Local animal shelter needs help
Overcrowded conditions at a local animal shelter are so bad two boys are asking for your help. They’ve been volunteering all summer trying to improve the Blackfoot Animal Shelter. Because of their hard word, Local News 8 along with ABC and Youth Service America have awarded them $1,000. Braden and Tracen Mangum are now trying to get even more money for the shelter.
“They have been found on the streets and they need to be taken to a good home,” said Braden Mangum, eighth-grader.
During the summer, the two of them fixed up the shelter. They dedicated about five hours every week.
“We play with the dogs, we groom them and we give them water”, said Tracen Mangum, sixth-grader.
They also take pictures of the animals posting them on the shelter’s Facebook page.
One animal control officer who works there said since the page was created the number of dogs and cats that were euthanized went from 800 to 35.
“It is huge, it is really huge. I mean they are so young and they do such a great job,” said Amanda Cevering.
Cevering also said there are still many things the shelter needs.
“We need a quarantine room where we can quarantine the puppies until they get their shots and make sure their not going to be sick because if one animal gets sick everyone gets sick,” she said.
A lobby is also needed and the facility desperately needs air-conditioning. The two boys hope the community will see the need to expand and donate money to the shelter.
“This is really hard work and stuff so the more the better,” said Tracen.
If you would like to donate, you can donate at http://blackfootpolice.org/animal_control/animal_control.html. You can also send donations to 199 Frontage Rd. Blackfoot, ID 83221. In the memo line write: Braden and Tracen Project Save a Pet. Another way to donate is by heading to Braden and Tracen’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Braden-Tracens-Project-Save-a-Pet/217919358373173?directed_target_id=0.
The ABC summer of service award looks for young people who have made a positive change in their community through volunteer and service projects. Braden and Tracen can qualify for an additional $5,000 to go towards their project if they can involve the community in their efforts to raise money to upgrade the shelter.
