Chippewa County Animal Shelter is third in state for animal save rate

We have a lot of great animal shelters in the U.P., with a lot of hard-working staff and volunteers. A recently released study from the nonprofit Michigan Pet Fund Alliance aims to rank all the shelters in the state as far as their save rate, and the U.P. is stacking up pretty well for the most part.

The save rate was determined by comparing each shelter's animal intake numbers to their adopted-out numbers, to see how many animals were adopted vs. euthanized. The rankings were based on 2009 figures.

Chippewa County Animal Control Shelter ranked the highest out of the U.P. shelters, landing in third place for the whole state, 152 shelters. Its percentage of animals going out of the shelter was actually higher than animals it took in, at 114 percent.

Shelter manager Holly Henderson says part of that high ranking is the staff's dedication to a no-kill policy.

"We have worked very hard to ensure no healthy adoptable animal is euthanized at our shelter. I credit this success in part to financial assistance we receive through Friends of Caring Animal Shelters who sponsors our rigorous spay and neuter program, and Guardian Angels for Animals who covers all medical costs for shelter residents," she says. "I also can't say this enough, but we are only as great as our community allows us to be, so a big thank-you to our county commissioners and the general public, for your support and commitment to the homeless animals in Chippewa County."

Next on the list for U.P. shelters was the HOPE Animal Shelter in Gogebic County, in seventh place with a 101 percent save rate. Marquette County Humane Society (UPAWS) was in 30th place with a 91.3 percent save rate, followed by Alger County Animal Shelter with a 90.8 percent save rate, and the Copper Country Humane Society, with a 90.2 percent save rate.

The whole list of rankings can be found on the Pet Fund website.

Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Holly Henderson, Chippewa County Animal Control Shelter