The Board of Directors of the Healdsburg Animal Shelter announced today they would be shutting the shelter down for good at the end of the month, according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
In late May the HAS Board of Directors, largely a new body this year, made what now seems to be a last-ditch appeal for donation support in the Healdsburg Tribune, but the response was apparently not enough to close the gap in their budgetary shortfall.
As Patch reported at the time, the column in the Tribune was a plea for more public support to continue its work. “Today we need community support – more than ever in the Shelter’s 53-year history-to keep the Shelter operating and fulfilling its mission,” it reads in part.
One source told us the Tribune story was an effort to test the waters for any possible large-scale donors, an effort that clearly fell short. The Press Democrat story quotes a statement from the HAS board (which was not sent to Patch), “When the board noted the lack of positive response to its appeal for funds ... and evaluated prospective future courses of action, it reluctantly concluded that closing down these functions is an unavoidable necessity.”
About 40 animals are at the HAS presently awaiting adoption. According to the Press Democrat article, the Sonoma County Animal Care and Control will probably take over the shelter’s responsibilities, including "handling strays, injured, vicious and unwanted animals in the city, as well as adoptions and licensing."
What do you think was the undoing of the Healdsburg Animal Shelter?
