The Ava Area Animal Welfare League Junior met Tuesday, Jan. 18.
The meeting date was changed due to school being closed for bad weather Jan. 11. The group meets monthly in Mrs. Karen Davis’ classroom at the Ava R-1 School campus.
Members in attendance were Barbara Andrus, Karen Davis, Paul C. McKee, Mary Chipps, Ali Hall, Larry Bradshaw, Lane Clouse, Lynda Clouse, Erin Clouse, and Nanda Bradshaw.
It seems we have all had some pretty amazing and wonderful recent wildlife encounters. Members shared anecdotes about fox, deer, skunk, raccoon, great blue heron, hawks, and eagle sightings. It’s quite special to share these stories with folks who can appreciate the experiences.
Our most recent spay/neuter program focused on cats. The AAAWLJ put $590.00 toward the cost of operations and we have helped to prevent several thousand unwanted pets. Yeah us! Thanks to the wonderful donations from our community (in donation cans in area businesses) and some larger cash donations from individuals, we can help lower the cost for spay/neuter procedures at a local veterinarian’s clinic. Donation cans are located at Pizza Hut, Sonshine Cafe, Pet Scratch, Ava Drug, Jean’s Healthway, Animal Clinic of Ava, and Town and Country. We really appreciate individuals who made large donations last fall and early winter. This has been a great help to our efforts.
We plan to have a “Best Choice” label collection competition in the Ava Middle School starting soon. Start collecting the labels for us now and drop them off at the school or send the collection with a student. The grade level collecting the most labels will receive a reward.
We also continue to recycle old cell phones and used printer ink cartridges to help raise money, and will be looking at some grant writing opportunities in the future.
Our next meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 8 (snow date Feb. 22) at 3:30 p.m. in Mrs. Karen Davis’ classroom.
The AAAWLJ is a non-profit youth and adult community organization promoting pet health and the well being for the animals in our area. We promote humane farming and breeding practices, conscientious hunting and harvesting of wildlife, and spay/ neuter programs for domestic pets.
Please come join us at our next meeting.
