Who can forget the rage, hissing, and growls we heard - from the humans - about conditions at Bloomfield's Bukowski Animal Shelter last year? Volunteers there tell Baristanet now, things are looking a whole lot better. Volunteer Karen Banda, who helps care for the homeless animals, sends her inside perspective:
How are things at the John A. Bukowski Shelter for Animals lately? Just ask the residents. It's all purrs and butt wiggles - the feline and canine equivalents of two thumbs up.There is a sizeable number of volunteers handling tasks ranging from adoptions to maintaining the Petfinder website, from caring for cats and walking dogs to managing the spay/neuter program, and everything in between. The shelter now boasts three volunteer veterinarians, two of whom provide in-house services (gratis) such as assessing any possible medical problems, administering distemper and rabies vaccinations, prescribing medications and overseeing their delivery, conducting fecal, blood and other routine tests, and managing the overall physical care of the animals.
One of the first priorities was to institute an active spay/neuter program. The goal is to have no animal leave the shelter without being neutered. To that end in the past three months over 35 cats and several dogs have been altered at People for Animals in Hillside, thanks to the generous offer made to the town by the Animal League of Bloomfield and Glen Ridge in May 2007 to finance the procedures.Another priority was to get every adoptable animal posted on the shelter's Petfinder website (http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/NJ517.html) and advertised in local media on a regular basis. Cats and dogs have been featured in the Bloomfield Life, Independent Press and Baristanet, which have resulted in many adoptions. A number of long-term shelter residents have found new, loving homes and many of the newcomers come and go quickly before the volunteers and shelter staff can become attached to them.
An atmosphere of mutual respect and trust among township officials, animal control officers and shelter staff and volunteers is evident. Everyone is working together toward common goals: making the John A. Bukowski Animal Shelter the best it can be, giving the animals residing there the care and attention they need, and ultimately finding loving, responsible, permanent homes for all of them. They deserve nothing less.
Somewhere, the late Mayor John Bukowski is smiling. His dream was to make the shelter a shining example of what an animal shelter can be. It might not be that yet, but we'll get there!!
Karen Banda
Tomorrow, we'll be profiling a couple of canines who need a home.
I think this is wonderful information! Congratulations! The question arising from this article, is why not mention the veternarians who are providing this wonderful gratis service? In my own way, I would like to support those dedicated vets, and thank them when I take my own animals to them.
Any professional donating their services cannot be modest or shy. Rat out the good deeds!