4 SARL Drive, Salem, NH 03079 (603) 890-2166, fax (603) 890-8717

| Looking Back | Looking Forward | Statistics | Fund Raising | Education | Financial |

LOOKING BACK

The Salem Animal Rescue League's seventh year was certainly a lucky one bringing growth in the numbers of animals placed, number of volunteers and members, as well as an increase in the actual size of our facility.

ADOPTION NUMBERS

On the dog side, the number of dogs handled increased again this year. Our population is about evenly divided between puppies (under the age of 6 months) and dogs. 

ANIMALS RELEASED BY SALEM ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER

Cat numbers increased dramatically despite the partial shut down that occurred in September as the new Kitty City was being set up.  Kittens narrowly represent the majority of adoptions (52%). 

This is especially exciting since placing adult cats remains the greatest challenge to local shelters and where SARL worked the hardest over this past year.  Off site adoptions and weekly "Pet of the Week" photos in the Eagle Tribune have helped in our effort.  Owner turn-ins represent the largest influx of cats/kittens at 42% closely followed by citizen's strays at 36%.  This "citizen stray" group is a relatively new category where cats are cared for but not owned by the public.  They receive food and sometimes shelter from a caring individuals but rarely medical care.  Eventually help is sought from a shelter, often after females become pregnant or weather turns severe.  Although the law has been changed to protect cats picked up as strays who have positive identification, untagged cats still are at high risk for early euthanasia if brought to a larger shelter so every attempt is made at assist these strays.

Our volunteer network has grown significantly this past year.  We now have almost 50 volunteers and 600 members.  Due to the strain placed on the core volunteers from our continued growth, titles with corresponding responsibilities have been developed as follows:

Volunteer orientation on a large scale occurred several times last year while the volunteer coordinator handled new people on an individual basis as needed.  In the future, those wishing to work with dogs will have to undergo additional training prior to working with or adopting dogs out.  Volunteer meetings became more frequent but should occur at least every month or two with dog/cat teams meeting separately at times.

LOOKING FORWARD

The backbone of the Salem Animal Rescue League is its volunteers.   In 1997, our goal was to better train our current volunteers and to increase numbers to prevent volunteer burnout.  To accomplish this we instituted more frequent meetings at "Kitty City" where we provide instruction, discuss problem animals and offer support to the crew.  Although meetings did not occur every month, they truly united our volunteers and reduced operational problems at the shelter.  With an increased volunteer base, SARL, for the first time, could staff open hours which would increase our availability to the public.  Therefore, our first goal for 1999 is to institute monthly open houses to hopefully increase adoptions.  Our second goal is to continue to develop our orientation process.  Our new volunteers are oriented well to the care and feeding our the animals.  We do not have as many volunteers that have been oriented, or feel comfortable to the screening and adoption process.  We must institute a "buddy" system where new volunteers can shadow experienced volunteers during adoptions.

STATISTICS

As mentioned previously, the total numbers of animals serviced in 1998 had increased over the pervious year.  We are equally pleased that the percentage of animals not placed (due to disease, age or aggression) did not go up (less than 4%).  We were very successful placing middle aged and older pets this past year by appealing to the press with particular individual or group "hard luck" stories.

FUND-RAISING

Revenues from the Salem Animal Rescue League's Dog Walk-A-Thon and Dog Fest which was held in May this year did increase from previous years, even though we had bad weather.  Our Quarters for Kitties campaign did not do as well as we hoped.  We were pleased with the  money Petco and a group from Whittier Vo-Tech raised for us and our first yard sale at the shelter was a success.  Pet pictures with Santa had a record setting year and we again received money from annual pet picture contest at Expressly Portraits.

EDUCATION

The Salem Animal Rescue League believes that humane education must be directed primarily toward children.  The expectation is that they will then become adults who value the importance of care, kindness, and concern for others throughout their lives.  For the sixth year in a row, SARL did presentations on the responsibilities of pet ownership as well as the dangers of rabies to the Second Graders in the Town of Salem.  We also addressed the pet overpopulation problem including the effects of spaying and neutering on the euthanasia rate.  We tied our talk into "Be Kind to Animals Week".   ALPO dog food provided the 500+ coloring books given out during our talks.  All of our trips to the schools this year included visiting kittens.  This reinforces how trusting and dependent animals are on humans.  The talks were a great success and the teachers now look forward to our spring visits.  SARL also addressed other classes ranging from preschool to high school when requested.  We also developed a program for Scouts and Brownie troops.  According to the age of the children, we included a visit to the shelter for "hand on" experience for the older scouts or visiting kittens for the Cub Scouts and Brownies.  Several videos have also been added to enable us to vary our presentations.

Salem Animal Rescue League's newsletter, SARL Tails continues to grow in popularity.  The newsletter combines educational information, lead-ins or follow-up on fund-raisers and  updates on the Salem Shepherds.  Donations and memberships are up dramatically due to this publication.  So far, donations and membership fees have more than paid for the printing and mailing cost of SARL Tails.

FINANCIAL

SARL's operating income was $62,179.00 while expenses were $64,532.00.  We started 1998 with a balance of $23,998.00 and ended with $21,645.00.

The higher amount of animals coming through the shelter increased our adoption income.  Our fundraising increased as well, but other memberships dropped slightly.  Out donations stayed at a strong amount.   Our large expenses this year were the purchase of our new shelter and cages.  Other expenses increased due to the higher amount of animals coming through the shelter.  We now have monthly expenses such as heating, oil, water, sewer and supplies for running a bigger shelter, and we are still buying most of our litter, and all of our puppy and kitten food.