Charitable donations to Pima County Animal Care Center have reached record levels, more than tripling since 2010, a county report shows.
Donations to the county’s animal control department in 2014 topped $492,000. Donations to PACC in December 2014 alone were more than $114,000.
And that’s just in cash contributions. It doesn’t include record in-kind contributions of things like food, medicine and other supplies or the work done by hundreds of volunteers.
“We’re really grateful to the public,” said Karen Hollish, development director at the center.
The increase in charitable giving to the center has been dramatic. In 2010, annual donations were about $150,000. Donations dipped slightly in 2011 to $145,000.
Giving began to increase in the following years, reaching $184,000 in 2012 and $247,000 in 2013.
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The county hired Hollish in March 2014 to fill the new position, tasked primarily with raising money for PACC from outside sources.
Since then, Hollish has helped to raise the organization’s public profile through fundraising efforts, direct mailing campaigns and an online campaign in the final days of 2014 that helped bring in more than $30,000.
“It’s all about getting the story of our work out to the community,” she said.
The late-2014 online fundraiser shared an animal’s story of survival each day for the final two weeks of the year.
Working with a veterinarian the center also hired last year, the campaign told the stories of animal that otherwise would have been put down.
“I’m a big believer in the steps we’ve taken to making Pima Animal Care Center more humane,” said county Supervisor Ray Carroll.
In November, voters approved a $22 million bond proposal to build a new animal-care facility.
Carroll said he was proud of the staff and many volunteers at the center who help keep the agency running.
“They’re just wonderful people committed to our four-legged friends,” he said.
Hollish said much of the credit for getting the word out lies with the army of volunteers that work at the center each day.
“We could not keep our doors open or keep our kennels clean without our volunteers,” Hollish said.
The agency has nearly 300 regular volunteers who donate their time to helping run the operation, which has moved steadily closer to becoming a no-kill shelter.
To date in the current fiscal year, volunteers have worked nearly 46,000 hours.
Also in the current fiscal year, the live release rate for PACC sits at 82 percent.
The figure includes animals adopted by other regional rescue organizations.
Hollish said the no-kill industry-standard is usually recognized as a 90 percent live release rate to be considered truly no-kill.
In addition to record levels of cash donations, Hollish said the center received record support through in-kind offerings from the community. Items like pet food, blankets, medicine, medical devices and microchips are regularly provided to the center.
Hollish said anyone interested in learning more about the center or volunteering can call her at (520) 724-5984 or email karen.hollish@pima.gov.