EAST SAINT LOUIS - Local animal shelter Gateway Pet Guardians aims to change the way we approach animal welfare.
Located in East St. Louis, Gateway Pet Guardians is an animal shelter that offers several free or low-cost resources for pet owners living in East St. Louis, Cahokia Heights, Washington Park and Fairmont City. Operations Director Jill Henke noted that the shelter helps thousands of cats and dogs every year, and they couldn’t do it without the community’s support.
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“Gateway Pet Guardians is just a super unique animal welfare organization,” she said. “It’s always been a resource desert for pet owners here until we came along.”
As a shelter, Gateway Pet Guardians intakes about 1,600 dogs and cats every year and adopts them out to the four communities they serve. But just as important, they have resources available to help people keep their animals.
Henke explained that they offer a low-cost pet retail store where they sell food and supplies. For those living in East St. Louis, Cahokia Heights, Washington Park and Fairmont City, the shelter also offers pet grooming and a vet clinic at lower prices. They have a pet food pantry available for families that meet their application criteria. They also offer a free trap-neuter-return program for homeless cats in the community.
These services aim to keep pets with their families and out of the shelters. Henke believes there will never be enough shelter space, and it’s better for pets to stay in their homes. Gateway Pet Guardians aims to help pet owners keep their animals by providing affordable resources.
“Our big focus is helping pets stay with their people and stay in the community,” Henke said. “We spend as much money and as much time and as much resources on helping families keep their pets and keep them healthy through our veterinary services and our pet food pantry and those other services. I think we really just hope that more folks in the industry start taking that approach. There’s never going to be enough shelter space, but we really have to be working with people. Even if they’re not A-plus grade pet owners, we need to be working with them and helping them take better care of their pets and making sure that they have access to affordable services in order to do that.”
Gateway Pet Guardians is always looking for adopters, foster homes, volunteers and donations to support their mission. For more information about Gateway Pet Guardians, including how to donate online, visit their official website at GatewayPets.org. You can call the shelter at 618-687-8007 for more information about adopting or fostering an animal or volunteering.
As temperatures continue to rise, Henke encourages people to check on their neighborhood animals and offer assistance when possible.
“Check on your neighbors. Check on your neighbors’ pets,” she added. “If their pets need help, offer to help versus calling the authorities on them. See what you can do to help in your own neighborhood. That goes a long way in keeping pets with their families where they belong.”
