Animal shelter struggling to house animals and support them financially

DRIGGS, Idaho (KIFI) - They're our family pets, our furry friends, but through a variety of causes, they sometimes end up in a temporary home of the shelter. But what happens when the shelter starts to struggle to not only house the animals but support them financially?

PAWS of Teton Valley calls Driggs, Idaho their home. They have 50 animals in their care which is causing them to run out of room.

"We are seeing high relinquishment rates currently. As an open-admission animal shelter serving Teton County, Idaho, we take in all the strays, all the abandoned, and all the lost and found pets in our region," PAWS executive director Amy Moore said.

Moore says part of the problem is people faced with losing their current home.

"People are being faced with losing their housing and not being able to find pet-friendly housing. So we're seeing a lot of really nice family pets come in and also a lot of strays and abandoned. So shelter and pet populations are higher than they've been in years," Moore said.

The high amount of animals now in their care is leading to staffing issues to ensure the animals have the care and attention they need.

"Having to retain and attract people has been difficult in this market. And we're really trying to offer competitive wages and benefits, but we are still seeing a high turnover of staff members," Moore said.

She adds the shelter to getting creative in getting the funds necessary to help the animals in their care.

"Trying to find the funding to appropriately staff the shelter is been really difficult these past couple of years. We are widening our search for grants and family foundations, but essentially we are a privately funded open-admission shelter, which means we really rely on the public to offer all of the services that we are able to offer," Moore said.

Moore says the shelter is also the municipal shelter in Teton County, allowing them to have a contract from the county that helps them out, but that still is not enough.

"They do offer some funding, but it's not adequate to keep the doors open."

Shelter director Ann Loyola says the community is really rallying behind their shelter trying to give them any and all support they can.

"We get a lot of support from the community. They're acting as animal control officers. They'll bring in the strays. They'll come and get traps for us, which we loan out for free, and they'll catch dogs and they'll catch feral cats and they will bring them to us," Loyola said.

The public's assistance with the feral cats has come in especially handy.

"We have quite a few feral cat colonies, as far as I can see around here. And it's really important to catch the mom and the Tomcats and get them spayed or neutered. We do offer that as a service, as well," Loyola said.

Loyola says the public is not only supporting the shelter, volunteering or donating to the shelter, but they are also trying to understand the best they can how to help any of the animals they come across and how they can best help their family pets.

"Education is really important and the community is rising to that. It's like, oh, we can't just open the front door and let the dog out. And I'm also seeing a lot more questions and activity around space and neuters," Loyola said.

She says everyone is pitching in this way as they fully understand just how important the services of the shelter are.

"Our county commissioners and all of our town leaders are very concerned and caring about the dog population, cats, and the shelter. And I know that the lack of funding right now for the shelter to cover expenses is no one's fault except for growth outpacing the funds needed for infrastructure," she said.

Loyola and Moore promised the animals in their care are well taken care of, and they are up to date on all of their vet visits and vaccinations. They say they want to make sure they keep these animals as happy and healthy as possible.

To see what animals are available or how you can help the shelter you can do so here.