ACARF to open soon

LAHARPE — After years of fundraising and wishful thinking, Allen County soon will have a new animal shelter. The Allen County Animal Rescue Facility will open in LaHarpe, but not in February as originally thought.
“The city has told me it’s going to be the end of February before they can lay my sewer line and that’s the biggest hold up I’ve got,” ACARF director Art Chapman said. “The weather has a lot to do with it — it was holy terror to get the water lines laid in the last week,” he noted.
The delay has meant placing lost animals in private homes temporarily.
“A lot of ACARF members are fostering animals right now,” Chapman said.
One, Ray Shannon, had about seven brought to him recently. With an already full house, he’ll be taking them to the shelter in Topeka, he said.
“I wish we could get the shelter open immediately, but the weather has not been conducive,” Chapman lamented.
Despite the weather, progress continues.
Next week, carpet will be installed in the shelter’s office and conference room. Later, concrete floors will be etched and sealed.
Come March, Chapman said, the doors should be unlocked to the public.
“We may only be able to hold 20 dogs and 30 cats, but we’re going to open the shelter.”

ALTOGETHER, the ACARF shelter boasts 5,400 square feet. It’s divided into three main sections: intake and animal care; dogs; and cats.
The new building is state of the art, Chapman said, with fiberglass-paneled walls designed to withstand regular washing and disinfecting, extra-heavy insulation in both interior and exterior walls to dampen sound and boost efficiency and an in-ground hot-water heating system.
“We put heat in all the floors so that when the animals lay down they’ll be warm,” Chapman said.
“It’s a lot more energy efficient” than a standard heating system too, Chapman noted.
And, “eventually, we’ll have a shelter director.” For now, though, Chapman said, all the work will be done by volunteers.
Still needed are cages for the animals.
Each dog cage, which can hold two animals in two 4 foot by 5 foot pens, costs $4,400. Cat cages cost $350 apiece.
“If someone wants to purchase a cat cage they can have their name on it,” Chapman said.
“If someone wants to make a larger donation, say $10,000,” he continued, “they can put their name on a room. For $25,000 they can get their name on a larger room.”
“Larger rooms” include the main dog adoption room, which will hold 21 dog pens plus smaller puppy pens, a 30-dog stray intake room, where dogs will be kept until cleared for adoption, and a cat adoption room. Other rooms include cat and dog quarantine rooms, an exam room for taking blood samples and giving vaccinations, and cat and dog familiarization rooms, where potential adopters can spend time with animals in a cage-free setting.
Donations can be made in the name of a pet or a loved one, Chapman said. In addition, the non profit will take endowments, large donations where the facility uses interest while the principal donation continues to grow.
“If someone wants to leave an endowment to the shelter, they can specify where they want that money to go,” Chapman noted, such as only for medical care, or spaying/neutering, or for cats or dogs, he added.
They’ll also rent the conference room for birthday parties, Chapman said.

IF CHAPMAN’S suggestions seem like crass salesmanship, they’re not. The shelter needs another $150,000 to be completed. “It takes time to raise all the money,” he said.
To that end, a spring fundraiser is being planned with the help of Chapman’s wife, Ona, who works at Iola Middle School with ACARF’s junior members.
Last year, Iola Middle Schoolers sold lollipops and raised enough funds to pay for one side of a double dog pen.
This year, proceeds will go to the shelter’s spay and neuter fund, which will allow reduced price coupons for the procedures to be given out with each adopted animal, Chapman said.
In addition to lollipops, which still prove popular, a fund raising dinner at the VFW LaHarpe post is planned for April 9.
“They have a goal of $4,000,” Chapman said of the students.
To Chapman, student involvement means more than just another form of fundraising.
“It’s out goal to work with young people as much as we can,” he said, to educate them against dumping, the need for spaying and neutering and in proper care of pets, Chapman said.
He is hopeful that through such work, the future will be different for animals in Allen County. So far, he said, enthusiasm at the middle school in support of the shelter holds promise.
For students, ACARF offers junior memberships for $5. Adult membership runs $25. You do not have to live in Allen County to be a member, Chapman said.

CHAPMAN noted that across the country, more and more people are surrendering their pets because of the economy.
To keep people from dumping animals once the shelter opens, there will be no outdoor pens at ACARF, he said. “There will be adoption and surrender fees,” he added.
Chapman said it’s important to know the history of an animal, whether it has bite issues or will chase cats if a dog, or perhaps doesn’t like children and will scratch them, as is common with cats. Such information is not available with strays, or pets dumped in rural areas. That lack of data leads to a longer lag time before an animal can be adopted and perhaps replication of already-received vaccines, adding to expenses.
“We would hope that the surrender fees will not stop people from bringing their animals in,” Chapman said, noting animals will not be turned away.
“If we can get the cities or county involved, I’d like to have some strong anti-dumping laws with a stiff fee” instituted, Chapman said. Currently, there are no such fines in Allen County. Because of that, “We have a very serious problem in Allen County with dumped animals,” Chapman said.
And, though not yet opened, ACARF is already at work combating that issue.
The organization already posts lost and found animals at its Web site, www.acarf.com, including photos. It will continue to do so once doors are unlocked, Chapman said, noting the Web site will be a primary source of information for members and the public about the organization.
Contact Chapman through Diebolt Lumber, 620-496-2222, or art@dieboltlumber.com to post a pet or for more information. “Just write lost pet” in the subject line, Chapman advised. Chapman can also be reached on his cell phone, 620-496-7711.
Chapman will also offer groups or interested people tours of the ACARF facility. While he notes his volunteer efforts can keep him away from his work at Diebolt Lumber, his boss, he said, supports the effort.
“Don’s on the ACARF board,” Chapman said.