PAWS Humane Society is a Safe Place for Local Animals
Floyd County Community Foundation
January 18, 2017
In the last 16 years, Charles City has vastly improved their animal care. PAWS, as the Floyd County Humane Society is known, opened its doors in 2000, filling a need previously unmet in the community. PAWS stepped in to provide for strays, animals who wander away from their homes, and provided an opportunity to adopt pets locally which benefits the city’s economy.
Julie Taylor, shelter director/manager, is happy to provide an option for strays and lost pets that is safe and working for the best interest of the animal’s lives.
“In the past, there was nowhere to take stray animals. They would get put down after seven days,” said Taylor. “We are a safe place for them, especially in the winter months. This is a no-kill facility.”
Recently, PAWS has taken new steps in their mission with a new microchipping program. When PAWS takes in new animals who are looking for a home, they implant a chip in to the animal’s neck that will act as an identification device. If the animal ever returns to the shelter, PAWS can use a scanner to discover the animal’s owner. The program is an incredible tool for the shelter, however, without grant assistance, it is one they would have been unable to implement.
In 2014, the Floyd County Community Foundation awarded a grant to PAWS to assist with the microchip program, which led to PAWS interest in seeking out an opportunity to create a fund a stable funding source. In 2016, a Charles City resident passed away, leaving a sum of money to PAWS in their will, which PAWS then used to establish the PAWS Endowment Fund with the Floyd County Community Foundation.
“It was reassurance that we are planning to be here long term. When my husband heard the news, he immediately told me we needed to start an endowment fund,” said Taylor.
An endowment fund provides PAWS with long-term sustainability and a reliable funding source. As the fund grows, Taylor hopes to one day be able to use the funds from the endowment to help with purchasing new facilities.
“I would love to have a new dog facility. It’s not a very pleasant space for the dogs right now. The set-up is difficult to move everything around for cleaning. That would be my hope, to provide a better environment for them,” said Taylor.
Currently, PAWS facility is serving multiple purposes. One room is the vet’s exam office, the administrative office and a safe haven for dogs who are stressed out and need to be calmed down. New facilities would allow for PAWS to have separate spaces for these activities, to declutter foot traffic and to have the healthiest environments for their cats and dogs.
PAWS is appreciative of the past grant from the Floyd County Community Foundation, and is hopeful future grant applications to the Foundation will be successful. However, the most beneficial way for animal lovers to give back and to make the most impact is to give to the PAWS Endowment Fund with the Floyd County Community Foundation. Because the fund is endowed, it will make an impact forever.
“We are so appreciative that people see the importance of what we do and that they both with finances and their time support us which means a lot,” said Taylor.
For Taylor and the rest of the PAWS team, providing a local option for adoption is their top priority, and they have high hopes of taking care of the Charles City’s animal population for years to come.
Gifts can be made to the PAWS Endowment Fund, or any of the other funds held with the Floyd County Community Foundation, by visiting www.floydccf.org. For more information, contact Marcie Andrews, development associate with the FCCF, at 641-330-5181 or mandrews@floydccf.org.
