Friends of the Salina Animal Shelter Announce Organization Dissolution

Letter written by Friends of the Salina Animal Shelter to city officials announcing dissolution.

May 30, 2024

Monique Hawley, Manager

Salina Animal Services

329 N 2^nd Street

Salina, KS 67401

Dear Monique,

After much discussion and consideration, the Friends of the Salina Animal Shelter has decided to dissolve our organization. We will no longer actively participate in animal shelter activities as of June 28, 2024.

Our last public food giveaway will be on June 9. Aluminum can collection sites will be taken over by the American Legion Honor Flights for Veterans on June 17. We will continue taking low-income medical/spay/neuter applications until June 28 or until funds are depleted.

There are multiple reasons why the Friends of the Salina Animal Shelter has decided to dissolve our program:

· The services FSAS has provided to the Salina community require considerable time expenditures. The lion's share of which is being carried by a handful of members. Already existing time constraints, our shrinking volunteer base, and the inability to train new volunteers make for an overwhelming responsibility on a few key members.

· The deteriorating relationship with the shelter in the last few years has resulted in a much reduced membership within our organization. As animal lovers, our departing volunteers no longer felt that they were contributing to the care and welfare of the animals.

· We have received some volunteer applications over the last six months, but we were unable to train new volunteers due to the shelter's lack of commitment to a training program.

· The City of Salina is requiring volunteers to sign a new waiver agreement that would release the city of all responsibility in the event of injury to a volunteer. Legal counsel advised us not to sign the waiver as written. So far the city has refused to make amendments to the waiver that would make it acceptable to our organization.

Our volunteers have dedicated many hours contributing to various activities that include: fostering, socializing cats, walking dogs, helping with transports, finding rescues, grooming dogs, cleaning kennels, doing laundry, mowing, shoveling snow, off-site adopting events, working fund-raisers, promoting animal shelter activities, updating intake photographs, working with potential adopters, cleaning Petco kennels, and assisting in the spay-neuter clinic.

We would like to express our appreciation to our membership over the past 18 years for the love and dedication they have shown the animals at the Salina Animal Shelter. Thank you also to the Salina community for your monetary donations that have enabled us to help so many of the animals in our city/county. Your generous donations totaling approximately $250,000 over the past years has assisted us in helping thousands of local pets in need. We regret the gap in financial assistance the dissolution of Friends of the Salina Animal Shelter will cause in our community. Our hearts remain with the pet families in Saline County.