Groundbreaking planned for no-kill shelter

Shirley Yeager's Animal Friends Foundation has announced land has been purchased for a long-awaited no-kill shelter to provide are and placement services for a variety of animals.

The 20-acre plot includes a small wood area and pond with enough land to allow for expansion and a limited amount of large-animal rescues, a news release said.

The shelter will be located outside the city buffer limits of Fort Scott, approximately a five-minute drive south and east of the Wal-Mart entrance and one-quarter mile north of the intersection of 240th Street and Grand Road. The foundation has been working for 10 years to find a spot.

Future plans includes a dog park, pet cemetery and walking trail with an architectural layout that will accommodate additions as needed, the release said. Construction is scheduled for spring and a groundbreaking ceremony will be announced at a later date, it said.

"Finding the appropriate location has been a major concern and undertaking, one that has encountered several challenges and disappointments along the way. It's been a long journey, but we've finally acquired the perfect setting and we're very happy to be in the position to make Shirley Yeager's vision a reality," President Ann Gillmore-Hoffman said.

Gillmore-Hoffman and Secretary-Treasurer Doloris Sonntag said although Shirley Yeager left a sizable amount of money to build a no-kill animal care and placement center, it was not enough when actual costs and long-term maintenance were figured in, the release said. It then became an ongoing quest for the foundation to raise "substantial supplementary sums through donations, endowments and accumulated interest from Shirley Yeager's Animal Friends Trust Fund," the release said.

Although the bulk of the trust fund remains untouched, allowing the interest to continue growing, it must be bolstered on an ongoing basis with other donations and money to ensure permanent stabilization for the shelter, the release said.

The foundation, which is designated nonprofit, appreciates all contributions -- large and small. These tax deductible gifts may be given through Liberty Savings and Loan, 24 S. Judson St., Fort Scott.

Many individuals and families have provided are to animals in this area for years and demand will continue in the form of volunteer workers once the facility is up and running.

Foster parenting for animals, following state guidelines, is also an avenue being explored in the interim with future developments and foundation meetings to be announced.

The city's animal control department took in 312 animals in 2008, which Fort Scott Police Department Lt. Shaun West said stays pretty consistent. The lowest monthly total of animals taken that year was 14 and the highest was 44, he said.

Sonntag said Friends of Fort Scott Animal Shelter, precursor to the Shirley Yeager Animal Friends Foundation, tried to help the city shelter as much as possible. But when the group approached the city about a no-kill facility, it got "no help," Sonntag said.

Now that the group has obtained land, Sonntag said it will be working toward getting infrastructure installed and architect's plans so building can begin. The shelter will probably start with volunteers to begin with, but as it expands there could be some paid staff. "But we're going to depend heavily on volunteers," she said.