Since December 2003, Cook County residents and visitors have been dropping spare change in containers with cute little cats or dogs, hoping to help care for lost and abandoned pets through an organization called Animal Advocates of the Arrowhead. In October, those containers disappeared, only to reappear this spring—again with kittens and puppies, but now the containers are put out by Arrowhead Animal Rescue. The containers—and recent meetings to reestablish an animal advocate organization—have raised questions. The Cook County News- Herald talked to some of the volunteers of each entity to try to find some answers.
What happened to Animal Advocates?
In October 2010, a notice appeared in the News-Herald, announcing that Animal Advocates had decided to temporarily cease all operations. Jinsey Smith, Animal Advocate president, placed the notice, explaining,” The needs of Cook County exceed the ability of the organization, its board, and volunteers at this time.” At that time, Animal Advocates removed its donation cans and returned operation of the dog pound to the City of Grand Marais.
It was hoped that Animal Advocates volunteers would be able to resume operations in January 2011, once again caring for animals in the Grand Marais pound, accepting lost or abandoned animals and attempting to find homes for them. That was not to be, and Smith told the News-Herald in March 2011 that plans were underway to dissolve the organization entirely.
Smith and another Animal Advocates volunteer, Heidi Doo Kirk, said the mission of the organization could not be completed with just three board members, despite many dedicated volunteers. “Everyone wants to have this organization,” said Kirk. “But no one wants to help us. It’s more than just walking dogs and fostering dogs.”
One of the problems, said Smith, is that although most calls about animals are temporary, such as sheltering lost dogs, someone has to be around “24-7.” Smith said, “The county is too big and there are just not enough volunteers.”
One of the problems was conflict within the organization. One of its founding members, Gay O’Donnell resigned after she was reported to authorities for allegedly housing too many animals at her Colvill property. “That is part of the reason why I quit,” said O’Donnell in an April phone interview.
O’Donnell said a state inspector visited her home and her mother’s home, however, no charges were levied. She said the inspector told her, “’What I found was not what I expected.’”
Asked how many cats she houses, O’Donnell declined to answer. “Do I have more than I need?” she said, “That’s for darn sure.”
However, she said she tries to accommodate all of them. “I have an indoor/outdoor enclosure for them. None of them are caged; they have free rein of the house. All of the cats are fixed.
“Do I wish every cat on my property had a lap to sit on? Yes. But they are okay. We were doing the best we can,” said O’Donnell.
Smith and Kirk do not agree that an organization in Cook County can handle the task of managing the dog pound in Grand Marais, finding homes for abandoned animals, arranging spaying and neutering for area pets, and fundraising for all of these activities.
Smith said Animal Advocates volunteers were expending a great deal of time and energy to duplicate something that is available not that far away. She said Animal Allies of Duluth has a well-established, very successful program that will accept abandoned animals from Cook County.
Smith said an Animal Advocates initiative that was very important to her personally was to establish a spay-neuter program. The group was working with the Northland Spay-Neuter Clinic, which, said Smith, will work with county residents on an individual basis. She said the Northland Spay-Neuter Clinic has a program to assist low-income pet owners. Smith encouraged Cook County pet owners to contact Northland Spay-Neuter Clinic to learn more about the importance of spaying and neutering their animals and/or to arrange for an appointment.
It was with regret that the decision was made to cease Animal Advocates operations, said Smith and Kirk. Smith said she appreciated all the help from the community, and added, “I’d like to give a special thanks to the city for use of the pound building and the sheriff ’s department for their help and service.”
Kirk suggested that anyone who wants to help animals do so through an established, registered, non-profit agency like Animal Allies of Duluth.
Steps have been taking to dissolve Animal Advocates. Local attorney Baiers Heeren had been retained to assist with that process.
A new beginning?
O’Donnell and another group of volunteers began meeting in April, hoping to resurrect the animal rescue organization. A newsletter has been produced explaining that a 10-member board of directors had been formed for a new non-profit, Arrowhead Animal Rescue. Officers were elected and a mission statement created at an April 16 meeting. The newsletter explained, “As our board continues its work we’ll be reaching out to the community. …We need broad-based volunteer support and financial support to be successful.”
Arrowhead Animal Rescue board members are Chair Gay O’Donnell, Vice-Chair Molly Hoffman, Treasurer Bev Green, Secretary Evelyn Larsen, City Liaison Bill Lenz, Barb Dvorak, Karen Flolid, Ashley Green, Ruth Hansen, and John Moos. Although donation canisters are on counters at area businesses, the group has not yet obtained non-profit status. The group is working to become a 501(c) (3). A request for assumed name for Arrowhead Animal Rescue was filed with the Minnesota Secretary of State on May 16, 2011.
“What’s taking so long to get up and running is that we are working on policies,” said Vice-Chair Hoffman. “It is important to have structure in place. We’re developing screening forms for animals and establishing set procedures to hopefully reduce conflict.”
“There was conflict with the previous board. Whenever you get together a bunch of passionate, strong-willed people, there can be sparks. We hope to have policies in place to avoid that,” said Hoffman.
The newsletter lists a variety of volunteer activities: taking an animal waiting for adoption into your home, visiting a dog or cat at the pound, helping clean the pound, feed the animals, or helping with fundraising are all options for people who want to be involved with the new organization.
The ultimate goal of the new organization? To see that every animal taken in finds a home. A goal difficult to meet for even the most successful animal rescue entities. Animal Allies of Duluth, pointed to by both Animal Advocates and Arrowhead Animal Rescue as a stellar rescue group has only met that goal once in its 53 years of operation. However, that does not mean that the new Cook County organization is not going to try to reach that goal, with the first step being construction of a small, safe, comfortable shelter.
O’Donnell said that Animal Advocates had offers of assistance from several contractors to build such a shelter. The group hopes to be able to work with those individuals to bring the vision of a shelter to fruition.
“With hard work, we can make it happen,” said O’Donnell.
The next meeting of the Arrowhead Animal Rescue is May 28 at 1:00 p.m. at the Grand Marais Senior Center.
Arrowhead Animal Rescue
PO Box 1274
Grand Marais MN 55604
218-387-1781
Northland
Spay/Neuter Clinic
2002 West Superior Street
Duluth MN 55806
218-623-6342
Animal Allies,
Duluth
4006 Airport Road
Duluth, MN 55811
Phone: 218-722-5341
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