Page last updated on August 15, 2022 at 2:14 pm
Each week, Mayor Hamilton and Deputy Mayor Griffin provide video updates on recent news and key initiatives.
Transcript
Don Griffin:
Hello, my name's Don Griffin. I'm the deputy mayor for the City of Bloomington. I'm here with:
Emily Herr:
Emily Herr, outreach and behavior coordinator for the City of Bloomington Animal Shelter.
Don Griffin:
We're at the animal shelter right now, which is a phenomenal facility. It was redone or added onto about four years ago, right?
Emily Herr:
Yes.
Don Griffin:
That's one reason to come and visit, but the main reason to come and visit is because all the possible pets that you have here.
Emily Herr:
Yes. We are currently experiencing a very high population. Typically, we have about a 95% live release rate so our adoption rate is very successful. We're very successful in reuniting pets with their people if they've lost them. We have a lot of rescue partners that we work with as well, but we're simply just combusting right now. We just don't have space.
Don Griffin:
Oh, wow. Okay. That's with dogs, cats, and everything else in between?
Emily Herr:
Yes.
Don Griffin:
Okay.
Emily Herr:
All of those.
Don Griffin:
Wow. My neighbor, I think got a hamster from you a couple of weeks ago or something.
Emily Herr:
Yeah.
Don Griffin:
Rescued.
Emily Herr:
We've got everything.
Don Griffin:
That's awesome. What can folks do to help?
Emily Herr:
There are a number of ways. Of course, adoption is the best way to help, but we realize that not everyone is able to make that commitment to an animal. Fostering is another great option that we have. It's a temporary housing solution for us, and it helps our fosters get some of that love that they might not be able to commit to completely. Fostering is great. We do have a volunteer program. There's always supplies that we need donated. Toys, treats, canned food, things of that nature. A lot of ways for the community to get involved and if those options don't help, just sharing our social media post help because you never know who you're going to be able to connect with online.
Don Griffin:
That's what I was going to say. I think that wraps things up because I want to hurry up and wrap things up so I can go see the puppies.
Emily Herr:
Yeah, absolutely.
Don Griffin:
Okay, Emily, who is this? She's beautiful.
Emily Herr:
She is a beauty. This is our friend Glitter Glue.
Don Griffin:
Glitter Glue?
Emily Herr:
Yeah. We got to get creative around here and we have so many animals.
Don Griffin:
Okay. How long has she been here?
Emily Herr:
She's been with us for a couple of months now, which is a long stay for a dog, especially a dog who's this sweet and social and beautiful. She's got a lot of good qualities to her.
Don Griffin:
Okay. Now, my dog, I adopted Winnie Cooper. We call her Winnie Cooper. She's an English Mastiff, only about 60 pounds, small thing, and she's four years old. She's not growing, but we got her here. She was a foster. Tell us more about that.
Emily Herr:
Yes. The foster program is a great way to create space here and then your adopter gets a little bit more information about that animal too. Adoption is obviously key to the success of what we do and we are lucky to live in a community such as Bloomington where we get a lot of community support. Recently we had an individual come in and sponsor all of the animals that are in our care right now. Those adoptions will... the reduced or waived fees stay with those animals until they're adopted as well.
Don Griffin:
Okay. Okay.
Emily Herr:
Glitter Glue, if for some reason she's not adopted by August 1st, she still will have a waived adoption fee.
Don Griffin:
She should be adopted as well as some of the other pretty animals that you have. Once again, we can go to your website, the city of Bloomington's website.
Emily Herr:
Yep.
Don Griffin:
Check out the dogs. Just come on by too.
Emily Herr:
Yes. Come on by. We're here all the time.
Don Griffin:
All right. Thank you.
Emily Herr:
Thank you.