The Lawrence Humane Society made do with less in 2002.

Usually operating on about $500,000 a year, the Humane Society has felt the effects of the poor economy.

“We receive around $225,000 from the city of Lawrence and $20,000 from Douglas County each year,” said Midge Grinstead, executive director of the Humane Society. “The last $250,000 we have to come up with, so we had to have fund-raisers nearly every week of the year.”

The Humane Society had three primary fund-raising events in 2002 — Mut and Strut, the Douglas County Animal Fair and an animal auction.

Mut and Strut generated $20,000 last May.

“Mut and Strut is our favorite event of the year,” Grinstead said. “People from all over the city and county bring their dogs out.”

But the animal auction in September contributed the most money to the shelter’s budget. Grinstead said the auction raised more than $35,000 last year.

On weekends without a major fund-raiser Humane Society representatives often can still be found engaging with the public.

“On just about any given weekend, we have a booth set up at Petco here in town or Petsmart in Topeka to educate the public about pet care and to accept donations,” Grinstead said.

Keeping enough employees around to help with daily operations of the Humane Society has been a challenge the past year. Grinstead said she had laid off a dozen workers for a short time when the shelter was under extreme financial duress, but was able to hire them back a couple of weeks later after a large donation was made.

In order to save money, there are no specialized employees at the shelter — all employees are able to do any and every task that the shelter requires.

“I can have an employee mopping floors and cleaning pipes and send her out to do a cruelty call because every employee here has been trained in every area,” Grinstead said.

Rikki Swearengin, an animal behavioralist, has worked at the animal shelter for more than four years. She said she put in long hours because the shelter was low on money and staffing.

“I get paid for 40 hours a week,” Swearengin said. “But I’m really here at least 50.”

Another main source of revenue for the shelter is the $25 adoption fee charged to anyone who adopts an animal. The fee pays for treatments and services, including a microchip (for identification), worms, fleas, and fecal and heartworm tests. Also, all animals more than 6 months old are tested for temperament problems.

Grinstead said the shelter relied heavily on donations of money and supplies, and on volunteers. She estimated the shelter had 300 volunteers, including Kansas University students and area high school students.

Grinstead said although donations of food and supplies were down in 2002, she wasn’t worried about 2003.

“Lawrence is good to us,” she said. “The city always helps us when we need it.”

— Michael Owells is a Kansas University journalism student.