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Cupboard Is Bare At Animal Shelter

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CUMBERLAND COUNTY — Cumberland County's Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals relies on kindness to keep it going - but, that may not be enough. The amount of money coming in from donations, fundraisers and memberships has dropped so low, the shelter may close, leaving nearly 100 animals without a home.

Money is in such short supply, manager Martha Haar has been paying some of the bills herself. Haar is getting close to her last option - closing the doors.

"It really devastates me because I donate all my time," Haar says. She donates between six and ten hours a day, seven days a week. She says she's devastated about closing the shelter because "we have 84 animals here that really deserve good homes and if they can't find a home at least they deserve to be taken care of."

The shelter does not euthanize animals, but it does neuter or spay them. A sign on the shelter's door explains the desperate situation.

Each month the organization struggles to come up with the $2,000 needed to pay four part-time employees.

The employees know the animals they've spent months loving and caring for may soon be homeless again.

"It kind of makes me feel burdened in a way," April Haney said. "I don't know where they're going to go if the place closes down. I don't know where future animals that could possibly show up here. I don't know what's going to happen to them.

Shelter managers are having a benefit auction on the last day in October as a last-ditch funding effort. They say the event provides hope, because hope is about all they have left.

If you would like to donate to the benefit auction or the shelter, you can call910-860-1177or910-484-6011.

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