Humane Society breaks ground

By Janet DelTufo

Attending the groundbreaking ceremonies for the Humane Society of Wickenburg were (top row from left) Wellik Foundation representatives Beth Gallant and Wendy (Wellik) Stambaugh, Humane Society board members Larry Driscoll, Marion Davidson and Marianne Swanston, Councilman John Cook, contractor and wife Jeff and Stephanie Barnes, Society board members John Yznaga, Jane Boyd and Corrine Quayle. Bottom left are former Society board member and Society founder Natalee Rallo, Barbara Kono and former board member Debi Main.

Assistant Editor

A groundbreaking event to celebrate the Humane Society of Wickenburg’s new animal shelter took place last week with former and current board members in attendance.

Board President Marianne Swanston welcomed a small group of individuals to the new shelter site, located adjacent to Bar S Animal Clinic in the town’s Business Park.

The shelter will sit on two acres of land that has been paid for entirely through donations, much of these donations anonymous. The Society has been raising funds for the past two years in order to build a $700,000 shelter, and it recently received a $300,000 grant award from the Wellik Foundation.

“The Humane Society of Wickenburg has hosted various fundraising events and has received support from many members of the community,” Swanston said. “However, so much support has been from the Wellik Foundation for its partial funding of this shelter as well as our spay/neuter programs. All of this support has enabled us to celebrate the official groundbreaking event today, and we have been blessed with physical, emotional and financial support.”

The state-of-the-art facility will consist of 6,707 square feet that if necessary can be easily expanded. It will incorporate cutting-edge technology to enhance cost effectiveness and reduce energy consumption.

Swanston said the facility’s design features will help control operating expenses as well as provide for the physical and mental well-being of animals waiting for new homes.

Swanston reminded the audience of the Society’s humble beginnings. These beginnings include the efforts of former Wickenburg Animal Control Officer Penny Denton, who helped bring Wickenburg’s animal crisis to light.

Denton delivered to the Wickenburg Sun its first-ever pet of the week photo, and residents and local veterinarians told a number of stories regarding animal abandonment and cruelty.

The Humane Society was later formed and incorporated (in September 2004) as a non profit 501 (c)3 organization after local residents Natalee Rallo and Elizabeth Powell teamed up to create the town’s first animal welfare association.

Debi Main and Julia Holland soon joined Rallo and Powell as early board members.

For quite a while the Society housed and cared for animals on property owned by Richard Ringwood. The group had to vacate his Hassayampa River property when the Arizona Department of Transportation condemned the land for the Wickenburg Bypass.

The board has grown and transformed over its nearly four years of existence, and the organization had progressed in many ways over the past two years. The shelter is expected to be ready to operate in early 2009.

“For now though we will wait patiently - or not - and watch while the shelter is built,” Swanston said. “We look forward to a new beginning for the animals and residents of Wickenburg and the surrounding areas. This is truly a cause for celebration, and I thank you for joining us.”

Print this story

Email this story

Click ads for more information