Animal Friends of North Central West Virginia, a local no-kill shelter, is in need of donations after an unexpected $14,500 expense.
“Our whole air system went out the week of Christmas,” said Katie Short, shelter manager. “We never dreamed they were gonna tell us we had to replace the whole system and it would cost what it did.”
Both the heating and cooling “went kaput” and the cost to replace what they thought would be a repair was $14,500, Short said. The expense very unexpected and with the COVID-19 pandemic the nonprofit hasn’t been able to do its normal fundraisers.
The system went out overnight, but the animals were OK and did not need to be moved because the maintenance company was able to set the system to emergency heat, Short said.
In addition to its shelter, AFNCWV, runs a spay/neuter program, which provides vouchers to people in Monongalia and Preston counties who couldn’t otherwise afford to get the surgeries for their pets. Donations can be made through animalfriendswv.org or mailed to PO Box 1090 Dellslow, WV, 26531. The organization’s number is 304-290-4738.
Animal Friends also runs the Thrift Shoppe in the Mountaineer Mall and accepts donations any time the shop is open, according to its website.
Despite being closed from March to June because of the pandemic, AFNCWV adopted out about 100 cats and 75 dogs in 2020. Short said despite the short year they found forever homes for about the same number of animals as a typical year.
“So far this year we’ve been pretty non-stop since the holidays,” Short said.
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