By guest blogger Jill Cahr, Animal Welfare League volunteer, and co-author Happy Dog: Caring For Your Dog's Body, Mind & Spirit
Surprisingly, few people know about the Animal Welfare League or their critically important intake facility on Chicago's South Side,
serving the community for over 70 years. This facility, 6224 S. Wabash Avenue, operates in an economically depressed region of the city and provides valuable services that local residents would be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.
At their Wabash Ave. site, AWL cares for thousands of homeless animals, offering a low cost veterinary clinic and a monthly food bank. Even more significantly, this is an open access shelter - one of the few in Chicago. AWL accepts any stray or unwanted pet, over 5,000 are taken in annually! With that kind of overwhelming volume, it's not surprising that the AWL needs your urgent help.
The animals are housed in cages and cared for by AWL's exceptionally dedicated staff, led by
Diane Spyrka, the shelter manager at Wabash, and an AWL fixture for 37 years.
Currently, the dogs at the intake facility must use inside runs to relieve themselves and stretch out. There is no usable outdoor space for the dogs beyond a concrete slab backyard.
The Trio Foundation is setting out to change that The Trio Animal Foundation is embarking on a project to build outdoor dog runs and to install turf so the dogs can enjoy quality time outside both to relive and enjoy themselves while they wait transfer to AWL's Chicago Ridge facility or another other shelter, or a rescue group or into a loving home.
Trio Animal Foundation founder and AWL volunteer Sue Naiden says, "Whenever I bring the dogs outside to the backyard, I have noticed that their personalities change, for the better. But mere outdoor space is not enough - like any dog, they still searched high and low for to find a place to go potty. If there was one weed coming out of a crack in the cement, they all wanted to relive themselves on that one week."
The turf will simulate grass and can be easily kept clean with a new host system, which is a part of the renovation plan.
Spyrka and her staff are thrilled, "We are very excited about the renovations because we see real personality changes when the dogs get time outside. Sunshine does a lot to raise spirits."
Renovations come with a $5,000 price tag. The Trio Animal Foundation is collecting donations. (Tax deductible). On the paypal payment page, there's a place right under where it says 'donation' that notes "add special instructions to seller" this is where you do need to earmark the donation to AWL dog runs. Or do it the old-fashioned way, mail a check (with that same notation ' for AWL dog runs') to Trio Animal Foundation, 516 North Ogden Ave. Suite 199, Chicago, IL 60642 Questions? Call, 312-909-9680
Filed under: animal shelters, cats, dogs
Tags: Animal Welfare League, Diane Spyrka, dog run, Happy Dog, Jill Cahr, Steve Dale archives, Sue Naiden, Trio Animal Foundation
