Just Animals Shelter, located in Seneca, IL, is a no-kill, non-profit animal shelter. Every year, they take in multitudes of cats and dogs, care for them, get them up-to-date on their vaccinations, spay or neuter them, micro-chip them, and finally, adopt them out to good, loving homes. In 2009 alone, the shelter placed 475 cats and dogs.
Just Animals Photo Collage
Just Animals currently rents a building from A+ Storage in Seneca. Awhile back, the landlords not only re-did the parking lot out in front of the shelter, but also added a parking lot in what was previously an empty lot next door. Ever since then, the shelter has been swamped. There have been puddles and mud surrounding the building even during dry spells because the water no longer has any place to drain to.
In addition to this, the septic tank is exposed. Every time the toilet is flushed, water (and everything else that was flushed, gushes into the surrounding area and adds to the puddles, contaminating them and making them larger. The contaminated water then runs underneath the building.
The landlords knew about this ongoing problem. However, it never got fixed. Instead, although the they have paid their $1000-a-month rent on time for the seven years they have been located in A+ Storage, the animal shelter recieved an eviction notice giving them until April 30 to get out. Since the local press got ahold of the story (you can view the two different news articles here and here) they have mentioned extending the lease to two months or six months, rather than one. However, the shelter has yet to receive any of this in writing, and therefore, must still assume they have only unti April 30.
The shelter has nowhere to go.
Because of zoning issues, finding a place, even to rent, within 30 days will be almost impossible. The shelter is being forced to stop taking in animals for the time being, and is trying to adopt out as many as possible before difficult decisions have to start being made. The shelter is in dire need of foster homes for all of the animals, and several dogs that either can’t be with children or other dogs have had their adoption fees slashed to just $65.
The shelter will not close, but it will be a struggle to continue and every little bit of support helps.
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LINKS
View Pets for Adoption (just click “Our Adoptable Pets List”)
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