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CEI Animal Shelter Program
The CEI animal shelter began in 2001 when we started seeing a number of feral cats on our premises. Many of our staff and clients were concerned the animals were starving. We realized that feeding them would encourage them to hang around and we would be irresponsible if we did not at least make sure they did not pose a health hazard or reproduce. Because the original cats were wild, we began trapping them, taking them to the vet for vaccinations, having them spayed or neutered and releasing them. Some of them had kittens that we tamed and found homes for them. Being located geographically close to the county animal shelter allowed us to work with them on a limited basis.
As our need to adopt out additional cats grew, we began going to Petco and developed a relationship with the Society For Humane Friends. The challenge for every organization looking for people to adopt animals is to find the funding to take care of them until a home can be found. Any animal owner knows that there are ongoing costs in having an animal in terms of providing food and veterinarian care. There is also a time commitment involved in developing a loving relationship with an animal. We need volunteers who are willing to provide their time and resources so that we can have loving, healthy and adoptable animals.
We are fortunate to have some of the most committed and caring volunteers along with some wonderful veterinarians. We are in the process of building a cat shelter in order to allow our cats to live in rooms without cages and to have a room for people to visit with the animals. A local college has agreed to provide the labor to build the shelter and we are in the process of raising the money to pay for the materials. If you are interested in being part of this worthwhile project, please contact us at (770) 962-3908.
Leigh Couch, Executive Director
CEI Animal Therapy
One of the services provided to people with disabilities is the Animal Therapy Program. We allow our clients to interact with the animals on our premises in a variety of ways. We have staff with trained therapy dogs and on occasion we enjoy taking our clients and the therapy dogs into schools or nursing homes. Mary, the pot-bellied pig has retired here and needs daily feeding, watering and attention. We have an aviary for people with an interest in learning how to work with and take care of birds. We have a couple of dogs belonging to staff that come to work on a daily basis so that our clients can walk them and develop a relationship with them. Our cats began out of a feral cat colony that took up on our premises. We currently have an animal shelter license and are in the process of building a cat shelter to provide a healthy environment for our cats as we search for loving homes for them. If you visit, you will notice a number of cats around the premises and you are welcome to interact with them. They particularly like to hang out around or in the greenhouse and can be spotted napping in all kinds of places. Leigh Couch, Executive Director
Animal Shelter License #A341
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