Animal shelter shifts focus back to adoptions Posted On: Wednesday, Nov. 4 2009 04:59 AM By Victor O'Brien
Killeen Daily Herald

The Second Chance Animal Shelter expects to get back to the business of adopting out animals by the end of the week.

Smoke from a fire Sunday killed 99 cats and 12 dogs. The rest of the shelter's cats and many small dogs were placed in foster homes with local residents or shelters.

By Friday, shelter volunteers hope to move many of the surviving cats back into the shelter to begin adoptions, said George Grammas, Centex Humane Society volunteer president. The return of the cats will depend on whether volunteers can clean and paint the walls in time.

Medium and large dogs can be adopted at the shelter throughout the week.

The shelter will hold adoption programs for dogs and cats at PetSmart in Killeen and PetCo in Harker Heights this weekend, Grammas said.

"These are not our dogs and cats. These are the community's dogs and cats that are brought in until we find forever homes," Grammas said.

The shelter's main needs are money and volunteers. Food donations from the community exceeded the need and storage space.

"The big thing we need right now is some volunteer support to come in and help us clean and take care of the animals," Grammas said.

Several of the shelter's volunteers received applause from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.Pat Reeder, a writer for Huckabee's national radio show, "The Huckabee Report," saluted several volunteers as part of "Huck's Heroes," a segment that honors heroes in the community. The show also offered a donation, according to an e-mail sent by Reeder.

The shelter still needs financial donations to handle high operating costs that include $4,000 per month for animal medicine and vaccinations.

Grammas declined to disclose donation totals, but said the shelter received donations in the range of $1,000 from Toyota of Killeen and Connell Chevrolet. The American Humane Association donated $1,000 Tuesday.

"The people have really come through," Grammas said. "We still need those donations to come in. We're by no means rich."