Paws & Tails Winter Newsletter 2023

A NEWSLETTER FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT THE EAU CLAIRE COUNTY HUMANE ASSOCIATION

A Letter from the Director

Changes are Ahead for us in 2024!

2024 is going to be an exciting year. The first part of the year will be all about relocating as we move into our new building in early spring. Summer will bring the Grand Opening of the new shelter, with many new amenities to offer our community. It is going to be the best year ever!

With this new year though will come some changes. The first change that I would like to highlight will be a new fee for owner claiming your animal, if it happens to end up at the Humane Association. For the City of Eau Claire residents, there will be an impound fee associated with picking up your animal if they are brought in from the City limits.

This fee is in addition to the fee we must charge in order to care for your animal while they are at the shelter. This fee will be based on if the animal is licensed or not and if it has visited the shelter in the past. It is the law to have your animal licensed so as a Humane Association, we will be working closely with the City to ensure licensing and ordinances are followed. This fee will not be something we can waive. To read more about the laws associated with animals in Eau Claire, I encourage you to check out this page on the City’s website.

Other changes to look forward to in 2024? More open hours at the shelter. We know that our hours are hard and limited for public hours. We are on-site for appointments 7 days a week but with the construction, we did have to limit our public hours to avoid having parking issues. We look forward to offering more hours once we are in the new building.

Finally, we look forward to helping more homeless animals in our area find their new homes. Thank you for being our partner and supporting us on our mission.

New Members Loading…

A great way to support ECCHA year-round is by becoming a member. Your membership contribution fuels the resources required for the care of all our beloved animals, encompassing medical treatments, veterinary care, nourishment, medications, cozy blankets, and comforting embraces.

Whether they are homeless, ailing, or injured, ECCHA cares for them all. Join our cause today by becoming a member or making a donation and making a difference in the lives of all our pets in need!

Over 65% of our operational budget is from memberships and donations. Consider giving to ECCHA today to help ALL animals that come through our doors in 2024!

LEARN MORE AND BECOME A MEMBER NOW »

Here Comes Santa Paws!

Santa Paws is coming to town! ECCHA’s annual Santa Paws fundraiser is back again for another year.

2,000 ornaments have been handmade by volunteers and feature pictures of pets adopted from ECCHA over the last year. These Santa Paws ornaments are available for purchase starting on Black Friday at over 40 businesses across Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls and Lake Hallie. Check our website the week of Thanksgiving for the official list!

Each individual paw-shaped ornament ranges in price from $5 to $100 and lists a different fund that the community can contribute to, such as operation costs, toys, treats, food, and medical procedures for the animals. The proceeds benefit ECCHA to continue to help homeless pets during the busy holiday season.

BUY MY CUSTOM PAW NOW »

Patricia’s Puppies & Her Peculiar Paw

Patricia is a mama who was brought to us from a local farm with her litter of puppies in tow. Patricia was very timid when she came into the shelter, but once she figured out what human love was she melted right into us for cuddles.

Patricia was injured living on the farm – we are guessing she was stepped on by a horse. Her paw never healed properly – causing her to walk and run a little funny. Our vet partners agreed that our best course of action is to amputate.

This surgery will cost ECCHA thousands of dollars.

We are asking for donations to Patricia’s surgery that is being performed in the next few days. Unfortunately, ECCHA sees cases like Patricia’s far too often. So we created the Mettler Emergency Medical Fund which helps fund procedures like amputations, major surgeries, and more.

Will you help Patricia? Learn more and donate to the emergency medical fund below.

LEARN MORE AND DONATE TO PATRICIA’S SURGERY »

2023 Volunteer Awards

ECCHA is lucky to have a base of over 400 active volunteers. Out of those 400, ECCHA staff chooses a handful of outstanding volunteers who go above and beyond for our organization every year.

NEW! Level II Volunteer Opportunity

We are very excited to announce our Level 2 Volunteer program. Level 2 volunteers will have the opportunity to expand their training and knowledge to enhance the shelter experience for our animals, staff, volunteers, and community. Some of the duties will include: Working with dogs on Dogs 2 and cats on Cats 2, completing intakes, participating in Dog Play Groups, implementing training and socialization for kittens, cats, puppies, and dogs, providing office/front desk support, conducting Shelter Tours, training new volunteers, adoption counseling and much more. Information and training will be provided.

If you’ve been an Eau Claire County Humane Association volunteer for at least 6 months and have the willingness to help in this capacity, please reach out to Tracey at volunteer@eccha.org

SHELTER THANK YOUS

• Thank you to everyone who entered and donated to our calendar contest.
• Thank you to all of the Cats Meow attendees – we raised over $40,000 for the shelter!
• Thank you to EVERYONE who donated to our first annual purse bingo – it is sure to be a success!
• Thank you to all of the volunteers at the shelter – we could not do what we do without you!
• Thank you to all the fosters who have stepped up to help us move animals during construction with limited space.
• Thank you to Citizens State Bank for hosting the Dog Days of Summer and for doing a like/follow contest!
• Thank you to our daycation fosters.
• Thank you to Tim from Best Friends for the training on dog playgroups and behavior.
• Thank you to Laurel’s Little Lions for taking on many difficult grooms, especially all 6 from our breeder rescue.
• Thank you to Hills Pet Nutrition for another successful clear the shelters event, and for attending!
• Thank you to Scorch 92.9 the X and Scorch’s Paws for a Cause for raising money and donating supplies.
• Thank you to our Kitten Bottle Baby Fosters (3rd round) – Kimberly Sieglaff, Allison Williams, and Kyra Sorenson.
• Thank you to our Shy/Fearful Dog Fosters – Beth Linder, Rachel Williams, Noel Rodriguez, and Holly Bauer.
• Thank you to Kate Severson for being the perfect foster for our dogs that need extra time and attention in a home setting.
• Thank you to Anis for adopting and sharing Lucy’s journey. We appreciate the donations in Lucy’s memory.