The Winslow Animal Control facility has had its share of difficulty, but the involvement of the Silver Creek Regional Humane Society is improving the service there. Humane Society President Barbara Olear has been volunteering her time at the facility just to make sure that there is always someone there. She now lives in Holbrook, but has lived somewhere in Navajo County for 20 years. She has been involved in a humane society, and as a court appointed special advocate for children and for animals. She does a lot of volunteering to help both children and animals.
Olear co-founded the Silver Creek Humane Society in 2001. The society is a non-profit organization, as well as a no kill organization. It was incorporated in Snowflake and operated there in the beginning, sheltering mostly horses.
She noted that the goal of the humane society is to get a full service shelter in northern Navajo County, hopefully in Winslow, but certainly somewhere in that area. She began volunteering many years ago, and has spent most of her life trying to help and protect animals and children. The Winslow facility was in poor shape when she first saw it and still needs much improvement, but is better than it was.
The humane society has contact with and gets help from other humane societies in the state and nation. Olear stays on top of what is happening by using the Internet and getting information from other humane societies. Already she has arranged to send animals from the Winslow facility to humane societies that have persons there willing to adopt them. This clears room at the Winslow facility, but any fees for adoption go to the society in the place that they were sent. This would have been a small funding source had they been adopted in Winslow.
Olear is involved in fundraising and grant writing, as well as working with the humane society board and with the City of Winslow. She is hopeful that the humane society can work with the city for the betterment of the community and the benefit of the animals there.
The proposed agreement between the City of Winslow and the Silver Creek Regional Humane Society was much discussed at the last Winslow City Council meeting. The main point of contention was the possibility of the city paying $50,000 to the humane society and the society getting certain fees estimated at $3,000. City officials said that the city did not have funds for that possibility. The council agreed to work with the humane society, which would attempt to obtain grants and other ways of financing the operation.
City Manager Jim Ferguson said that the primary function of the city was animal control and not the sheltering of animals. This, too, seems to be at odds with the humane society’s no kill policy and its goal of obtaining adoptions for animals needing a new home.
Olear said that the operation at the animal control facility has improved as the staffing problem is being addressed. She said that as staff becomes better trained, it should get better. She has been pleased by response from the community of people willing to volunteer and help at the facility.
