Lauren Feldman spoke to the club about her job as COO of the Grosse Pte Animal Adoption Society.
The GPAAS was formed in 1991, became a 501(c)(3) in 1996, and had its first brick and mortar shelter in 2012. Their current location, at 20542 Harper Ave., has dog runs, a connected dog park, and cat suites.
The organization brings in 800 stray and injured animals a year. This doesn’t include animals that are safe harbored from crime scenes or due to neglect. 30% of the strays, which they must legally hold for 5 business days, are returned to their homes.
Grosse Pointe and Harper Woods public safety departments do not have animal control officers and rely on a staff of 4 at GPAAS to assist them. The GPAAS used to help other local cities, but the need has become too great and had to limit it to GP and HW.
As of 10/24, they had 48 canines and 48 felines in its care. Feeding them requires 168 cans of wet dog food, 420 pounds of dry dog food, 11 bags of dry cat foot, and 336 cans of wet cat food a week. Its funding comes from adoption fees and donations, and it also relies heavily on volunteers to walk the dogs, play, and socialize with the animals, and even help with the laundry. www.gpaas.org.