Funds for Furry Friends: Saturday road rally for FPAC
Jeannie Barton-Northrup, jnorthrup@dailyjournalonline.com
The Lead Belt Off Road is hosting a Farmington Pet Adoption Center (FPAC) fundraiser on Saturday at Engler Park in Farmington.
Dog Days of Summer Road Rally is the event’s name, and $10 is the participation fee. The event begins at 6 p.m. and is expected to last two to three hours.
Visitors to the Farmington Pet Adoption Center take a look at the canines available for adoption. (Jeannie Barton-Northrup)
Participants should gas up and bring a navigator; bringing a best furry friend is encouraged.
Teresa Weeks, event coordinator, described the benefit as “the Amazing Race meets scavenger hunt on wheels with dogs.”
Points are awarded when participants submit correct answers to questions, riddles, directions, and other creative games invented by the coordinators. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins. First-, second- and third-place winners get an award, and every participant receives a goody bag.
Danielle Barnum is the founder of Lead Belt Off-Road.
Barnum said, “100% of the proceeds from this event go to the adoption center, plus another $80 raised on July 8 from a ride at Black River Bottoms.”
According to Barnum, one of her goals is to bring unique, creative events to the area to increase positivity and community togetherness.
FPAC is the only not-for-profit animal shelter registered with the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) in St. Francois County. It is a no-kill shelter that houses cats and dogs.
A thrift shop is attached to the adoption center. Wendy King, Shelter Manager, says the thrift shop provides the most significant portion of funding for the shelter. King takes pride in the thrift shop’s operation and says, “We are picky about what we sell; we don’t sell junk.”
Shoppers peruse the aisles and make purchases at the Farmington Pet Adoption Center Thrift Shop. (Jeannie Barton-Northrup)
To be considered a no-kill shelter, rescue, or organization, the entity must maintain a 90% rate of live exits from the facility. Examples of live departures are adoption, finding the owner, or — in the case of government-run pounds — placing strays with rescue organizations. Euthanasia is acceptable for unadoptable animals due to extreme aggression or poor health.
According to 2022 data from bestfriends.org, half of the six municipal pounds operating in St. Francois County are no-kill facilities. Two of the other facilities have a no-kill rate above 80%, while the last is at a 24% no-kill rate.
St. Francois County is fortunate to have two other not-for-profit organizations within its borders — Wolfstone Ranch and Farmington Rescue Friends (FRF).
Wolfstone Ranch is taking a brief rescue hiatus to reorganize and create plans for future rescue endeavors. Farmington Rescue Friends is a group of volunteers who network with municipal shelters and not-for-profit rescues and shelters to find placement for animals who are at risk of euthanization for a too lengthy stay in a municipal pound.
Many of the not-for-profit organizations with which FRF networks are based in St. Louis or near St. Louis. Shelters have a facility to house and adopt animals, so intake is limited by the number of kennels available. Rescues do not have a facility; instead, they rely on volunteer foster families to care for animals until they are adopted. Rescue intake is limited to the number of volunteers available and willing to care for unwanted pets.
This fury friend is ready to shop at Farmington Pet Adoption Center’s thrift store. (Jeannie Barton-Northrup)
No matter the type of organization, each is limited in its capacity. If an entity operates without a license through the MDA, it is operating illegally and could be doing more harm than good. These are the rescues licensed through the MDA in the five counties covered by the Daily Journal:
Iron County
Viburnum City Pound
Ironton City Pound
Madison County
Fredericktown City Pound
Forever Paws & Claws Rescue
St. Francois County
Bismarck City Pound
Bonne Terre City Pound
Desloge City Pound
Farmington City Pound
Leadwood City Pound – Currently not in operation
Park Hills City Pound
Terre Du Lac Community Pound
Farmington Pet Adoption Center
Wolfstone Ranch
Ste. Genevieve County
Ste. Genevieve County Pound
Anheuser-McElmurry Veterinary Rescue
Washington County
Potosi City Pound
Coalition for Animal Rescue & Education
The list of available animal control resources for five counties is small. Municipal facilities are only for animal control inside city or county limits.
