My Nonprofit Reviews

I have a wonderful cat from this shelter. But that doesn't tell you anything about them. What does tell you about them is they save over 95% of all homeless pets entering their shelter since October of 2013.

The staff, volunteers, and director have made this shelter arguably the best shelter in Colorado. And they did it overnight.

As an open admission municipal shelter handling two counties and the main town of Canon City where they are located, they do an amazing job even though they are underfunded from the municipalities they serve.

But they find a way. Adoption events, rescue partnerships, and other activities that boost the ability to save every healthy and treatable pet they receive. When you look at the way this shelter was before 2013, you see the current team created an organization that should be modeled and studied.

Not a great photo of java but thought I would include it. We adopted him the first time we visited the shelter.

As an advocate for homeless pets, this shelter does not perform to the standards of its state. On a per capita basis, it is well-funded, well supported and has a community that could easily make it one of the finest in Colorado. Unfortunately, it pales in comparison to other shelters.
Of 126 registered shelter, it comes in at 120 in the state of Colorado on a RAW save rate. From another method, preferred by the shelter, it comes in 116. This is their flagship shelter. They also run another one 30 miles away in Pueblo. That ranks 126 or 126 RAW and 120 of 126 with the preferred shelter method Asilomar.
These are based on official statistics you can find at https://data.colorado.gov/Agriculture/2016-Shelter-And-Rescue-Statistics/m8vm-brgw/data
Although local advocates have lobbied for change, the shelter management forcefully resists and lobbies with high level connections, spreading disinformation and influencing local politicians. They have been successful resisting change with robocalls and lobbying letters to the general public using fear tactics to avoid saving lives.
It would be a good idea to watch this shelter as advocates continue to work for change and hope to see a real improvement in their lifesaving programs and services.
The photo attache dis Charlie. Charlie was killed in May 2017. (https://www.chieftain.com/news/pueblo/dog-s-death-ignites-community/article_67583f35-8eab-5335-a511-c2f24ca73ade.html) As of this writing, there have been many more pets that could have been saved and weren’t.
I hope a rating of 1 start will change. It can, it simply takes a change in leadership, whether the current leadership changes its programs and services or if new leadership must be found to improve the shelter and the shelters it contracts to manage.