Phyllis Ruana, vice president of the board at the Bitter Root Humane Association, snuggles with a kitty at the shelter Friday afternoon. The Human Association is embarking on a new fund-raising plan, Save-A-Day Sponsorship Program, where groups and individuals can fund one day at the shelter. Photo by JEREMY LURGIO - Ravalli Republic

Dawson, who took over the job in February, sat down, grabbed a pen and calculated how much it was costing to take care of all those animals.

It turns out its $548 per day, according to Dawson - including staff, maintenance, utilities, veterinarian care and "cases and cases of bleach," Dawson said.

Doing the math helped Dawson come up with a new fund-raising idea - to ask community members to, quite literally, save the day at the animal shelter.

The "Save-A-Day" sponsorship program will allow individuals, businesses, and groups to pay for a day to keep the shelter running.

"You can pick your day and devote it to someone, a loved one or a beloved pet," said Dawson, who plans to recognize daily sponsors on a reader board outside the shelter and in the organization's newsletter. "It's a major campaign that also educates people about how much it costs to run an animal shelter."

Phyllis Ruana, vice-president of the shelter board, said the fund-raiser is tailored for families, friends, employee pools, school groups or service clubs that want to help in the community.

"A teacher told us, 'Wow, it would be easy for the fifth grade to get together and do this,'" Ruana said. "There's always a group that's picking a project they want to do."

Ruana, who owns 10 shelter animals herself - two horses, a dog and seven cats - said that staff goes beyond the call of duty to care for the neglected, abandoned, lost and hurt animals that flock to the shelter.

Six full-time staff members keep the facility open seven days a week, and one staff person is on call 24 hours a day to open the shelter if law enforcement responds to an animal call.

"Sometimes they will make an arrest in a DUI case and there will be a dog in the back seat," said Dawson.

Dawson is also hoping that the fund-raiser will bring more people in to the shelter - to see that it is not a harsh or institutional place, but caring and home-like.

"This is a positive place - our staff is very loving, and they take very good care of the animals," Dawson said. "It's a beautiful place, and I couldn't be more proud of it."

The payoff for the staff's hard work is when an animal is adopted - and the letters tacked to the shelter bulletin board are from grateful animals, writing to thank the staff for finding them a new, loving home.

"We love it when they send pictures," Ruana said.

Dawson agreed that adoption is the happy ending that keeps the staff going. "Our population is higher than a year ago," Dawson said. "Partly because we are focusing so heavily on adoption."

While there are a significant number of stray animals and abuse cases, a majority of the animals that enter the shelter are turned in by former owners, according to Dawson.

Although the animals add to the shelter population, Dawson said she would rather have those animals come to the shelter than suffer neglect.

"People have circumstances - divorce, or moving away," Dawson said. "They are doing the right thing by turning the animals in to the shelter."

With the population in the Bitterroot increasing, Dawson doesn't expect the number of animals that come under her care - or the cost of caring for them - to decrease anytime soon.

"As anyone in business knows, costs are going through the roof," Dawson said. "We want to make sure we can continue to be in business. As fast as the valley is growing, we know what it would be like if we didn't have a shelter."

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