April 12, 2024 |
Photo – Bandit (left) and Toby (right) are available for adoption through the Rawlins Rochelle Animal Shelter – Courtesy Rawlins Rochelle Animal Shelter
The Rawlins Rochelle Animal Shelter has many animals in need of a loving home.
Animal Control Officer, Leah Ketner, and Rawlins Police Lieutenant, Daria Hooper, run the city’s animal shelter. Animal Control Officer Ketner said taking care of all the animals isn’t an easy task. She begins her day by cleaning all the cages. With only two animal control officers in the city, she always has plenty to do.
Ketner said the Rawlins Animal Shelter currently houses 11 dogs and 10 cats, not including the animals in foster care and training with the Cage to Save Program. Through the nine week Cage to Save Program, inmates of the Wyoming State Penitentiary train dogs in basic obedience.
Ketner said the program is going well, but people seem unwilling to adopt dogs coming out of the program. The animal control officer said she believes the breeds of dogs being trained, recently, may discourage people from adopting.
Ketner said dogs coming out of the Cage to Save Program are trained in basic obedience, spayed and neutered, and up to date on their shots, all for a $40 adoption fee.
Out of all the animals in the shelter, Ketner said her favorite is a small Australian Sheepdog named Bandit. The animal control officer said Bandit’s age and temperament has made it difficult to find him a forever home.
Ketner said the shelter’s longest resident is a 4-year-old pit bull named Toby. The animal control officer said Toby requires a very specific type of person to give him a loving home.
Ketner said she and Lt. Hooper care for a variety of animals, not just cats and dogs. The animal control officer said it’s not unusual for them to receive different kinds of livestock during animal cruelty cases.
Farm animals are housed at the Glenn Addition and not in the shelter itself.
Kenter is asking for donations of soft cat food and kitty litter. She said the shelter can also accept money to help pay for expensive surgeries.
Ketner encouraged people to visit the shelter and volunteer to walk the dogs.
For more information, call the Rawlins Rochelle Animal Shelter at 328-4534 between the hours of 3:00 and 5:00pm Monday through Friday. Adoption fees are $25 for cats and $40 for dogs.
