BOULDER — On Saturday, Animal Shelter and Care of Jefferson County hosted the second annual Walk & Wag in Boulder, in hopes of raising money for their building.
"We offer a one-mile and three-mile course, and all of the proceeds that we make today will go towards the building fund," said Darlene Moyer, the event coordinator for ASCJC.
The Animal Shelter and Care of Jefferson County workers are currently fostering animals in their homes but look forward to the future of raising up to $780,000 for the shelter to be built for the 12,000 residents in the county.
"The last two years, there has been a dramatic increase in the strays and dumped animals in our county, basically because we don't have a shelter," said Cheryl Haasakker, president of ASCJC.
Without an animal control division, it leaves stranded animals and calls to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
But Moyer, Haasakker, and volunteers, have been trying to raise money for a 5,000-square-foot building to house 20 dogs and 42 cats on Muskrat Lane.
"Our hopes and dreams are to help the community in anyway to keep their dogs,” said Haasakker.
The community says there is a significant need for a shelter and a place to go for pet vaccinations and checkups.
"Growing up in Boulder, there was always the stray dog running around and stray cats. I think it would be a great addition to Boulder and Boulder Valley, especially with the population growing," said Cassie Smith.
Plus, for Cassie Strauser, it would be nice not to drive 30 miles just for a pet appointment.
"It's just nice to be able to have a community thing for everybody to come together with their animals and do things as a community and take care of the animals and not have to go all the way into Helena for those kinds of things," said Strauser.
But it will take a lot of community effort to make the shelter a reality.
"I love seeing the amount of people coming getting together, the open-air open space working towards the common goal of helping other animals," said Moyer.
If you would like to help ASCJC build their shelter you can visit their website.
