There Are Many Ways to Help Animal Friends
Not everyone can help as a volunteer at the shelter or fostering a pet, but there are other ways to support our organization and the work we do. Won’t you please take a close look at this page to see if there’s something that YOU could do to help us?
Area Residents, Join Our Organization!
If you live in the Barbour County area, there’s no better way to help the animals than volunteering your time and effort. To fill out and submit an application to join Animal Friends, click here.
PLEASE Help Us Keep Our Facility Open
Since 2002, the volunteers of Animal Friends of Barbour County, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, have operated a no-kill animal shelter in rural West Virginia. Over the years, our shelter has placed thousands of dogs and cats in safe, loving homes throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast areas. (Take a look at our Home Sweet Forever Homes page to see just a few of our success tales.)
Funding for our shelter comes primarily from fund raising events, donations, adoption fees and some limited grants. Our general operating expenses can run up to $15,000 per month.
Animals come to our shelter from the County Animal Shelter, where they would be killed if we didn’t take them to our facility, (owner surrenders and strays that we find or that are brought to us). Some of the pets are sick or injured, and we provide any care that is needed to help them recover and go on to be adopted. The vet bills for this care can be staggering, but we don’t refuse to care for a pet that needs our help.
A normal day sees us caring for an average of 300 dogs and cats. Some pets stay with us for months or even years until they are adopted. Some wind up living out their lives with us. All are loved and cared for by our dedicated volunteers.
We care for pets that are considered to be ‘senior’ in age. Senior pets can be wonderful companions, but are most often overlooked for adoption simply because of their age. We are committed to providing a happy, healthy environment for these pets and that includes tending to their senior health issues. Veterinary care for senior health issues can be very expensive. When the needed funds are not available, and we aren’t able to provide the necessary treatments, we can find ourselves having to make heartbreaking decisions.
Make an Urgently Needed Financial Contribution
Adequate funding is an on-going and critical problem for us. Many animals entering the shelter system are sick or injured and require immediate medical treatment. Litters of puppies and kittens often have special medical needs. All of the animals must receive basic vaccinations and be wormed.
Animals in foster care need things like food and kitty litter, and on transport day, there are vehicle expenses. All of these expenses are on-going and necessary. They also can be very costly.
Every Local Pet Owner Can Help by Simply Keeping Pet IDs Current
A lost/found pet with current ID will quickly be returned to you. You won’t endure the torture of worrying about the welfare of your pet and your pet won’t have to endure the fear caused by being lost and away from it’s family or from spending time in the shelter system.
Your tax-deductible donation can help fund these needs. You can make a tax deductible donation now via credit card, PayPal or Venmo using the convenient buttons in the sidebar, or, you can send a check made payable to AFOBC and mail it to this address:
AFOBC
P.O. Box 452
Philippi, WV 26416