Animal Shelter puts out a call for help

The Havre Animal Shelter has taken in several cats and dogs recently, including several puppies, leaving the shelter over capacity, and the non-profit Friends of the Havre Animal Shelter has put out a call for help with expenses.

Animal Control officer Pete Federspiel said this morning that the shelter has 39 dogs and puppies and 15 cats and kittens, which is well over the shelter’s normal capacity. In the past week alone, he added, the shelter has taken in a litter of four puppies, another six puppies that are likely from two litters as well as a mother dog with eight puppies brought in late Tuesday.

“We’re just kind of tweaking things where we can right now,” Federspiel said, adding that the shelter doesn’t have a program that would allow them to foster any animals.

“We’re just hoping for good weather here so we can get some animals transported,” he said.

They had already planned to transport some animals to another shelter in Missoula this week, but the weather has delayed that the trip.

In the meantime, the Friends group purchased a kennel last night to hold the latest mother dog and puppies. The organization said in a Facebook post that they are taking donations to help with this and other expenses at the shelter.

The group posted a donation link on its Facebook page overnight saying that donations will go toward the kennel expense, plus vaccinations, spaying and neutering of the latest litter and the mother dog.

“Any donations raised, not used for this little family, will go to helping the next ones in need,” the post says.

Federspiel also said Havre Animal Shelter has a food pantry for any dog and cat owners in the area who need assistance. People can call the shelter at 406-265-2959.

“If they need food as a bridge to get them through a hard time, we have food available,” he said.