NAMPA, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
Nancy Smith is dreaming of rooms to roam.
That is, large rooms that would be part of a new facility for Pet Haven Inc., a no-kill cat shelter in Nampa. Smith is the president of the organization, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, she said. That makes it the oldest shelter in Canyon County, and one of the oldest in the Treasure Valley, she said.
The organization was started in 1972 by Helen Wilson, a retired professor from Northwest Nazarene College, which eventually became Northwest Nazarene University, Smith said. Wilson ran the business out of her house with friends and with the help of Dr. Ken Kalbfleisch, a veterinarian who started Nampa’s Kindness Animal Hospital, Smith said. Pretty quickly, Wilson realized she needed to make the business more “professional,” and incorporated as Canyon County Pet Haven in 1973, Smith said.
In the early days, the shelter tended to a variety of animals, such as chinchillas and cockatiels. Today, it serves “strictly cats,” Smith said.
Smith became the organization’s board treasurer in 2014 after retiring from her role as an area tax supervisor for the Idaho Department of Labor.
The organization owns its current facility, located at 333 W. Orchard St. in Nampa. On Wednesday afternoon, cats lounged and meowed from a set of crates located in the main visitor’s area. Though the current facility has one smaller dedicated room where cats who don’t take to the crates can move around, Smith envisions a facility where most cats can be housed that way, floors can be hosed down, and other upgrades can be implemented that the current facility lacks.
Demand for the shelter’s services has grown in recent years, especially in light of the pandemic, said Jeannette Trachsel, manager for the organization. From 2015 to 2020, the shelter averaged 356 adoptions per year. In 2020, 511 cats were adopted from the shelter, and in 2021, it was 565, Smith said.
This year, 160 cats were adopted from the shelter from January through March, Smith said.
Several factors have contributed to the increased number of cats getting adopted, Trachsel said. More people are working from home, and “they’ll often spot a stray or the litter before it goes feral,” she said. “And people are more able to foster because they’re not gone from their house 10 hours a day.”
More people fostering makes a difference in getting cats ready for adoption, she said. Not all cats that come into the shelter’s care are fostered before adoption, but kittens and mothers especially need fostering, Smith said.
Sometimes, the kittens brought in are too small to receive routine vaccinations, and placing them in foster care allows them to live in a less stressful environment until they can be vaccinated against common diseases, Trachsel said.
The shelter has a long list of families who are willing to foster cats, but occasionally they have to send people bringing in strays elsewhere if they have reached capacity, Trachsel said.
The three busiest times of the year are April, July, and September, when the most kittens are being born, Smith said. The shelter is in a bit of a lull at the moment, waiting for the beginning of the spring wave, she said. The facility can house as many as 100 cats, she said.
Kittens and cats ready for adoption are up-to-date on vaccinations and have been spayed or neutered, Smith said. The shelter also offers low-cost spay and neuter for the public’s cats, she said.
The organization is supported through volunteers and donations, Smith said. The shelter is able to raise money through events such as Santa Paws, in which people bring their animals to get photographed for Christmas at Zamzows stores, sometimes making a donation to support local shelters in the process. The shelter also receives donations through Idaho Gives, a statewide annual fundraising drive for local nonprofit organizations. This year’s Idaho Gives runs from May 2 through May 5.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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