Joy, warmth, and togetherness are words that come to mind during the holidays, but with an increase of pet neglect and even abuse, the holidays can leave dogs feeling sad, cold, and alone. While they work year-round to fight for the wellbeing of dogs, Lakeshore PAWS gets even more dogs around the holidays that are in need of help.
Social Media Coordinator and Office Administrator Taylor Van Sickle said one reason that can contribute to the increased number of dogs around the holidays can be pegged on families adopting puppies for Christmas. Some families have another dog in the home that is not adjusting to its new companion, and, as a result, the families bring the older dog to the shelter. Century 21 Alliance Group founder Jeanne Sommer added that another reason that dogs are in such desperate need around the holiday season is the cold weather, which is brutal for dogs left out in the cold without shelter. While much of the increase in need around the holidays remains a mystery, Lakeshore PAWS' efforts are undoubtedly crucial around this time of year.
With the public’s generous donations, Lakeshore PAWS is able to pull dogs from other shelters in the area to ensure they are getting the care they need. They do this at least once a week and have started branching out to places such as La Porte, Gary, Jasper County, South Bend, and other areas.
“What we’ve been doing a lot of lately is taking on hardship cases,” Sommer said. “We took care of a dog that got hit by a car. A shelter reached out to us and asked us to please help them. We would never be able to do that without donations.”
As a 501(c)(3), Lakeshore PAWS receives no government funding and relies on donations to cover half of their costs. A lot of that donation money goes to dogs that need medical attention that they would likely not get at other shelters.
“There are a lot of dogs that come in with heartworm disease and treating that is really expensive,” Sommer said. “The bigger the dog, the more expensive the treatment is. We buy the medicine for the heartworm-positive dogs, and Dr. Lisa Booth donates her time to treat them. There is no way these public shelters would be able to treat heartworm-positive dogs, and people usually don’t want to adopt them because it is expensive to treat them.”
Lakeshore PAWS accepts donations throughout the year and encourages people to give, even if it is just something small. On their site, they have a donations tab where people can check out their Wishlist and Amazon Wishlist to find items to purchase on the shelter’s behalf. People can also make a general donation or check out other ways to donate.
Van Sickle shared that there are also plenty of ways to help in addition to financial assistance.
“One of the biggest things people can do is share our posts on social media,” she said. “Even when they cannot adopt a dog, you never know when a share is going to lead to someone who is interested or knows someone else who is looking for a dog like that. It spreads awareness, which is one of the biggest things, but they can volunteer as well. That’s something that’s always needed.”
“We’re lucky to have so many volunteers who come in and are able to get the dogs out of their kennels, cuddle them, play with them, and take them for walks,” Van Sickle continued. “A lot of people will take them off-site. That’s something that’s very important for the dogs mentally, so that’s a big way people can help.”
Between donations, social media sharing, and volunteering, there are many ways to help out local dogs in need.
To learn more about Lakeshore PAWS, visit https://www.lakeshorepaws.org/.