Letter to the Editor

To the editor:
Crestwood Animal Shelter volunteers would like to respond to the Call’s initial article and letters to the editor regarding the rent payment of a public building from the city of Crestwood.
Friends of Animal Control and Rescue, which operates the animal shelter, have always had a good working relationship with city officials. We are thankful for the city allowing the shelter to continue to operate by extending our community service with a five-year lease.
When Crestwood eliminated animal control, the previous ad-ministration sat down with a core group of passionate volunteers to reach an agreement on how we could maintain our unique service to the community.
It could have been a situation of no shelter, but with the dedication of so many volunteers, the city unanimously agreed that the shelter was necessary.
Ward 3 Alderman Grant Mabie immediately reached out to the shelter to acknowledge his support and appreciation of our organization. We are confident the current city administration upholds our mission and vision as we look forward to the next five years of helping animals in need.
Our little shelter will continue to welcome displaced animals and we are thankful to the many generous donors that continue to support our mission. By attending shelter fundraisers or donating, we are able to offset rent and utility costs, enabling us to make many improvements for the betterment of the shelter.
We assure the community that we will continue operating the shelter as long as there is a need and we have the ongoing support of the city and community.
During the holiday season, we encourage everyone to show compassion toward others as you’ve shown us.
Crestwood Animal Shelter volunteers
Mary Balles
Chrissie Risner