FROM our Shelter President, Patti Williams.
TSAS and its board members have put a three-month hold on new intakes for canines. The hold includes the Tombstone area residents also. This was a tough decision for us, including all our devoted volunteers. We take great pride in our little shelter. As President/Manager of TSAS, I assure you that our sole mission is to rescue/save as many animals as possible. We never turn down an animal in need and work with the Douglas facility to pull as many animals as possible to free up space for new arrivals. We also offer community assistance for Tombstone residents to spay and neuter their pets at no charge, along with community assistance to supply food for pet owners that have fallen into hard times. We do everything we can to try and help pet owners who love their animals like family. Unfortunately, word gets out, and outside residents decided they can falsify information and use a family or friends Tombstone address to get free spay/neuter for their pets. Worse yet, they use someone else’s address, dump their dogs on us, or say they are strays. As you all know, TSAS is the only no-kill shelter in Cochise County. We are a 501c(3) non-profit organization. We run on
donations/grants for veterinarian services. We are not funded by other organizations. As an example of our dilemma, we have had 2 dogs brought to us from the Marshal’s office in less than 24 hours and dumped at our shelter by uncaring pet owners who may or may not be Tombstone residents. These dogs took two kennels that could have been used to house a Douglas dog whose time was up. We have a resident that tried for months to rehome their pet due to hard times, only to find we were full and Douglas or Wilcox facility would be their only option.
Those dog owners cost our shelter over $1,000.00 in vet bills to neuter, vaccinate rabies, and deworm, so we can hopefully get them into forever homes that will love them and give them the home they deserve. Hopefully, that is the only medical attention needed for them. Break down on we put out $500.00 per dog. Our adoption fee is $85.00. We paid $415.00, so they got a second chance to be loved. We are a shelter that cares. We want to thank all of you for your continuous support and donations. You make it possible for us to do what we do.
