Shelter to add Saturday morning pet adoption hours

Clovis area residents who haven’t added four-legged members to their families or recovered lost pets because they cannot visit the Clovis Animal Shelter on weekends now have Saturday mornings to find their lost pets or find new ones to adopt.

The shelter, located at 2203 East Brady Ave. in Clovis, is scheduled to be open from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday for the first of what animal welfare activists hope will be many Saturdays to come.

For animal activists, the Saturday opening marks the end of a long-time effort with the city of Clovis for weekend hours at the shelter.

Gaye Cook, director of the High Plains Humane Society, said the city agreed to add Saturday hours to the shelter’s schedule in 2016, but staffing and funding issues have prevented weekend opening.

With COVID-19 concerns now subsiding, Cook said, the shelter can now add staff to open the shelter for adoption on Saturday.

The Humane Society and other groups and individuals, including Adopt-a-Pet, another Clovis-based animal welfare organization, have kept pressure on city government “for the past several months” to enact weekend hours at the shelter.

Karl Korff, who heads Adopt-a-Pet, said that while his organization appeared at city commission meetings and met with city officials, the Humane Society, “was the big dog in the cage” when it came to keeping the Saturday hours idea alive.

Cook and Korff agreed that weekend adoption hours are likely to bring significant increases in pet adoptions.

“We hope there will be a lot more adoptions,” Korff said, “but time will tell.”

Cook said she hopes for increased adoptions with the new weekend hours, and she thinks expanded hours could help pave the way for “clear the shelter” events aimed at finding homes for all the shelter’s abandoned pets.

There is a $50 fee to adopt a pet from the shelter, Cook said, but that fee could be reduced if the activities it pays for are arranged by owners before adoption. Components of the fee, she said, include $25 for spaying and neutering, $10 for rabies vaccination and $10 for microchipping that would allow identification of the owner of a stray dog or cat.

The Humane Society is currently seeking a grant that could make adoptions free.

Cook said the city will have two paid employees for Saturday operation, but the Humane Society would welcome volunteers to help out on Saturday mornings, as well as for other functions.

A news release from the city announcing the new Saturday hours stated the city, too is seeking volunteers to help at the animal shelter.

Persons interested in volunteering at the shelter should visit in person and speak with Larry Jacquez, Supervisor. Jacquez may also be reached by calling (575) 769-7893.

Volunteers who wish to work with the Humane Society can reach the society by calling the Humane Society at (575) 791-2572.