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A dog waits inside the Animal Welfare League of Charlotte County shelter in Port Charlotte. The nonprofit no-kill shelter accepts about 2,500 animals annually and says rising operating costs threaten its future.<\/p>\n
WINK News<\/p>\n
Animal Welfare League of Charlotte County, a nonprofit no-kill shelter in Port Charlotte, is facing a financial crisis because of rising costs, and officials and volunteers fear it may have to close if the county does not increase funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The issue is expected to be addressed during a June 16 workshop of the Charlotte County Board of County Commissioners, where AWL representatives will make a presentation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Executive Director Tara Zajas said the shelter has operated under a county contract since 2013, receiving $326,000 annually to accept animals from Charlotte County Animal Control, along with strays and animals surrendered by residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, the shelter’s annual operating costs have grown to about $1.3 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need an increase in funds,\u201d Zajas said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
About a half-dozen residents urged commissioners during a June 9 workshop to continue funding the shelter at a level that reflects rising expenses. Costs have increased far beyond the contract’s original 3% annual escalation provision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Contract negotiations have been ongoing since October. The county has offered to increase annual funding to $500,000, but Zajas said that amount is still insufficient to keep the shelter operating.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Supporters hope the June 16 presentation will persuade commissioners to increase funding enough to keep the shelter open. If the facility closes, Animal Control would have to rely on a shelter outside Charlotte County that euthanizes animals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The Animal Welfare League of Charlotte County says it needs additional county funding to continue operating its open-admission, no-kill shelter in Port Charlotte. Shelter officials will present their case to county commissioners June 16.<\/p>\n
WINK News<\/p>\n
Without the AWL, Zajas said, Charlotte County would have no local alternative to handle the animals brought to the shelter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She noted that the nearby Suncoast Humane Society in Englewood, a no-kill shelter serving portions of Charlotte and Sarasota counties, no longer has a county contract and is not an open-admission shelter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Approximately 2,500 animals are brought to the AWL each year. About 85% come through Animal Control under the county contract, while the remaining 15% are surrendered by owners who can no longer care for them or are left at the shelter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As word spread that the shelter’s future was uncertain, residents turned out at a recent commission meeting to voice support ahead of the June 16 workshop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Several supporters and volunteers urged commissioners to increase funding for the facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although Charlotte County is legally required to hold stray animals for only five days, the AWL keeps animals until they are adopted because it is an open-admission, no-kill shelter. Animals remain at the facility an average of 45 to 57 days or longer, leaving the shelter to absorb much of the associated cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
AWL also operates a pet food pantry that helps community members keep and care for their animals, as well as a nonprofit pet cemetery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More than a half-dozen residents spoke passionately about the shelter and its role in saving animals\u2019 lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Port Charlotte resident John Bowering brought his service dog, Casanova, to the June 9 meeting. Bowering, an AWL volunteer, initially agreed to foster Casanova after several unsuccessful adoption placements.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2023 I brought him home to foster and started training him in hopes his next adoption would be forever,\u201d Bowering said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Animal Welfare League volunteer John Bowering appears with Casanova, a former shelter dog he fostered, adopted and later trained as a therapy dog. Bowering urged Charlotte County commissioners to continue funding the shelter during a recent meeting.<\/p>\n
Charlotte County government<\/p>\n
Instead, the two bonded, and Bowering adopted the dog.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He later trained Casanova to become a therapy dog. The pair now visit schools, hospitals, assisted-living facilities and businesses throughout the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCasanova’s story is possible because organizations like AWL invest in animals and help create successful outcomes. Every animal that is cared for, fostered, adopted has a potential to make a difference in someone’s life and our community,\u201d Bowering said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou’re not just funding shelter space, you’re investing in second chances, public service, education and community well-being.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bowering urged commissioners to meet the shelter’s funding needs so that \u201cmore animals will have the opportunity, just as Casanova has had.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The workshop begins at 9 a.m. June 16 at the Charlotte County Administration Center, 18500 Murdock Circle in Port Charlotte.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A dog waits inside the Animal Welfare League of Charlotte County shelter in Port Charlotte. The nonprofit no-kill…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[4271,39366,209,211,210,853,128668,128667],"class_list":["post-308239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-animal-shelter","tag-animal-welfare-league","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-charlotte-county","tag-funding-crisis","tag-no-kill-shelter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}