YOUR AD HERE »

Routt County Humane Society seeking van for animal shelter operations

Teresa Ristow

— Routt County Humane Society is making final preparations for a May 1 takeover of the city’s animal shelter, but the organization is still in search of a van to transport animals.

Humane Society co-president Molly Waters said Monday that the city’s animal control vehicle is used by city officials for animal control work, but the Humane Society is in need of a large van to bring animals to veterinary appointments, transport animals between other shelters and bring animals to special events.

Humane Society officials are hopeful someone in the community will step forward and donate a new or used van for the organization to use.



“We have been reaching out to people we know, but we haven’t gotten any bites,” Waters said.

If a new van were donated, Waters said the Humane Society could recognize the donating individual or business on the exterior of the van.



The organization hasn’t done any fundraising yet to purchase its own van and will potentially pay employees 45 cents per mile to use their personal vehicles to transport animals if a van isn’t found.

“It’s not ideal,” Waters said.

Other than the need for an animal transport vehicle, Waters said preparations to take over the city’s animal shelter are going smoothly.

The Humane Society conducted a nationwide search for an executive director and have hired Connie Harger, an events, finance and volunteer manager from the Conway Area Humane Society in New Hampshire, for the position.

Harger arrives in town this week and will start full time at the shelter once it’s taken over by the Humane Society.

“She’s very qualified, and she had a lot of experience with volunteers,” Waters said. ‘That’s a huge plus for us, because we want to grow our volunteer base.”

Harger and two other staff members will be the first paid employees of the organization, which is otherwise run by volunteers.

Waters said a final contract between the city and Humane Society will be signed this week, and a final contract with Routt County will be signed next week.

“We’ve gotten almost everything taken care of,” Waters said.

To reach Teresa Ristow, call 970-871-4206, email tristow@SteamboatToday.com or follow her on Twitter @TeresaRistow


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Steamboat and Routt County make the Steamboat Pilot & Today’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.