WAAG
News
Mobile Vet Clinics Flock to Twin Cities
Our neighboring cities are experiencing an influx of mobile vet clinics this weekend! We’ve compiled a list for our community to take advantage of. Please confirm services on website and/or by calling affiliated vet clinic.
Board of Directors Transitions
It is both with gratitude and excitement that we share news of transitions within our Board of Directors. As some dedicated members bid farewell, we welcome new faces ready to shape the next chapter of our journey.
Trap-Neuter-Release on Puget Island, WA
Jenny Martin of Wahkiakum Animal Advocates Group and another volunteer, Lynette Wright, trapped seven feral cats on George and Nell Coulson's Puget Island property as part of a Trap, Neuter, Release program on Thursday morning, including this orange tom affectionately referred to as Garfield. It was clear the Coulsons cared about the cats, which they somehow inherited after a neighbor passed away, but feral cats have long been a problem on Puget Island and volunteers are hoping to manage the population over time using TNR. WAAG is undertaking these measures once a month and hopes to neuter 150 cats in the county a year before releasing them back into their environment, Martin said.
Holiday Pet Food Drive
The Wahkiakum Animal Advocate Group held a Holiday Pet Food Drive on Saturday at the Elochoman Slough Marina. They took in $130 in cash donations, 411 pounds of dry food and 390 cans of dog and cat food. "It was a good day and our pet food pantry is stocked for the time being," Anita Orchin said. Orchin is a member of the WAAG board, along with Rebecca Hompe and Wendy Edwards pictured.
Animal Advocates See Increase In Calls
If the numbers are anything to go by, Wahkiakum Animal Advocates Group (WAAG) is providing a much needed service in the community.
“We had a very busy 2022,” WAAG President Rebecca Hompe said.
WAAG volunteers worked 1,300 hours in 2021. Up until September of this year, they’ve already worked 5,000 hours.
“That includes people taking animals for veterinary services, to making runs to pick up pet foods to take to the different food pantries, all the on call hours, taking calls and trying to help people with their animals, and requests for assistance from the sheriff’s department,” Hompe said.
WAAG Requests Funding for 2023
Members of the Wahkiakum Animal Advocates Society (WAAGS) asked the board to include an appropriation of $3,500 for the agency in 2023.
Staffed by volunteers, WAAGS this year has responded to 221 community calls for assistance and 19 from the sheriff's office. The group has provided $3,700 in financial assistance for spay/neuter vouchers, medicines, emergency medical assistance, pet food and foster care support.
"We've seen an incredible surge in calls for animal support in our community this past year," said organization president Rebecca Hompe.
Commissioners welcomed the request.
"It's much needed," said Commissioner Dan Cothren. "It's sure nice when you have somebody you can call."
Wahkiakum County's Board of Commissioners Meet With WAAG
Wahkiakum County's board of commissioners handled a variety of business at their meeting Tuesday, including:
--Rebecca Hompe and Wendy Edwards of the Wahkiakum Animal Advocates Group (WAAG) described the growth and activities of the group and expressed a desire to develop a relationship with the group, the county and the Cowlitz County Humane Society.
The group of volunteers has started a variety of programs ranging from trapping and neutering feral cats to establishing a pet food pantry and financial support for people needing to spay or neuter their pets.
They said they'd like to see the county expand its contract with the humane society so that Wahkiakum residents may leave stray animals there.
Commissioners were supportive of the program.
"I've had to use your group, and it worked very well," said Commissioner Dan Cothren. "The sheriff's office needs support with animal calls."
Sheriff Mark Howie commented that the group has been helpful, and board Chair Gene Strong agreed.
Cowlitz Humane Society Sees Record Adoption in 2020
The Humane Society of Cowlitz County saw record-breaking pet adoptions last year as people sought companionship while self-quarantining or working from home due to the airborne coronavirus.
About 52% more pets at the Cowlitz County shelter were adopted in 2020 than two years prior, according to shelter data.
The number of pets that came into the shelter stayed relatively the same from 2018 to 2020 at an average of about 3,400 a year, according to the organization, but the amount of adoptions increased by almost 500 pets in two years.
Animal Advocates Food Drive Is Very Successful
A pet food drive at the Puget Island Fire Station on Saturday was more successful than the Wahkiakum Animal Advocates Group (WAAG) volunteers could have imagined.
So successful that their next pet food drive, which was tentatively set for March, may be postponed a little longer.
They don't have the storage space to do another drive too soon, Treasurer Lorrie Fink said, but when the Helping Hand food bank stocks get low, they will plan another event.
Local Residents Form Group To Aid Animals
Some local citizens who are concerned about abused, neglected, abandoned, and stray animals formed the Wahkiakum Animal Advocates Group (WAAG) in 2019. The pandemic slowed their plans a bit, but they have continued to move forward, getting their 501c3 status, setting up a bank account, talking with local leaders via Zoom, and even performing a trap, neuter, and release operation for a feral cat colony in the Elochoman Valley in recent months.