The board of the Morongo Basin Humane Society, which operates the Joshua Tree no-kill animal shelter, is seeking community input regarding its future. Reporter Joshua King has the details on how to help…
The Board of the Morongo Basin Humane Society, which operates the Joshua Tree No-Kill Animal Shelter, is seeking input from the community regarding the future of the pet adoption center that provides for the care, nurturing and adoption of homeless pets in the communities of the Morongo Basin.
“We have reached a crossroad in our mission and we are asking for input from the community,” said Co-founder and Board President Mimi Mitz.
“Our 40-year-old shelter building is falling down around us and trying to hold it together is taking funds away from our medical care and sheltering of homeless animals,” she said.
At a recent board meeting, members cast their vote to survey the community for feedback on three possible solutions as a way to determine the way forward.
These include:
• Build a new facility. This would initiate expanded services and ensure the comfort of the animals with inside kennels with outside access. This will be an expensive undertaking for a small shelter with no government funding. We would be seeking grant money but the bulk of the cost would be dependent on community involvement through Capital Campaign funding.
• Slowly close down the shelter and change our mission to fundraising to help with spay/neuter and medical bills for community pets. This would leave the community without a no-kill shelter option.
• Disband the MBHS and disburse all income to reputable 501 (3C) in the community.
“The one option we do not have is to do nothing,” said Mitz.
Mitz is asking respondents to return the brief and to the point survey within the next two weeks so that the Board has community-driven direction.
Link for Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/V6VSW9L
