Imagine having 193 homeless creatures coming through your door every month and you only had room for 180.

This is what the Bainbridge-Decatur County Humane Society faces each month. Pam Immendorf was guest speaker at the Bainbridge Rotary Club and spoke about the issues facing the humane society and ways area citizens can help.

According to Immendorf, there are 4 areas of concern the Humane Society focuses on: overpopulation, the source of most of the problems, public awareness of abuse and cruelty of animals, lack of county ordinances and the efficient use of the shelter.

Since the Humane Society took over the shelter in November 2004, 7,358 animals have entered the shelter. 2,466 of those were in 2007. Immendorf stated 886 of those animals were adopted out and 130 were returned to their owners. She stated that on average, there are 180 animals waiting to be adopted on a daily basis. Because of the numbers it is necessary to humanly euthanize others. That, Immendorf says, takes a toll on the staff.

Frank Loeffler and Pam Immendorf

Pictures of animals brought to the shelter showed there is abuse and neglect in the county.  Many have been starved, had their collar embedded, had mange and lack of medical care, abandoned or victims of dog fighting-all issues the shelter deals with on a regular basis.

"The reality is that we can't save them all, no shelter can, but we try." stated Immendorf. Immendorf told the group it's the success stories that keep them going, the animals that arrived with injuries and go to happy forever home.

Immendorf stated that it comes with a price tag; financial and emotional. She praised the employees and volunteers for their tireless efforts.

The cost to run the shelter is $197,000 per year. Of that, the city provides $78,000 and the rest comes from donations, memberships, adoption fees, sales of items and fund raisers.

Frank Loeffler spoke to the Rotarians about the upcoming fund raiser "Pars for Paws". Pars for Paws is a golf tournament to be held at the Bainbridge Country Club on February 25 with lunch at 12 noon. The Shotgun start is at 1:00 pm.

Deadline for registration is February 22nd and the fee is $50.00 per person which includes lunch. This is a 4 man team tournament and prizes will be based on number of teams.  Download your Registration Form