It has been a good year for the animals at the Humboldt and District SPCA shelter. The SPCA's animal shelter on the east side of Humboldt has seen 70 animals adopted since July and has taken in about 90 animals, said Wanda Price of the SPCA. In the past few months, they have not had many animals coming through with health problems, other than Echo, a six-year-old Dalmatian-Lab cross."He came in with a mouthful of bad teeth," explained Price. Since he has rotten teeth and gingivitis, it is difficult for Echo to eat. The organization has raised about $450 to help pay to get his teeth fixed.Once his teeth are fixed, Echo will be ready to be adopted, said Price. "He is very good natured and likes other dogs," said Price. "He would make an awesome house dog." She explained he was a house dog before, so he may not do well in the cold winter months outside. The other challenge the SPCA has faced this year is the number of kittens brought in throughout the summer. "This summer we took in 50 kittens," said Price. "We adopted out about 25 of them and have about 25 left ." They got in many of the kittens so young they had to bottle feed them. "We had two come in at three days old," said Price. Price wasn't sure if those kittens would survive, but they did - they ended up being quite healthy and were adopted out as indoor cats. Price explained it is important to spay and neuter cats, so there are not so many kittens that are brought into the SPCA. Luckily, there have been no problems with animals facing the cold. "We haven't got any cats that are frozen yet," said Price and although she hopes they will not get any, she says it seems to happen every year. Although they will take in surrendered pets if needed, the priority for the shelter is taking in strays. "We have to keep a couple stalls empty for strays," said Price. "It is more important for them to have a home because they need it more." Price is looking forward to their Foster for the Holidays program, which runs from December 21 to January 4. People can come in and pick a suitable animal to foster for the holidays. "I have already received a couple responses," said Price. She said this program is a good way for people who aren't sure if they want to adopt to try one for the holidays. "There are always people thinking about adopting, so they can try (it) out for a two-week period," said Price. The SPCA supplies everything the foster parents will need. "Everyone will hopefully have a home for the holidays," said Price. "It helps us and it is nice for the animals to get out of here for a little while, especially if they aren't going to be adopted for awhile." Last year, the program had a great reception, Price indicated. They fostered out about half the cats and all the dogs.
