Needed: Forever homes for pets

• Hernandez

Hannah Hernandez and a shelter cat. Submitted

Talk about it

By Guest Columnist Hannah Hernandez for the Lake County News-Chronicle

If you’re looking for a place to volunteer with furry friends, the

Lake County Humane Society in Two Harbors is the place for you.

Laurie Northrup, who has adopted two cats from the shelter, started volunteering there in 1998 until she became an employee in 2004. I talked to her about how many animals

are currently being kept there. “We’ve had more pets in the past, but we

always have more cats than dogs.”

While I was visiting with Northrup, Lonna Lahti was in the shelter with her

nieces Tracie and Alex Bryd, who were having fun playing with

the animals.

Lahti explained that sometimes she finds cats where she lives in Beaver Bay, and brings

them to the animal shelter in Two Harbors.

“Sometimes when people move, they leave their cats behind because they

either can’t take care of them anymore, or can’t have them in their

new residence,” she said. When I heard that, it made me sad.

A new open and cageless area was built just for cats with money

that was donated from the community. The reason they

did this was so the cats can have a place where they can play around

with the other cats and kittens, and be separated from the dogs, explained Northrup.

When we went to the new addition, and it was really cute seeing all the

kittens playing and pouncing.

The Lake County Humane Society has a no-kill policy, so a lot of the

animals have been there for a while. The Society makes sure that all animals

they get are either spayed or neutered before they’re adopted into

homes As part of their service to the community, the shelter offers tips and programs on how to train and care for your pet and if Sara, “the dog catcher”, brings in a lost dog, they make sure

the dogs have rabies shots and are fed before returning them to their

homes.

If you would like to adopt a pet, you can call

(218) 834-5806 and ask for Laurie Northrup or Stephanie Potter or even

Jason Lysaker for animal control. Otherwise you can go to their

Facebook page at Lake County Humane Society or find them at 415 20th

Ave. Volunteers and donations are always greatly appreciated.

Tags: human society, life, animals