voluntary, non-profit, tax-exempt corporation with a Board of Directors consisting of citizens from the community. The Board handled policies, procedures and general operations. In 1977 a small shelter on Fort Road, land donated by the City of Sheridan, was established. Eventually, the Dog and Cat Shelter outgrew this facility, which had no room for expansion. A campaign to raise funds to build a new shelter began in June, 2002. The land for the new facility was donated by the City of Sheridan. Ground was broken at 84 East Ridge Road on August 7, 2001. On August 5, 2002 our new, much larger, million-dollar shelter was opened. The Board of Directors raised the funds necessary to complete the 7200 square foot, state-of-the-art facility in one year, with three donors giving 80% of the cost, and the loan was paid off in May, 2003. After paying for the building, the board gave the building to the City. Shelter operations are the responsibility of the Dog & Cat Shelter, and we have a contract with the city to accept all strays brought in by Animal Control and to sell and keep track of city dog licenses. The cities of Sheridan, Dayton and Ranchester, and Sheridan County contribute approximately 20% of our operating funds; the remainder of our $400,000 budget is funded by private donations, grants and special funds.
In a long-term effort to reduce the numbers of pets needing to come to the Shelter, we provide spay/neuter certificates to people who cannot otherwise afford to sterilize their pets. They pay us what they can afford, take the certificate to a participating veterinarian, and we are billed for the surgery. We have great support from area veterinarians. Originally dependent on grants, for the last three years the spay/neuter assistance fund has been funded totally by local donations.
We also offer Spay/Neuter Assistance for property owners who have colonies of feral cats We also have the only feral cat TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) program in the state. Feral cats are wild, unsocialized cats that could never have a loving relationship with a human. Colony mangers pledge that the cats may remain on their property and that they will provide food and shelter for them. We loan traps and make appointments with participating veterinarians. Thanks to grants from the Summerlee Foundation and PETCO Foundation, and local donors, the cats are spayed or neutered, given rabies and FVRCP vaccinations, and treated for internal and external parasites. Their left ears are tipped to show that all this has been done. The cats remain in the traps for 24 – 48 hours, to ensure they have no complications from the surgery, then are returned to their homes.
We publicize our animals at “I Wanna Go Home” Pet Days at Pets-N-Stuff. Adoptable animals from the Shelter, and Shelter staff, are featured at Pets-N-Stuff every Saturday from noon – 2 p.m. except the weekends we have the Volunteer Training Class (usually the second Saturday of each month). We alternate animals, bringing dogs one week and cats the next.
We are now sending our monthly newsletter and important dates and press releases by e-mail. If you would like to receive them, please e-mail us at dogncat@fiberpipe.net and we’ll add you to our electronic mailing list.
“Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound” Let our dogs help you get fit! Thanks to Mayor Dave Kinskey and other great folks at the City--Nic Bateson, Pete Husman and Charles Martineau and crews--the Shelter has some new features - three large exercise areas as well as a half-mile paved walking path. Volunteers will be able to come take our dogs for a walk around the path or let them blow off steam and retrieve toys in the 160’ long pens. Some of our hardier volunteers enjoy walking the dogs along the perimeter of the 84 acre field. They comment that this walk is through rough vegetation and involves a "killer hill" and is great exercise for both people and dogs. We are especially inviting any companies with fitness plans to invite their staff to walk our dogs. The Shelter dogs will benefit both physically and mentally, so that they are more content to stay here until we can find them homes. They’ll also be more easily adopted because they aren’t so stir-crazy and wild when they come out of the kennel to meet potential adopters.
Barb Walseth, The Dog Tutor, has generously offered to teach people how to work with Shelter dogs so that they learn basic manners and will walk nicely on leash. Barb has also volunteered to work with volunteers who not interested in walking the dogs but who are willing to teach the dogs basic obedience. She will come to the Shelter and work with them and Shelter dogs, or work with them and their own dogs at her facility.
We have a volunteer who would really like to encourage people to adopt Shelter dogs to use as Therapy dogs, a volunteer activity where people take their dogs to visit people in institutions or to participate in remedial reading programs for children. Since potential Therapy Dogs must first pass a basic obedience/control screening to ensure that they will be safe to visit fragile people in nursing homes and other facilities, we are grateful that Barb has offered to help us offer manners training on our dogs. Potential Therapy Dogs must be social and gentle. They must enjoy meeting strangers, walk on a loose lead, sit quietly while being petted, and be comfortable in institutions where they will encounter slick, shiny floors and strange noises and smells. We will be especially looking for Shelter dogs that display these characteristics and do well in manners training. They will be identified as potential Therapy Dogs. If one is adopted by someone interested in becoming a registered therapy Dog team, the dog and new owner will be screened after they’ve had a chance to bond. Having Cel, the Shelter Director, as a tester/observer for Therapy Dogs Inc will make this an easy process for interested teams!
Upcoming Events:
Voting continues on our Calendar Contest through November 1st. See a slide show of the entries on our website, www.dogandcatshelter. Votes are $1 each. Entries are displayed at various businessesduring the month and you can vote there or, as long as you know the entry number, you can vote at the shelter or by mail. You can also vote online ($10 minimum) on our website. All 90 entries will appear in the calendar. Voting determines the top 14, which will be displayed in 8x10 format on the cover and the thirteen month pages. Calendars will be available the end of November or can be preordered at any time. They are $20. If you want them mailed, add $4 for one calendar or $7 for 2 - 5 calendars.
Order Christmas Stockings for Your Pets! We are again making beautiful hand-sewn fleece Christmas stockings as a Shelter fundraiser. Your pet’s name can be embroidered on the top if you order before November 30th. The stocking prices are $10 for unembroidered ones and $15 for embroidered ones. These will also make great Christmas presents for any pets on your shopping list. We have a sample stocking at the Shelter for anyone who’d like to see one, and a photo on our website.
Pet Photos with Santa will be December 12th from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the Cottonwood Center 1949 Sugarland Dr (next to Shipton’s Big R). Photos are $10 each. All proceeds benefit the Dog & Cat Shelter. Shirley McPheeter of FFF Photography does this for us each year. The photos are beautiful, so mark your calendars and be there!
Come See Us at The Stroll, November 27th The Shelter will again have a booth at the Christmas Stoll on the day after Thanksgiving. We’ll have dogs and cats for people to visit, which has proven extremely popular and resulted in several animals finding new homes. We’ll have our Dog & Cat Christmas Trees so people can take an ornament and get a Christmas gift for the featured Shelter resident. We’ll also have our 2010 calendars for sale!! Come, visit, pet the animals, and learn about the services we proudly offer the community.
Dog & Cat Shelter Christmas Tree We will again display our “Dog & Cat Christmas Trees” in several locations during December. People are invited to take an ornament and buy the animal on the ornament a small Christmas gift-- a toy or chew or treat. The gift trees have been a huge hit for the last two years. As a result of our trees, many gifts came to the Shelter, including large stuffed stockings of goodies and gaily wrapped toys. Quite a few people want to meet the animal they “adopted” and make special trips to the Shelter to give “their” dog or cat an early Christmas present. All have a great time, especially our dogs and cats that have no family to spoil them. For the second year in a row, our ornaments are being made by the Interact Club from Sheridan High School. Some of those ornaments are real works of art. Thanks, kids!
Chili Supper and Auction in February Our chili supper and auction last February was so much fun that we’re planning another on February 20, 2010. We’ll have the same delicious homemade chili, cornbread and cookies, and a variety of live auction items, including another two VIP packages from Mars Snackfoods/Pet, Inc. Last year’s VIP packages included hotel accommodations and $250.00 in travel money, two tickets to a Phoenix NASCAR race in which either the M&M or Pedigree car will be racing (April or November), pit/garage access, lunch with the driver, die cast car and NASCAR gear (team hats, jackets or shirts). The people from Pedigree mentioned possibly donating a VIP package to a football game, so if that interests you be sure to periodically check our website. Our chili supper is a great way to fight the mid-winter blues and cabin fever we all experience at the end of winter, so plan to attend.
adopted animals. This insurance is only good for major illnesses or accidents and is provided through the Dog and Cat Shelter for the first month of adoption. The Petcare insurance can be upgraded by calling 866-375-PETS (7387) or visit www.sheltercare.com.
Our volunteer program is going strong, but we still are in need of more dog lovers and cat fanciers to come up and spend some one-on-one time with our animals. Our volunteer classes are the second Saturday of each month starting at 11:00am. Contact the Shelter to sign up or if you have any questions (307)674-7694.
For more information about what is happening at the Shelter, check our website frequently: www.dogandcatshelter.org
Directions to the Shelter: Turn East on 5th Street from I-90. Go past the Rock Stop gas station and Tourist Information Center to the top of the hill. Just past the Wingate Inn Motel, turn right on East Ridge Road (Hwy 139). Go 3/4 mile, the Shelter is on the right, straight across from the Landfill.
Sheridan Dog & Cat Shelter Inc.
84 East Ridge Road
Sheridan, WY 82801
Phone: 307-674-7694
www.doganccatshelter.org
Email:
dogncat2@fiberpipe.net
Click here for a list of pets at this shelter
[Home] [Information] [Shelters] [Search]