HELENA — Right before the Lewis and Clark Humane Society starts selling tickets for their annual Spayghetti fundraiser, the shelter is at capacity for dogs.
LCHS has taken in 20 dogs since the first of this month, plus another nine from one home last week.
That brings them to 67 dogs; roughly half are at the shelter, with the other half being in “foster to adopt” care.
The humane society says an uptick like this at the start of a new year is something they have not seen in recent memory.
“We don’t know why. I think maybe a few months or a year down the road, we might be able to look at it and say, ‘Oh, this is what was happening,’ but at this point, we don’t really know why,” said Cassidy Cook, director of development and communications at LCHS.
When the shelter says they are at capacity, it does not mean they do not have space for animals.
Instead, it depends on their ability to care for all the animals.
Cook said, “It puts a huge strain on the staff. If you think about the number of animals we have to care for and how much time in the day that takes. It takes a lot of time to clean, feed, and do enrichment.”
At this point, they cannot take any owner turn-ins, even though they have gotten ten calls from them since the beginning of this month.
For now, they recommend using the Home-to-Home website, where pet owners keep their pets until they find a new owner.
“We do our best to make this environment as welcoming, warm, and comfortable as possible, but it’s a much better transition for them to go from your home to another home,” said Cook.
If you want to add a four-legged family member to your home, now is the time.
Cook said, “We have basically anywhere from 9 weeks old to about 4 years old right now. All types of personalities. All types of home needs.”
Another way you can support the shelter is right around the corner.
Their biggest fundraiser of the year, the Spayghetti Dinner, will start selling early-bird tickets on the 21st.
“The basic structure is the same: live and silent auctions, cash-call, raffles, all that fun stuff,” said Cook.
Early bird tickets run for about a week and typically sell out during that time.
LCHS says Spayghetti makes up about one-tenth of their operating budget.
Cook said, “Spayghetti is the lynchpin in a lot of ways of our fundraising.”
This year’s theme is “A Brighter Future: Saving Lives Through Enrichment and Play.”
“The theme is a lot of fun. There’s going to be games in the room, which we’ve never done before. We’re playing this idea of animal enrichment, but also people enrichment,” said Cook.
The Spayghetti fundraiser will be held on March 1st, and the shelter has open kennel viewing from noon to 4:00 pm Tuesday through Saturday.
You can find more about LCHS and the animals they have for adoption here.
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