TRACS holds annual yard sale fundraiser
It was a perfect day for the annual Thompson River Animal Care Shelter's yard sale fundraiser on Saturday as it was greeted with warm and sunny weather.
It was a perfect day for the annual Thompson River Animal Care Shelter's yard sale fundraiser on Saturday as it was greeted with warm and sunny weather.
This is the third year in a row TRACS has set up shop in the Harvest Foods parking lot in Thompson Falls to host the annual yard sale to raise money for the nonprofit organization. TRACS is a no-kill animal shelter that devotes its time and resources to sheltering stray cats and dogs and providing shots and medical attention to the animals before finding them homes.
The TRACS board members raised approximately $600, an average amount for their yard sale each year. The money will go directly into the TRACS budget and will be used for the care and comfort of the stray animals.
The yard sale is one of many fundraisers TRACS holds throughout the year in order to stay afloat and house the high numbers of stray animals.
"The animal numbers are as high as ever, the cats and dogs are filled up and it just doesn't stop," said TRACS board member Anne Katsaris. "Spay and neuter your pets."
In addition to the yard sale, TRACS is currently raffling off a quilt and a 12-gauge shot gun which was given to TRACS by an anonymous donor. Raffle tickets will be available at D & D liquor in Thompson Falls starting July 5 and the winner will be selected at the Huckleberry Festival in Trout Creek in August.
"We do as much fundraising as we can," said Katsaris. "We always want more money because we rely on community donations and of course it's very difficult times for people, but people have continued to be very generous through these difficult times."
On top of holding fundraisers and caring for a plethora of stray animals, TRACS just announced the starting of a new project meant to get a handle on how many stray animals there are throughout the county and their specific location.
People who have problems with stray animals can pick up forms asking for this specified information can now be picked up throughout the county. Colleens Country Store in Plains now has forms that can also be dropped off at the same location.
"We are trying to actually find out how many cats are around in specific places and that's very important for us to do," said Katsaris.
Once TRACS has a handle on the numbers and location of the stray animals, it can trap them using hard traps, which are harmless traps with spring loaded doors and lure the animals in with food, and then bring the animals into the shelter and ultimately find homes for them.