Giving Aberdeen Animals A Second Chance
As many of us know, owning a pet requires a lot of time, patience and love. It’s a lot of responsibility owning just a single cat or dog. One can only imagine trying to handle taking care of hundreds of animals. But that’s what the Manager of the Aberdeen Humane Society, Stacy Franks, looks forward to everyday.
Stacy Franks grew up in Alexandria, South Dakota with a love of animals that began at a very young age. When she moved to Aberdeen in 2011, she noticed an ad in the paper for the position of manager at the local Humane Society and knew that it was a job she had to have. Since she took the position four years ago she has done much more for the shelter than just managing it.
“Myself and the staff will get together and do fundraisers, whether it be for a specific animal, a surgery, or just something we need done out here. It’s just limitless, there’s so much to do.” And a lot has been done!
Since Stacy came on board she has set up the reconstruction of the cat area, and started up their own surgery room to handle their spays and neuterings on site. She credits a lot of the Humane Society’s accomplishments to the overwhelming support from the community.
“We couldn’t do what we do if we didn’t have this community.” And because of that support she intends to make even more improvements, including a new building for additional storage. “The community is so good to us, they bring us so many supplies that we have no where to put it anymore.” There are also plans to update the large dog area, the oldest part of the building. However the required funding for that particular project might keep it from happening for a while.
With the help of Northern Plains Animal Health, Stacy and the Humane Society make sure that all their rescues and adoptions are in the best of health. “We do a general examination, including all their vaccines for things like bordetella and rabies. We de-worm, we Frontline. We do spays, neuters, declawing and other small surgeries.” Any animals that need more intensive surgeries are taken directly to Northern Plains.
According to Stacy, one of the biggest problems they face on a regular basis is when animals get dropped off overnight. “That’s really a cruddy thing for the animals, because we don’t know any background on them.”
If you have an animal you want to drop off, Stacy and her staff ask that you just call them beforehand. It is the Humane Society’s policy to not take in more animals than they can hold but if it’s an emergency situation, you can be sure that they will find some place for them to stay. As long as Stacy Franks and the Aberdeen Humane Society can do something about it, you can be sure that every animal will find the right home. “I’ll be a lifer here. It’s a love for animals.” // – Sean McCracken
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