Friends of Animals Humane Society
This week's speaker was Cindy Haglin, Shelter Director at the Friends of Animals Humane Society located in Cloquet.
Cindy introduced her companion from the shelter, Bella, a 2 or 3 year old Afghan hound mix, surrendered to the shelter since the owner could no longer care for her. Cindy said she started at the shelter a year ago after a 40 year career in nursing. She grew up on a farm and the shelter reminded her of her roots. The Board asked her to become the director, since she had experience supervising staff. Friends of Animals started when two local women began fostering stray cats, then they expanded to dogs, and soon they needed a location. They got the building they now use on Hwy 33 S in the early 1990s. The 2 women are still on the Board. Now the shelter works with an animal control officers for strays, plus handles surrenders, and abused animals. They are an animal shelter plus an impound. FOA is a non-profit organization with about 110 cats and 130 dogs cared for by 4 full time staff plus 14 part time staff. Their budget is $250,000 anually with income from contracts as far south as Sandstone, fees for services, contributions, grants and fundraising. Currently they need a surgery suite in house instead of taking animals to the vet, so they are seeking additional support from the county.
Do you want to help?
Spread the word about the need for volunteers, and by attending their fundraiser, "Beastie Bash", in November.