Panhandle Humane Society’s WyoBraska Hall to open Monday

The goal of this space is to provide a calm and quiet environment where potential owners can meet potential dogs.

“There used to be three kennels here that were originally used for bite quarantine,” said Amy Bartholomew, executive director of the Panhandle Humane Society. “It wasn’t really an ideal room for that anymore and we tried to use it for puppies and the drainage didn’t work very well.”

A similar meeting room for the facility’s feline population gave Humane Society officials the idea for a canine quiet room.

“So we decided to make a new one, more for dogs,” Bartholomew said. “Now we have one for dogs and one for cats. And secondly, to use when it’s not nice outside. When it rains or is very cold, people don’t want to go out. And when the dogs are adopted, we set up this little place so they can take a photo. People also like to see the happy side of the shelter.

Finishing touches were still being put into the WyoBraska room on Friday.

“We’re just working with the staff on how we’re going to use it,” Bartholomew said. “It’s probably Monday when we start using it.”

The Panhandle Humane Society takes in stray animals from local communities.

“Obviously the best outcome is to have them return to their owners,” Bartholomew said. “We recently, earlier this year, reduced our return fees, to get them back to their owners faster, because all of our costs keep going up – food, vaccinations – so in order to reduce our costs on the adoption side and the care side, let’s get them back to their owners.”

Owners have three days — not including the day the animals arrive — to release an animal and once the third day is up, it is available for adoption, provided it is adoptable.

“Once they get to the adoption stage, we hold them until they’re adopted,” Bartholomew said. “We don’t euthanize them for space, breed or length of stay.”

Cat numbers are extraordinarily low at the moment.

“It’s not a terrible thing, but we can’t figure out why,” Bartholomew said. “Right now, we’re seeing a lot of ringworm in cats. So if people are going to pick on stray cats or bring them in, they have to be very careful because it’s very contagious. It spreads to other people and animals, so be very careful.”

The dogs were a little difficult to move.

“But it’s everywhere right now,” Bartholomew said.

The Panhandle Humane Society website is always up to date with what is available for adoption.

“The database we use is instantaneous. Once an animal becomes available, it is posted on our website,” Bartholomew said. “We also use Facebook to promote, but our website is the most accurate.”

Donations to the shelter can be made through Paypal on the website or by sending a check to the Panhandle Humane Society.