ABOVE: Rick Borchardt looks through a variety of baked goods at the Martin County Humane Society’s seasonal bake sale on Saturday inside Fleet and Farm Supply and Ace Hardware store in Fairmont. Funds from the bake sales directly support the animals in MCHS custody.

FAIRMONT — The Carl Nettifee Memorial Martin County Humane Society (MCHS) in Fairmont is bustling with furry faces, waiting to find the perfect family. With so many animals in one space, the animal shelter is hoping for an increase in volunteers and free-will gifts for the animals. Donations of all kinds support the shelter and keep the quartered pets thriving until a forever family is found.

“I have loved animals all of my life,” MCHS President Karen Folkers explained. “When [the MCHS] allowed visitors, I saw myself to be useful to the animals.”

Folker’s role as President includes overseeing the adoption process, incoming animals, the status of current animals in MCHS custody, fundraising and other miscellaneous duties.

For 25 years, Folkers has spent her time devoted to animal care, with approximately eight of those years serving as President. Folkers stated the most rewarding part of her position is seeing animals who started with an unfortunate upbringing go home to a caring family. She remarked this is a mutual experience for volunteers and employees.

Fundraising for the MCHS is underway, with a recent bake sale completed on Saturday at Fleet and Farm Supply and Ace Hardware in Fairmont. As stated by Folkers, the seasonal bake sales are routinely well-attended and their most successful fundraising event to date.

“The bake sales are amazing and keep getting bigger each time,” she said.

According to Mimi Petersen of MCHS, the previous bake sale in September earned approximately $2,600.

Other fundraising efforts include the annual golf outing, Valentine’s Day rose bouquet sale, Martin County Fair sponsor raffle, Give to the Max Day and more among other non-annual events. The MCHS, as well as other shelters, discontinued Walk for the Animals due to a lack of community response. Ideas such as Giving Tuesday and a marathon are on the table, however no conclusion was made. Folkers said they are open to other ideas as well.

Collecting funds and supplies is extremely important to the shelter and maintaning what animals it has.

In the past two weeks, the animal shelter has received 15 cats either found stray or surrendered. With these additions, the animal shelter accommodates 94 cats and 25 dogs, with 36 and 9 of those in foster care (which are mostly puppies and kitten litters) respectively. The longest residents of the building are Maynard, an affectionate Australian Cattle Dog/Blue Heeler mix, and curious felines Leo and Kitty, both domestic short hairs.

Folkers noted evident psychological changes in the animals during their stay. After a prolonged time, pets will become, ‘institutionalized’, in which they are completely adapted to the animal shelter, recognize their designated cages, MCHS employees staffers, and will have to re-adapt following their adoption. Donations will help make this transition easier.

“Emotions change very much when they adapt, but adjust usually quickly. It depends on the pet and their personality,” Folkers said.

With the generous amount of pets in total, the animal shelter has also faced complications with overpopulation in the building for over a year. Folkers stated that there is currently a waiting list for pets to be brought. This predicament leaves the animal shelter unable to take new animals discovered or surrendered by locals, simply due to lack of living space.

In-state rescues, groups and shelters also work closely to help alleviate space concerns by transitioning MCHS animals to their site. To further mitigate this dilemma, MCHS encourages pet owners to spay and neuter animals (to avoid unwanted reproducing) regardless of domestication and adopt pets directly from the Fairmont shelter. Additionally, Hawkins’ Chevrolet sponsors two pets monthly, waiving the price to be completely free of charge for qualified adopters, especially those with economic disadvantages.

Folkers spoke about prominent obstacles concerning charities. Because so many people are struggling financially and do not possess the expenses to take care of an animal, it’s challenging to reach out to community members interested in fostering or adopting a pet, or simply donating shelter necessities to the MCHS.

“It’s the economy. People are losing their jobs, they’re being cut back, losing money…The status of the economy plays a big role. It’s part of the reason we’ve had so many surrendered pets. For example, one of our pets was surrendered because the owner could no longer take care of him,” she stated solemnly.

Folkers hopes members of the community can recognize the value of the local animal shelter.

“The shelter provides a very important service for everyone in the community, regardless of love or hatred for animals. Stray animals in the neighborhood have a place to be taken, and the pets can be a part of a family,” she said.

However, foster parents for MCHS animals is much higher than it has ever been in recent years. Folkers, who is a foster herself, explained all types of people have stepped up to the plate to take care of an animal, including seniors, single homeowners and those with large families. She emphasizes that everyone can foster if applicable. Fostering itself is a personal preference, with some caregivers choosing to adopt their foster animal, with nine cats adopted by their fosters this year.

Folkers agreed that fosters have helped ease the overpopulation crisis, as have other shelters and rescues nearby. Despite spacing concerns slowly attempting to be mended with fostering, on-site animals still require assistance.

“I wish we had more volunteers,” Folkers expressed

Volunteers at the animal shelter handle generic animal care; including exercises, praise and a whole lot of cuddles.

“There’s not a volunteer here that doesn’t care about the animals,” she said with a chuckle before adding, “However, there are some volunteering without animal contact. It’s flexible to all jobs and schedules. It gives a positive boost of dopamine. If we didn’t have volunteers, our animals couldn’t experience things or feel loved.”

For more information, visit the Martin County Humane Society website or Petfinder page. Anyone is welcome to reach out to assist with fundraising planning or ideas.