New kennels line the enclosed pet housing area.
A new coat of paint covers the wall.
The cats are housed in a newly constructed playpen to play and socialize together.
Air conditioning is available for the animals during the hot summer months and blankets are given out when the temperatures drop.
Compared to a year ago, the Liberty Humane Shelter has improved its facilities beyond what anyone may have expected. Things were progressively moving forward and plans were coming together — then the bottom dropped out.
“We had no idea until we received the certified letter about two months ago,” said Merle Watson, the shelter board’s first vice president. “We (the current board and president) were under the impression that everything was up to date and this just came out of the blue.”
Watson was referring to a notice from the IRS stating the shelter owed money in unpaid withholding taxes, and other federal and state taxes.
“To date, we paid the IRS close to $13,000 and we still owe some penalties that will be sent to us the next quarter,” current shelter president Sandra Frye said. “This has depleted our operational funds significantly.”
The women explained that during the transition period, when the former administration was making way for the new administration and board, documents might have been lost in the shuffle.
“Beforehand, we did not have the help of a professional and, for a while, things were handled by personnel in interim positions,” Watson said. “We want everyone to know that is not how it works now and we currently have a professional accountant who is volunteering to keep the records and books up to date and accurate.”
Frye and Watson contend the current administration and board have the same vision for the shelter - doing whatever is in the best interest of the animals.
“This is the best group of employees we have ever had working for us,” Watson said.” They are committed to the animals. They have experience in working with animals and they want what is best for the animals and the shelter.”
“Our employees are also members of the board and they know what is going on,” Frye said. “They come to all of our meetings. Some have even volunteered some of the work hours to keep the budget down. They are helping us penny pinch while we get through this downslide.”
Watson said their accountant advised them they are currently at 50 percent of where their budget should be.
“If we have an illness outbreak or something go wrong then we only have enough funds to operate for two months right now,” Frye said. “This really knocked us from left field and we were doing so well. “If we would have known that the shelter owed those funds to the IRS we would have paid them first and worry about getting renovations done later,” she said.
In order to help them get through this temporary financial setback the shelter group are planning some fund raising events to bring their books back to where they should be.
“We always have a wish list of items we need, like blankets, towels, collars but this one time we need operational funds more than anything else to get us past this setback,” Frye said.
A new coat of paint covers the wall.
The cats are housed in a newly constructed playpen to play and socialize together.
Air conditioning is available for the animals during the hot summer months and blankets are given out when the temperatures drop.
Compared to a year ago, the Liberty Humane Shelter has improved its facilities beyond what anyone may have expected. Things were progressively moving forward and plans were coming together — then the bottom dropped out.
“We had no idea until we received the certified letter about two months ago,” said Merle Watson, the shelter board’s first vice president. “We (the current board and president) were under the impression that everything was up to date and this just came out of the blue.”
Watson was referring to a notice from the IRS stating the shelter owed money in unpaid withholding taxes, and other federal and state taxes.
“To date, we paid the IRS close to $13,000 and we still owe some penalties that will be sent to us the next quarter,” current shelter president Sandra Frye said. “This has depleted our operational funds significantly.”
The women explained that during the transition period, when the former administration was making way for the new administration and board, documents might have been lost in the shuffle.
“Beforehand, we did not have the help of a professional and, for a while, things were handled by personnel in interim positions,” Watson said. “We want everyone to know that is not how it works now and we currently have a professional accountant who is volunteering to keep the records and books up to date and accurate.”
Frye and Watson contend the current administration and board have the same vision for the shelter - doing whatever is in the best interest of the animals.
“This is the best group of employees we have ever had working for us,” Watson said.” They are committed to the animals. They have experience in working with animals and they want what is best for the animals and the shelter.”
“Our employees are also members of the board and they know what is going on,” Frye said. “They come to all of our meetings. Some have even volunteered some of the work hours to keep the budget down. They are helping us penny pinch while we get through this downslide.”
Watson said their accountant advised them they are currently at 50 percent of where their budget should be.
“If we have an illness outbreak or something go wrong then we only have enough funds to operate for two months right now,” Frye said. “This really knocked us from left field and we were doing so well. “If we would have known that the shelter owed those funds to the IRS we would have paid them first and worry about getting renovations done later,” she said.
In order to help them get through this temporary financial setback the shelter group are planning some fund raising events to bring their books back to where they should be.
“We always have a wish list of items we need, like blankets, towels, collars but this one time we need operational funds more than anything else to get us past this setback,” Frye said.
