The Animal Welfare Association of Warren County has been around for 28 years and yet too few people have heard of it. The organization strives to nurture and find loving homes for stray dogs and …
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Group has been saving strays for 28 years
Posted
By Kate Miller, Record Managing Editor
The Animal Welfare Association of Warren County has been around for 28 years and yet too few people have heard of it. The organization strives to nurture and find loving homes for stray dogs and cats.It was established in 1989 by Alice Drew and her husband Homer.“Alice had always loved animals,” said Pat Harper, who leads the nonprofit group today. “A lot of times (after the Drews moved to Warrenton) they would take strays to the APA in St. Louis because there wasn’t a shelter here.”The Drews enlisted a small group of dedicated and knowledgeable animal lovers to help them in their mission to help the strays they could help.Alice gained a reputation among animal lovers. When Warrenton opened its animal shelter, the Drews were honored with a plaque on the front of the building dedicating the shelter to Homer and Alice Drew and their longtime efforts to rescue the stray animals.Alice died in 2014 but the organization she started continues. Still, its members often hear, “I’ve never heard of you.”Animal Welfare Association of Warren County volunteers take in strays, give them the medical care they need, get them ready for homes and finds homes for them.“We’re not the answer to animal control problems in Warren County,” Harper said. “You do what you can and hope you make a difference.”Harper said the group took in 90 dogs and 250 cats last year.They operate on pet adoption costs and donations.They work with other animal welfare organizations and with the Warrenton Veterinary Clinic.“The Warrenton Veterinary Clinic,” said Harper. “The veterinarians and staff have worked with AWA from the beginning, always there in the chaos of the moment, helping us navigate through health challenges that we encounter when taking in an animal and always providing support.”Harper said the number of foster volunteers fluctuates. Foster parents and other volunteers know or learn about animal behavior, training and care. They are dedicated to getting animals and helping animals succeed in a home environment.Foster parents are always needed, but it is a big commitment, Harper said.“As rewarding as it is, it affects your life,” Harper said. “Things don’t always go as planned.”Sometimes pets come back. Sometimes they are too sick. Sometimes a pet in need shows up late at night or during bad weather. There are day trips – back and forth – to animal adoption events.The goal is to match the right people with the right pets to ensure a lasting relationship, or “forever home.” It’s not an easy task, but Harper said they have resources to connect people to their adoptable animals.“We have our pets posted online on Petfinder and Adopt-A-Pet sites and Facebook. We have adoption events at Petsmart in Wentzville on the first and third Saturdays of the month, and some is by word of mouth, like a foster knows someone,” she said.What amazes the group is just how much the pets appreciate being rescued. Take Boone, a black and tan coonhound. He was an outside dog who had never been inside. He’s in foster care now. Harper said these days, “he doesn’t have an interest in going outside.” Harper is fostering a mixed breed with sweet brown eyes and three legs. He’s a young dog with a quiet and gentle disposition. He stays at her side. “He attaches himself quickly and he loves, loves, loves his toys,” she said. She calls him Kap, after a soldier who lost a leg in Afghanistan. The soldier, using a prosthetic leg, later qualified to return to Afghanistan to serve a second tour of duty. “That takes guts,” Harper said.She thought the dog was gutsy too, having persevered despite being young, abandoned and missing a limb.Kap’s future at the time looked dark. Now it looks promising.Harper said she will keep him until she finds the right home for him.For more information, call 636-297-0486 or email startingover@centurytel.net.
Pat Harper snuggles with Kap, a former stray dog who is ready for a new home. Harper took in Kap as a member of the Animal Welfare Association of Warren County. Record photo/ Kate Miller.
