Creating a more caring community for people and pets.
Attention: Temporary Closure of CARE STL Clark Avenue Facility for Animal Housing
Dear valued community members,
We want to inform you that the CARE STL Clark Avenue Facility will be undergoing necessary repairs to ensure the safety and well-being of our beloved animals. As a regulating and inspecting body, the Missouri Department of Agriculture requires us to maintain compliance and active licensing to operate our shelter. Therefore, we must complete the repairs by the end of this year to renew our license.
To facilitate the repairs, we kindly request your assistance in fostering or adopting our animals starting today. This will allow us to remove all animals from the building (fumes & flooring chemicals exposure), making it available for the contractor to commence repairs on December 18th. We anticipate the repairs to be completed by January 1st, barring unforeseen delays.
Effective immediately, we have implemented Emergency Shelter Operations Status to prioritize the repair process. During this period, CARE STL will only accept emergency intakes from Animal Control. We regret to inform you that we cannot accept surrendered or healthy found animals from the public until further notice. However, we will continue to assist animals needing emergency medical care, offer resources to help lost animals find their way home, aid in rehoming pets, and provide necessary supplies and services to support pet owners.
Please note that the following situations will still be considered emergency intakes during Emergency Shelter Operations Status:
1. Pets in medical distress requiring immediate treatment to prevent significant suffering or death.
2. Aggressive animals posing an immediate threat to public safety and cannot be contained, including those requiring bite quarantines that cannot be completed at their residence.
3. Animals in immediate danger, such as cruelty and abuse cases.
4. Animals involved in agency assist calls, including evictions, hospitalizations, and arrests.
5. Animals legally abandoned even after appropriate notification, when applicable.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by these temporary changes. Our primary concern is the well-being of the animals in our care, and we appreciate your understanding and support during this crucial repair period.
If you are interested in fostering or adopting an animal, please come to the shelter from 1 pm to 7 pm on Monday-Friday and 10 am to 5 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
Together, we can ensure the completion of these repairs and maintain our commitment to providing a safe and nurturing environment for our animals. We are asking for your cooperation and continued support.
Warm regards,
Weng Horak
CEO & Founder of CARE STL
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Giving Tuesday is just around the corner. It’s a day dedicated to generosity and making a difference in the lives of animals in need. At CARE STL, we rely on your support to continue our mission. Your donations go directly toward providing immediate medical care and love to abandoned and homeless animals. Join us on Giving Tuesday to contribute to a brighter future for these innocent lives. Your kindness and generosity truly make a world of difference. Mark your calendar and get ready to give back on this special day.
If you want to create your own fundraiser benefiting CARE STL, please use the link below or email us at weng@icarestl.org. Thank you for all you do!
https://givebutter.com/caregivingtuesday
November 14, 2023
Breaking News! 🎉🐾
Are you ready for this?
We are absolutely thrilled to announce that we have just achieved the highest adoption rate in the history of CARE! In just one month, we found forever homes for a whopping 293 adorable animals! Woohoo!!
We cannot express our gratitude enough for all the love, support, and dedication you have shown towards our shelter friends. Each and every one of you played a crucial role in making this milestone possible! From sharing their heartwarming stories to advocating for their well-being, your efforts have truly made a difference.
A special shoutout goes to our incredible adoption staff, who worked tirelessly to match these precious souls with their perfect families. And let's not forget our amazing volunteers and fosters, who provided a safe and loving environment for these animals while they awaited their forever homes. Your unwavering support has been nothing short of extraordinary!
But we're not stopping here! With your continued support, we're setting our sights even higher for November. Can we aim for an incredible 300 adopted animals this month? What do you think?
Thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts! Your dedication and love have brought us this far, and we can't wait to see what we can achieve together in the coming month!
#CAREAdoptions #MakingADifference #TogetherWeCanDoIt
October 31, 2023
CARE STL invites the community to support Shelter Walk-Through Adoption on Sunday, October 8th!
October 4, 2023
St. Louis, MO — October 4, 2023 — We need your help! CARE STL has no single empty kennel to house lost or injured dogs being brought in off the streets. We currently have 172 dogs in the shelter, far beyond our building's capacity. We must find foster or adoptive homes for 56 dogs every week to enable us to continue helping more animals! Our goal is to have 224 dogs in a home by October 31!
We invite the community to come and see the city shelter and see how these dogs live in crates 23 hours a day. We're counting on our community's support to help us save more animals from the streets of St. Louis. The walk-through is from 2 PM to 4 PM on October 8, Sunday, at 2801 Clark Avenue, 63103.
Dr. Abbie Knudsen Atteberry, Executive Director for CARE STL, stated, "We are deeply committed to providing the best possible care for all animals in the shelter. However, the current capacity crisis is overwhelming, and we urgently need the support of our community to help us continue our lifesaving efforts."
There are so many great ways you can help! Here are just a few:
1) Adopt. Our Adoption Coordinators will work with you to help you find the dog that's the right fit for your lifestyle and family. https://www.icarestl.org/adopt-a-dog
2) Foster. We need fosters for dogs so we can make space in
our shelter for incoming pets. The more fosters we have, the more pets we can save. To
learn more and apply, visit https://www.icarestl.org/foster.
3) Donate. We need extra supplies to care for the many pets, and we'd very much appreciate any help you can give. You can donate at https://www.icarestl.org/donate.
4) Share, like, and comment. Please help us get the word out by engaging with our posts on
Facebook and Instagram!
CARE STL is determined to overcome this capacity crisis with the community's support. Together, we can ensure that the animals in our community all receive the care, attention, and love they need and deserve.
About CARE STL (Center for Rescue and Enrichment of St. Louis):
Center for Animal Rescue and Enrichment of St. Louis (CARE STL) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming homeless animals. Since 2018, CARE STL has been dedicated to creating a supportive community rooted in collaboration, compassion, and caring for people and animals. CARE STL saved 10,490 animals within the City of St. Louis since 2019. To learn more, visit https://www.carestl.org.
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Sept 15, 2023
Dear friends and supporters of CARE STL,
I wanted to take a moment to address the current crisis that CARE STL is facing. Our mission has always been to maintain a no-kill policy and ensure that every dog in our care receives comfortable housing. However, we find ourselves in a difficult situation where we need to allocate our resources wisely to meet the most vital needs of our shelter.
During this challenging time, we are prioritizing funding towards essential resources such as vaccines, pain medication, safe housing, and antibiotics. We deeply understand the importance of providing monthly heartworm preventatives to dogs and cats, as it is considered the gold standard of veterinary medicine. However, given the low prevalence rate of heartworms in our population (0.04%), we have made the difficult decision to temporarily forgo this resource.
Please rest assured that every dog and cat in our shelter receives a 30-day initial dose of heartworm, flea, and tick preventative. However, due to limited funding, we are unable to provide more than that at the moment. As the medical director, I must consider the needs of the entire shelter population while providing the highest quality medical care within our means. The cost of preventatives for dogs & cats at the shelter averages $9,800 monthly or $117,600 annually.
I want to emphasize that each animal still receives a complete physical exam by a veterinarian before adoption, and any sick or symptomatic animals receive the attention and treatment they deserve. I take great pride in advocating fiercely for all the patients in my care, and I want the public to trust that their shelter veterinarian at CARE STL has the necessary training, knowledge, and background to support this.
Our ultimate goal is to be able to afford the gold standard of medicine for all dogs and cats in our care once again. However, we cannot achieve this alone. If the no-kill mission is important to you, please consider helping us reach our goal of decreasing the length of stay for our animals and providing them with comfortable housing until they find their forever homes.
Your support, whether through donations, volunteering, fostering, or spreading the word about our cause, can make a significant difference in the lives of these animals. Together, we can work towards a future where dogs and cats receive the care they deserve.
For those who want to support our heartworm prevention fund, you can donate using this link: https://www.icarestl.org/heal-a-heart
Thank you for your understanding, compassion, and continued support.
With heartfelt sincerity,
Keri Morgan, DVM, MPH
Medical Director at CARE STL
September 10, 2023
Dear CARE STL Friends,
We convened yesterday for an extensive meeting to discuss the current state of affairs at our Vet Clinic. With a heavy heart, we must inform you of the challenges we are facing in our spay and neuter operations. On average, we are performing this vital procedure for our in-house animals at a rate of 65 animals per week. However, due to the overwhelming number of animals, approximately 10-12 daily, we find ourselves unable to keep up with the demand for spay and neuter surgeries. Our dedicated medical team is now grappling with a shortage of essential medical supplies, which is hindering their ability to carry out this life-saving surgery.
To provide you with a clearer picture, the estimated cost of purchasing the necessary weekly medical supplies for spaying and neutering alone is a staggering $3,654, amounting to $14,618 monthly. We meticulously calculate the cost of each medicine and supply our veterinarians require to perform these procedures. Consequently, the annual cost for these supplies alone reaches an alarming $175,417. Despite our desperate efforts to secure spay and neuter grants, we have encountered severe limitations in funding opportunities.
In light of these circumstances, we have devised a potential solution. We humbly request that individuals such as yourself consider signing up for a monthly donation on the following level.
Donate $25 per month. To sustain our operations, we would need a minimum of 585 compassionate souls to commit to this amount.
For those who are able to contribute $50 per month, we require approximately 292 donors to join us at this level.
Similarly, if someone were to pledge $75 per month, we would be grateful for the support of at least 195 individuals.
As a shelter that diligently enforces the Spay and Neuter ordinance in our city, we are making steady progress in reducing the rampant overpopulation of animals. We remain steadfast in our commitment to this ordinance despite the ongoing challenges posed by pet owners who do not share our belief in spaying and neutering their beloved companions. In some instances, we have even had to resort to calling emergency services due to confrontations with irate owners who vehemently oppose the procedure.
We implore you, dear friends, to help us in our time of need. We refuse to halt or diminish our spay and neuter surgeries due to a lack of funds for this crucial program. We pray you open your hearts and extend a helping hand, enabling us to continue providing this invaluable service to our community.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Weng Horak
Sept 10, 2023
AUGUST 2023
Our city government is considering options for the future of the (now empty) STL workhouse. We proposed to move into the space, create a fantastic shelter for our animals, and develop a welcoming atmosphere for our community.
If we are granted the use of the facility, this will solve so many issues we are currently experiencing. For example, as of today, Aug 20, 2023, we have 190 dogs at the shelter and 61 cats. Our shelter capacity is only 90 dogs, and no space for cats. This is unacceptable for a small shelter space of only 8,500 square feet. We are drowning.
Our plan includes space to house homeless people and their pets, a community center, and unique outdoor spaces for the dogs to spend time with volunteers. We will also offer training sessions for adopters and the community and more programs we have in the pipeline if we find the space and resources. This would change so many lives.
Please take a few minutes to complete the survey and choose "animal shelter" as the best option for this space.
You're opinion matters! Click and take the survey!
Let the dogs be heard.
August 10, 2023
MARCH 2023
I want to thank everyone for your continued support and investment in our mission to create a supportive community rooted in collaboration, compassion, and caring for the people and animals of St. Louis City. This work is only possible because of kind-hearted people like you!
2022 was quite the year for us at CARE STL; lots of ups and downs, lots of successes, and lots of animals were saved. A total of 3,012 animals were cared for by 23 full-time staff members (caregivers, adoption team & training team), which was 572 more animals cared for than the previous year. This is an increase of 25%, which is unbelievable! 1,945 animals were placed in their forever homes, and 289 were reunited with their owners.
We have significantly increased the in-shelter enrichment for our dogs by hiring certified professional dog trainers and now offering free training for the public, which is already completely booked solid! Three new play yards (an enrichment yard, a sensory garden yard, and a play yard) were added for our shelter dogs, providing them additional space to de-stress while waiting for their forever homes. We also now offer $10 microchip IDs to the community, not just for city residents but for everyone! And thanks to a lifesaving grant we received from Petco Love, we were also able to buy an ID tag machine, so all the dogs & cats that leave our building are provided with free ID tags and collars.
Additionally, we offer rabies tags and registration for all city animals. Because of the trust placed in us by our city partners, the rabies tag information is entered into our system, so lost city pets picked up as strays can be returned to their homes and reunited with their families.
2022 was a roller-coaster kind of year for us in so many ways, but we made it thru to 2023, and we're still moving forward. Since winter will be with us for at least a few more months, we anticipate another large influx of homeless pets coming into the shelter to start off 2023 like we ended 2022--filled to capacity...and beyond. Again, we continue to ask our growing number of foster families to share our foster programs (like the Finder to Foster and Foster Friends) with their friends & family, so we can continue to expand our foster network.
It's mind-boggling to think that just four years ago, when we took over the management of the STL City shelter, the intake number was just 600-800 animals a year, while last year, we took in 3012! We were only able to survive this massive influx of animals because of the help of our incredibly committed volunteers, who contributed a total of 15,847 hours helping in the shelter and enriching animals.
Our overall reach as an organization has grown so much over this time, but so has the total number of animals that keep coming into the shelter. It's a continuous challenge because we always need to raise additional funds for the medical costs involved with a large percentage of the animals we intake. So many of them are injured, sick, and malnourished, which is why we ask and ask and ask again for the funds & tools we need to help them all.
Once again, thank you for believing in us and believing in our mission. Thank you for joining a community that CAREs.
https://www.icarestl.org/emf
March 22, 2023
