Rogers Animal Shelter Receives $50,000 Grant For Renovation

STAFF PHOTO FLIP PUTTHOFF Megan McGovern, left, with the Purina Cat Chow staff, and Bud Norman, animal shelter manager, play with cats Thursday in one of the remodeled rooms for cats at the Rogers Animal Services shelter.
STAFF PHOTO FLIP PUTTHOFF Megan McGovern, left, with the Purina Cat Chow staff, and Bud Norman, animal shelter manager, play with cats Thursday in one of the remodeled rooms for cats at the Rogers Animal Services shelter.

ROGERS -- The staff and management of the Rogers Animal Shelter were all smiles Thursday as 30 volunteers from Purina's Cat Chow division renovated the cat shelter.

"It's a blessing," said Bud Norman, animal shelter director.

Fast Facts

Animal Shelters

• Animal shelters house 6 million-8 million animals a year. About 3 million-4 million animals will be euthanized.

• Cats are the most popular companion animal in the U.S. with more than 86 million of them living in nearly 39 million American households.

• About 2 percent of lost cats who enter animal shelters are claimed by their families

Source: Humane Society Of The United States

"In this business there are tears of sorrow for the abused or stray animals, but today there are tears of joy as we watch volunteers transform the cat shelter from a run downed building to something wonderful," said Norman with a smile from ear to ear as he watch the volunteers paint a mural on four walls in the main cat free-roaming room at the shelter.

Purina Cat Chow donated $50,000 to the Rogers Shelter and performed much of the renovation work.

The donation and free labor were only part of the opening of the renovated cat shelter. The volunteers set up tents, cooked free hamburgers and hot dogs and offered chips and cookies. Bluegrass band Lonesome Road provided entertainment from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the animal shelter.

Demi Donahoe, 7, and her mother Jill Donahoe were two of the dozens of people attending the celebration Thursday.

"Demi volunteers an hour at the cat shelter every day," Jill said. "She says she wants to be a veterinarian. I think she will be because she love animals. I think she would live here if we let her."

"I come in and pet and play with the cats. I like it, and the cats do too," Demi said.

As regular visitors to the shelter, Jill said the changes are unbelievable.

"I love what they have done. It's a major change, and it's truly wonderful.

Quinton Dowse of Bentonville said he has visited the shelter a few times.

"This is really cool," he said as he pet a cat on the catio. "This gives people a better opportunity to study the cats to determine which animal they would like to adopt."

The Rogers Animal Shelter was the only shelter in Arkansas to receive the $50,000 donation.

"We donate money and time to only one shelter in each state. After we talked to Bud, we knew this was going to be our Arkansas shelter this year," said Vincent Biroslak, marketing manager for the cat chow division.

"Bud is very passionate about his job. Everyone we've talked to had high praise for Bud. To a person, everyone said he has completely turned the animal shelter around the past five years. He had a vision for the cat shelter, and we are glad we could help make the vision a reality," Biroslak said.

Purina celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. The idea of helping a cat shelter was one of the ideas management had to celebrate a half century of providing healthy food for cats and dozens of other animals, Biroslak said.

"It worked out so well we decided to continue the program. We do this for a couple of reasons. The first and most important is to improve the lives of cats and help the animals find forever homes. We also do it to show cat lovers we will always be there for helpless cats," he added.

The $50,000 donation to the cat shelter coupled with the work of the Purina volunteers is having a major impact on the shelter.

"It's like night and day. No, it's even more than that. It hard to explain the difference the renovation has made," Norman said.

A wheelchair ramp was built to allow handicapped people wanting to adopt a cat access to the cat shelter. The inside and outside of the shelter got a fresh coat of paint. Landscaping was added to the front of the building. Drywall was replaced in one of the cat shelter rooms where a leaky roof damaged the wall.

Perhaps the biggest improvement is what Megan McGovern, a Purina volunteer from Atlanta, called the "catio."

The catio is a large screened-in room that allows cats to be outdoor in a free-roam area. Climbing trees and other items cats seem to enjoy playing with or climbing on are also part of the catio. Chairs will be in the screened in enclosure for potential cat adopters to watch the cats play with other cats, McGovern said.

There's also a cat door allowing the cats easy access to the air-conditioned main cat room and the catio.

"I can't wait to see the cats playing in the catio," Norman beamed. "I think it's going to be interesting to watch the cats interact."

There are about 35 cats at the shelter. Norman said he believes the improved cat shelter will help more cats find good homes. All the animals adopted from the shelter are spayed and neutered, and a chip is inserted with the owner's name and a phone number, Norman said.

Improvements to the cat shelter is just one of Norman's visions for improving the animal shelter.

"The improvements to the cat shelter has been a goal for more than two years. Thanks to the folks at Purina, that vision is now a reality. Next I would like to build a small breed dog outdoor shelter so the smaller dogs and puppies could have some time outdoors," Norman said.

The Rogers Animal Shelter, which also serves as Bentonville's shelter, is normally full of dogs and cats, a situation Norman said he would like to change.

"My hope is that one day there won't be any abused or stray animals and I'll be out of job," Norman said. "I really mean that."

NW News on 07/25/2014

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