In the past month, Creature Comforts Animal Shelter has been reaching out for help after funds have been depleted and volunteering has almost come to a halt. Last year was the worst year ever for animal rescue with an insane amount of animals needing help and donations and volunteerism at a low.
“It’s not only the local shelter, its all of the shelters in the south,” stated Shelter Board President Jennifer Bozeman. “We have had triple the number of animals needing to come into the shelter, and we just cannot handle that many. Most of the rescues and shelters that I am friends or work with have had to shut their doors to intaking animals this last year, like us, because of the massive amounts of strays, and I don’t know what the cause is. Not only has the number increased, but the number of sick dogs coming into the shelter has increased.”
The shelter recently requested an increase in funds from the county supervisors to offset some of the costs. For the past three years, the supervisors have contracted $10,000 a year to aid in the stray population within the county. This year the shelter requested $30,000, but supervisors felt at this time they can only give $12,000 for fiscal year 2022, which is an increase.
“We are all in favor of helping y’all, and hopefully one day we will be able to do more,” stated Board President Mickey Long. “Right now, that’s where we are at. I know the job you all do. We went from seeing stray dogs in everyone’s yards to no dogs. There is a place for this organization, and we’ve just got to find a way to make it work.”
Supervisor Darrick Marshall stated he certainly doesn’t have a problem giving the shelter money, but he thinks employee raises need to come first. “We don’t have a problem giving the dogs some money. I do have a problem not giving our employees a better raise. I think our employees deserve better. We want to look at our employees first.”
“If there’s a way this can be funded, it is a great service to this county,” stated Sheriff Todd Kemp. “I’m the official dog catcher. If someone has a rabid dog in their neighborhood, they are going to call me. I have nothing to do but to call the shelter, and they are very gracious to help us get the animal relocated. Without it, it leaves me with no recourse but to destroy the animal and that’s the last thing we want to do. We get numerous calls, and this is a great service for the county.”
Since putting out the please for help, many donations have come into the shelter; not only money, but food, supplies, and offers for help with fund raising.
“Many people have stepped up in the last two weeks to keep us going for another few months,” stated Bozeman. “The schools did donation drives and brought us loads of food and supplies. The community people and businesses have donated money to help keep us afloat for a little while longer. Everyone has been so gracious, and we are so thankful to you all who have stood behind us, not only now, but since opening three years ago. We could not and cannot make it without our supporters.”
The shelter does apply for grants and has received a few smaller ones, but it takes a lot of work and everyone all over the United States is applying as well. “It just takes luck and time,” added Jennifer.
The shelter now has someone who will step up and coordinate some fund raisers in the near future. “Carla Easterling is a new resident here and is willing to step in and help us raise some money,” stated Jennifer. “She is full of ideas and has the energy to do it. Again, this will all take time.”
The shelter board is grateful for the community’s help but would like to remind everyone that this will be an ongoing problem.
“We have a few people who give us monthly donations, or will donate when we ask for things, and we are so grateful to those,” said Bozeman. “Donating is a large part of the shelter income. If everyone would give a little, it wouldn’t be so hard on a few. Maybe set it up in bill pay to send a little a month. Write it down in your budget plan to throw in a few dollars here and there. We are here to benefit everyone.”
As of now, the shelter has had to limit the number of animals they can take in, because they cannot afford to staff the shelter at full capacity like it has been for two years.
“I understand that people get frustrated when they have animals to surrender, and when they call, they hear we are full,” stated Bozeman. “I promise we are doing the best we can with the limited resources we have. We are not going to be able to save them all, but we have made a big difference in this county. We are not giving up the fight.”
If you would like to donate to the shelter, whether it be $5 or $50, there are several options:
Paypal – creaturecomfortsms@gmail.com
Venmo or Cash App – Creaturecomfortscc
Mail to Creature Comforts, P.O. Box 590, Quitman, MS 39355
“We have plenty of food for now from all the donations that have come in, thanks to the schools and the community,” added Jennifer. “If you don’t want to give us money directly, go pay on the shelter water or gas bill, or the vet bill. We always have those bills. Anything will help.”
If you would like to volunteer, there are several areas that you can help including sweeping and mopping, laundry, social media, getting photos of the animals, yard work and cleaning up outside, answering the phone, or socializing the animals. To volunteer, please call or text Jaynice Neely first at 601-485-5387 so she can get information from you to set up the correct job and time.
