Fergus Falls, MN – The Humane Society of Otter Tail County is looking for additional funding to finish off their building expansion. Construction on the new building began in May, but the organization is still short of paying about $200,000 for the $2.1 million project.
Executive Director Chris Cannon says the improvements being made with the ongoing expansion of the facility focus on getting animals adopted faster. “Our average length of stay is about 41 days, and that’s not ideal,” Chris says, “If we have a better spot to highlight these animals, hopefully, they’re gonna be getting adopted a lot sooner.”
Despite massive support from individuals in the county and using $400,000 from its own investment account to jumpstart the project, the Humane Society is still about $200,000 short of the funding it needs to finish construction. Back in May, before ground was broken on the expansion, Chris, along with Kristi Lausch of the Humane Society, presented in front of the Fergus Falls City Council, asking for assistance in covering the remaining costs of the expansion project or the temporary location being used during construction.
Since then, the City Council has tentatively approved the city budget for 2026, without support for the shelter expansion. Chris says, “We felt like we presented our case. We feel like we are very important to the community, and presented in a very heartfelt way. We provided our stats; we didn’t want to come through with any information that wasn’t accurate. We came prepared to answer questions and we didn’t get any. Haven’t heard anything back since.”
Chris says over half of the animals in the Humane Society come from a Fergus Falls address, but despite that, the city only funds about 3.2% of the Humane Society’s $370,00 annual budget, and the County funds around 24%. Most of the funding comes from individual donors, which include some city council members. Chris adds that without those donors, the Humane Society wouldn’t be able to operate, “That’s the reason we are here now. It’s because of everyone in the community. We couldn’t do it without them.”
Among its other services, the Humane Society uses the donated funds to help Otter Tail County rescue wild animals, as well as pets being abused and neglected, and then get them ready for adoption into a safe home. Chris says, “Even if you’re not a dog person, cat person, you live here. The question I would say is, ‘What would it look like if we weren’t here?'”
If you want to find out more about the Otter Tail County Humane Society or ways you can help, go to humanesocietyotc.org.
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