Humane Society asking council to help find land

By Janet DelTufo, Staff Writer

With the anticipated condemnation of Rancho del Rio, the Humane Society of Wickenburg (HSOW) will ask the Wickenburg Town Council for help in locating a piece of property for a permanent animal shelter.

The Humane Society will make that request during the council's regular meeting on Monday evening (Dec. 5). The meeting will take place at Town Hall and begins at 7 p.m.

Rancho del Rio is owned by businessman Richard Ringwood and has been home to the HSOW for the past year. The property is being condemned by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) in order to make room for the downtown interim bypass. Humane Society operations on that property will soon be forced to cease.

Without a shelter, the Humane Society will no longer have the ability to care for animals in need of adoption. Its current system of spaying and neutering will also be suspended.

“We currently house our animals at Rancho del Rio, and Mr. Ringwood has generously donated a portion of the ranch for our use at no cost,” said HSOW President Natalee Rallo. “Due to the upcoming construction of the ADOT highway bypass, Rancho del Rio will be sacrificed to make way for the project. Relocation efforts are in the works, and we are looking for alternative buildings or land to move our animals by the March 2006 deadline.”

Rallo will ask the council to identify a piece of town-owned property in an appropriate location that can be leased to the HSOW on a long-term basis for a small yearly fee.

The town already leases property to a number of non-profit organizations such as the Wickenburg Soroptimists and the Senior Respite Center.

The Humane Society of Wickenburg is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. It is solely funded by public donations and grants, and fundraising efforts are under way to help it relocate from Rancho del Rio.

The HSOW is not associated with the Humane Society of Arizona or the Humane Society of the United States, and it does not receive any funding from either of these larger organizations.

The HSOW has only been in existence for a little more than a year, and during that time it has found homes for 200 animals that may have otherwise been euthanized. Each of those animals were also spayed or neutered by the HSOW.

A large portion of the animals the HSOW currently receives are dogs that have been picked up by the Town of Wickenburg's animal control officer.

The officer picks up stray dogs within the town limits and takes them to the Bar S Animal Clinic. There, they are boarded for three days while waiting to be claimed by their owners, before the “put to sleep” order is issued through a town ordinance.

The Humane Society generally will pick up the animals after the three-day period and take them to Rancho del Rio to avoid euthanasia.

If the dogs are not claimed within three days and the Humane Society does not pick up the dogs from Bar S, they face being euthanized or driven to the Maricopa County animal shelter, where their futures are uncertain. If the dog is euthanized by order of the town, it costs town taxpayers approximately $25 per animal.

The HSOW has also rescued 50 cats and has spayed or neutered each of them. According to the Humane Society, spaying 50 cats prevents potentially 51,000 feral kitten births in just one year.

Rallo said this past year would not have been a success without the help of the community. However, now the organization needs support from the Town of Wickenburg as well.

“The generous nature of people who live in our community has helped the Humane Society of Wickenburg get off to a great start,” Rallo said. “We are sure in the years to come, it can only get better.”

For more information about the HSOW and how to make a donation or become a volunteer, contact Rallo or Debi Main at 684-8801.

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