LOCAL ANIMAL SHELTER SUPPORT INC

LASSI exists to provide volunteers and financial support to work toward a goal of finding a loving home for every dog and cat in Oceana County. This requires eliminating pet overpopulation through education and spay/neuter assistance, providing veterinary care for shelter anmals so that adoptive families aren't burdened with excessive veterinary expenses, and socializing/exercising shelter animals so that they acquire and maintain dispositions that help them be adoptable to familiies.

In addition to providing care for the animals and educating the public regarding responsible pet ownership, LASSI endeavors to use social media and print media to envourage all families who are considering adding a dog or cat to their homes to consider shelter animals first. This includes families within and outside of Oceana County since social media has the ability to reach a wide audience.

-Ensure that all dogs and cats adopted out of the Oceana County Animal Shelter are either altered (spay/neuter) beforehand, or receive this all-important surgery as soon as possible (e.g. puppies and kittens too young to alter before adoption).

-Vigorously promote adoption of Oceana County Animal Shelter dogs and cats via weekly printed posters displayed at businesses and other establishments in the county, Facebook and Instagram videos and photos, and LASSI's website. Oceana County Animal Control also promotes adoption of shelter animals via social media including Facebook and Petfinder.

-Provide veterinary care as necessary for all dogs and cats pets received by the the Oceana County Animal Shelter.

-Assist with emergency veterinary care and spay/neuter surgeries for dogs and cats in the community (guardian families with financial need).

-Provide foster care for animals at the request of LASSI volunteers. This is an important, but strictly voluntary program with no expectation that any LASSI volunteer will foster cats or dogs. Foster care of pets is a wonderful contribution, but one that is not possible for many volunteers because of the attachment that they develop with the animals they are fostering.

-Attend community events (e.g. New Era Fall Festival, Farmer's Market), host LASSI events (e.g. Strut Your Mutt), and otherwise seek opportunities to educate our community regarding responsible pet guardianship and create awareness for the Oceana County Animal Shelter.

-Fundraise through multiple channels such as LASSI newsletter donationss, LASSI Special Events, Grants Awarded, PayPal Donations, Collection Boxes, and Amazon Smile.

LASSI is fortunate to be a very capable organization. The primary reasons for LASSI's ability to carry out its programs include:

-A talented and committed board of directors/officers. LASSI's board of dedicated volunteers has expertise in all pertinent areas of LASSI's operation including fundraising, community outreach, finance and accounting, and volunteer recruitment and retention. No one member of LASSI (board or other volunteers) takes on an unsustainable amount of the work. This is critical in animal welfare organizations where compassion fatigue is a very serious concern.

-A talented and diligent volunteer grant writer applies for many grants on behalf of LASSI and is successful in generating up to 25% of LASSI's annual receipts.

-LASSI is tremendously fortunate to have a close working relationship with Oceana County Animal Control. For a volunteer organization to successfully support a local government agency, a transparent, mutually-beneficial working relationship is critical. LASSI has the full support and confidence of Oceana County Animal Control, and vice-versa.

-A group of about 30 LASSI volunteers assist with walking dogs and visiting cats at the Oceana County Animal Shelter, and some provide foster care as well. LASSI would benefit from more volunteers who commit to visit the shelter one day a week, but this need is typical of nearly all sheltering organization and LASSI is able to visit the shelter nearly every day of the year, including holidays.

-Local veterinary practices work closely with LASSI to provide immediate, affordable emergency care and spay/neuter surgeries for shelter animals and other pets LASSI helps.

-Oceana County is rural with a total population of about 25,000 citizens, so there aren't as many cats and dogs needing care at there are in larger communities. With a moderate annual budget, LASSI is capable of funding all of its programs and has enough dedicated volunteers to hopefully carry out LASSI's mission for the foreseeable future.

Since LASSI incorporated in 2011, its success has been phenomenal. The most amazing and heartwarming accomplishment that LASSI has helped achieve is reaching a current annual euthanasia rate of 0% for adoptable animals at the Oceana County Animal Shelter. Dogs and cats are no longer euthanized to alleviate overcrowding or because they have medical issues that would be financially burdensome for an adopting family to address. This is a very rare accomplishment for a county-operated animal shelter, and LASSI and Oceana County Animal Control are a model for successful cooperation between a volunteer group and local government agency.

Obviously, families have to be adopting shelter animals on a nearly-daily basis to avoid overcrowding and the need to perform euthanasia of adoptable animals. LASSI's programs have been critical in helping enough dogs and cats be adopted so that euthanasia of adoptable animals is no longer necessary.

Additionally, LASSI has established itself as the primary and most widely recognized animal welfare organization in Oceana County. Most county residents are aware of LASSI's work and eager to support LASSI and visit the Oceana County Animal Shelter when considering adding a cat or dog to their family.

Regarding what's next, LASSI has been focusing on even greater outreach into the community to assure that every citizen is aware that a quality organization exists to help care for companion animals and provide volunteer opportunities. Two key LASSI volunteers are local school teacher who are especially helpful in reaching Oceana County youth. Another young adult volunteer is adept at using social media to expand LASSI's reach.

However, LASSI's primary mission will always be raising funds to provide veterinary care for every animal that comes through the Oceana County Animal Shelter on the way to its forever home. Mostly, this is emergency care for injuries and illness, but LASSI also provides spay/neuter assistance when the county's grant funds are depleted. LASSI is able to fund spay/neuter surgeries at the same level as county grants, so support is seamless for the adoptive families.

There are always needs in the community that LASSI would like to help address, such as providing more assistance to families who have financial need in caring for their animals. However, an expansion of LASSI's programs would require increased contributions. The current level of contributions to LASSI provides for complete funding of programs without an annual deficit, but not more.