The Central Illinois Small Animal Rescue (CISAR) is looking for homes for its furry tenants in light of the shelter’s upcoming closure.
CISAR receptionist and vet technician Alex Rodriguez said owners Pat and Garrie Burr are retiring and can no longer run the shelter.
“The owners are unable to keep up with everything, so they’re trying to either find someone else to run it or close,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said the shelter is not sure how much longer it and its low-cost clinic will be open, but the focus of the closing process is to find homes for its 48 dogs and 52 cats.
“All of the animals that we have, we’re trying to find other shelters to take them or people to adopt them,” Rodriguez said. “We’re trying to keep our low-cost clinic open as long as possible. We don’t know how long that will be, and we also don’t know how long it will take to find homes for all of the animals.”
Rodriguez said euthanasia is a possibility for the animals who do not find homes, but the shelter is trying to prevent that by increasing its adoption efforts and looking for nearby no-kill shelters. “We’re trying to stay away from that,” Rodriguez said. “We’re trying to get the word out there that they need homes. Some of my coworkers are currently in the process of calling other no-kill shelters that they know of and transporting them to a different county if necessary.”
Rodriguez said animals with difficult backgrounds are harder to place and face a bigger risk of euthanasia.
“A lot of our dogs come from other shelters and sometimes they have a rough background, so it’s hard to find a home where (the owners) understand that or someone is willing to work with them through their issues,” Rodriguez said.
The 18-year old shelter in Colfax has been no-kill for over 16 years and has hosted a low-cost vet clinic for over seven years. It saves animals from Chicago Animal Control, Anti-Cruelty Society, and kill facilities all over the United States.
Rodriguez said owner surrenders are also common.
“We’ve had animals given to us for numerous reasons,” Rodriguez said. “Either (the owners) are moving, things aren’t working out at home, they don’t have the time, or (the animal) doesn’t get along with their other animals. Regardless of the issue, we take them and try to get them better and find them a home.”
The shelter has posted a statementon its Facebook page confirming the closure and announcing reduced adoption fees. Dogs are $100, cats are $25, and both are up to date on vaccines, fixed and micro-chipped. CISAR’s operations are funded by local businesses and individual donations.
People like you value experienced, knowledgeable and award-winning journalism that covers meaningful stories in Bloomington-Normal. To support more stories and interviews like this one, please consider making a contribution.
