Pet Talk

15 years ago

by Cathy Davis
www.houltonanimalshelter.com

    If I ever had a big dream, at least as far as animal welfare is concerned, it would be to attend a “No More Homeless Pets” seminar.  Every year the Best Friends Animal Society puts on a three-day event that is just tremendously helpful to animal shelters across the country. Non-stop seminars with instructions on everything from fund raising to innovative ideas on how to attract more adoptive families, how to make all the shelter animals more comfortable during their stay, what programs work best to encourage spaying and neutering, all of this is covered in three days when speakers come from literally all over the world to gather and discuss animal welfare issues.
    These seminars are not expensive. Three full days can cost as little as $275 for early registration and then if you want to take a day to tour the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary it’s another $190. Not bad at all really.
    The biggest expense is the travel and lodging. The 25th annual convention is held in Las Vegas, so there is plane fare and a motel room, pushing the cost of this trip to over $1,000. Plane fare right now is about $400 round trip and even at the group discount rates the room would be another $70 to $100 a night.
    The benefit of attending would far outweigh the cost. But with the budget stretched so tight that we can barely cover payroll from week to week, a trip of this nature is out of the question.
    I’m mentioning this to you because I was hoping that maybe somebody out there might be aware of some scholarship or other financial assistance that might allow us to send one person to this event. Maybe you know someone who works for an airline who might be able to secure a ticket or perhaps you have connections in other areas where you might “know somebody who knows somebody” who would feel this is a good cause to support and has the financial means to do it. If you do, please let me know so that we can work together.
    If you have any thoughts or suggestions on making this dream a reality, please contact me at 532-2345.