Animal aid group needs volunteers and donations – January 30, 2005

The Daily Oakland PressJan 30, 2005

Animal aid group needs volunteers and donationsAnn Zaniewski

OF The Daily Oakland PressPONTIAC – The Animal Care Network would not survive without volunteers and donations – and it needs more of both.

President Marie Skladd, who helped create the group in 1994, is worried about having enough funds to ensure the network’s future.

“We’re losing sleep right now,” she said.

The network has one full-time and two part-time paid staff members and about 35 volunteers. The food, doghouses and hay they distribute to neglected animals, plus the network’s low-cost spaying and neutering program, cost more than $66,000 a year.

The Animal Care Network is the only volunteer group in Oakland County that visits neglected animals on site. Volunteers have made more than 34,500 wellness checks, rescued more than 6,000 dogs and cats, vaccinated more than 7,500 pets at shot clinics, and spayed and neutered more than 2,140. The group has delivered more than 12,000 bales of straw and more than 2,500 doghouses.

Potential volunteers who might be squeamish about seeing neglected animals can help out at a vaccination clinic or in a variety of other ways.

To donate, make a check out to MAAN and send it to Michigan Animal Adoption Network, 31639 W. Eight Mile Road, Livonia, 48152.

The Animal Care Network, a branch of the larger Michigan Animal Adoption Network, has two upcoming fund-raisers.

Joey’s Comedy Club in Livonia is hosting a comedy show, with proceeds going to the network’s efforts in Inkster, at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets are $12. The club is at 36071 Plymouth Road, between Wayne and Levan. Patrons eating dinner at either restaurant at Joey’s – Kickers All American Grill or the Perfect Ten Dining Room – will get 25 percent off meals. Pizza during the show will be half-price.

Also, the network is holding a raffle for a silver 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe. It’s equipped with XM Satellite Radio; CD and DVD players; a three-year, 36,000-mile warranty; and OnStar. Twenty thousand tickets will be sold at $5 each, with all of the money going to the network.

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