By David Slone
Times-Union
WARSAW — By the end of the third annual Animal Welfare League of Kosciusko County Birthday Bash Saturday, 16 pets were adopted, and others had their fees sponsored.
Niki Sedlacek, AWL adoption tech and event coordinator, said the event celebrates what is called “Dogust 1st,” an annual shelter birthday day for any dogs in the shelter.
“It’s important to us. We have reduced fees to get these animals just into their forever home because we are so fully loaded. Especially bringing the community out to see what we have to offer. A lot of people haven’t been here before, so it’s nice to get them out here,” she said.
As of Saturday, including fosters, AWL had close to 300 cats and about 90 dogs in their care. Capacity is in the lower 200s for cats and room for 80 dogs, including fosters. Sedlacek said they still get calls every single day from people wanting to place their pets in the shelter.
“We actually had to close our cat intake to the public. We have a waiting list because we just don’t have anywhere else to put them, and for health and to take care of them properly, we just can’t get them in here,” she stated. “So it’s great for the community to come out and adopt so we can open that back up because it breaks our heart to have to tell people we can’t adopt. That’s why (the Birthday Bash) is so important.”
Most of the time, people want to drop off pets, especially with the cats, it’s just because of overpopulation, Sedlacek said.
“Hey, this cat got dumped. Now it had babies, and we get a litter of kittens after kittens after kittens,” she said, adding there’s a variety of reasons why people may want to drop their pet off at the shelter and there’s not one overall reasons. “They’re moving. They’re just not getting along anymore with other dogs. We hear it all.”
Besides the need for people to adopt the cats, kittens, dogs and puppies, Sedlacek said volunteers are their biggest need.
“With so many animals here in the shelter, we need as many people in here as possible to walk daily. Get these dogs out of those cages, share the dogs that are here. The cats, with all the kittens, need to be socialized. They need to learn that human touch is OK. So that’s important. Just coming in here volunteering is our main goal right now,” she said.
Sedlacek encouraged people to stop in any time during open hours for questions, adoptions or volunteering.
Hours are Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“We’ll answer any questions. We’re more than happy to have you here,” she said.
The Animal Welfare League of Kosciusko County, 1048 S. CR 325E, Pierceton, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit private animal shelter that serves all of the county.
Learn more at awlwarsaw.com and on their Facebook page. AWL also has a presence on TikTok and Instagram.
