West End Animal Shelter to hold Walk-a-thon

 The West End Animal Shelter has been operating for over a decade in the 1954 facility formerly known as the Humane Society of the Chaffey Community.  Located at the intersection of Mission and Grove Avenue in Ontario, the organization doubles as a non-profit no-kill animal shelter and pet adoption center.  West End rescues many of these adoptable animals from humane societies and shelters that would be put down due to over crowding.  West End ensures the animals are spayed or neutered and current on shots and flea-treated before putting them up for adoption.  Cats are tested for feline leukemia; dogs are de-wormed.  At any given time, West End Animal Shelter has 200 pets ready for adoption.

            There are countless stories of Inland Empire families who have visited West End Animal Shelter and have given a dog or cat a second chance in a loving household.  It is not always just area residents that find their pet at West Side.  People have come from all over the Southland and adopted a pet from this shelter.  And, volunteers who assist at the shelter have found a soft spot for the animals they care for, too.  A nine year old chow mix had spent most of his life at the shelter until a deep bond developed between him and a volunteer.  The volunteer brought Twilight into her home, took him through obedience training and proved that old dogs can learn new tricks!   

West End Animal Shelter also provides low-cost vaccines from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. every Tuesday and from 10:00 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.

The organization has been providing this wonderful service to the community while operating in less than a state of the art facility.  In fact, only recently has modernization gone into West End's current building.  With the ever increased demand in rescuing an animal from an untimely death, and the desire to provide a greater service to the community, the shelter has sought the services of HMC Architects in Ontario to design a new facility on the existing land.  It is their hope to be able to have a multi-purpose building that will house the dogs and cats in separate wings, offer onsite spay and neutering services, and to have training and classrooms.

To move towards this goal, West End Animal Shelter will host its first Wag 'n' Walk-a-Thon.  Dog lovers are encouraged to participate in the 5K walk at Prado Regional Park, Chino on May 8^th.  Advance registration is $25 per person; $30 at the door and tax deductible.  Even those who love dogs, but don't own one can participate as West End Animal Shelter will have shelter dogs available to rent for $5 on the event day. Participants are also encouraged to raise funds by asking friends, family, co-workers to sponsor them in the walk. There will be prizes, music, food and information available on adoptions as well as pet care and volunteer opportunities.

Dale Namminga, West End's President of the Board of Directors said, "This is our first step towards being able to provide the Inland Empire with a first-rate no-kill animal shelter and hospital facility.  We hope to be able to raise enough monies to begin construction on this dream.  As a no-kill shelter we would be able to save the lives of many more dogs and cats and offer additional needed services.  While we serve our Inland Empire community, it is amazing to me to learn how many people in the southern California area have heard of us and have come to our shelter to find a dog or cat to adopt.  To help us achieve this goal, we look to the support of local business and the community at large.  We felt the Walk-n-Wag-a-Thon would bring people out who have a pet, or would like to own one.  Because it is a social as well as an exercise type of event, it is a great way to bring awareness for what we do to a larger audience.  We hope people across the Inland Empire and their four-legged friends will come out and take part in this great event."

To learn more, visit WestEndShelter.com.  Applications for registration for the Walk-n-Wag-a-Thon may also be found on this website.  For more information, contact the shelter at (909) 947-3517.