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Animal Tales
Animal Friends Remembered is a way to honor those special people or companion animals who are no longer with us. Sharing your feelings through writing and pictures is a wonderful way to process the emotions associated with the passing of a loved one. We are honored to provide an opportunity for you to share your memories with others.

To post a memorial is simple. Send your story and photograph to: Saint Croix  Animal Friends, P. O. Box 1169, Hudson, WI 54016 or email them to:info@stcroixanimalfriends.org

We reserve the right to edit text as needed. There is no fee for posting memorials however we would gladly accept a donation to support our work. Thank you for taking the time to Remember an Animal Friend.

Letter: Animal shelter needed here
Ruth C. Burkholder, Hudson
Hudson Star-Observer - 02/01/2008
 
I am a 91-year-old native of Hudson who is very concerned that there
is no animal shelter in St. Croix County, especially in the severe
cold weather we have had of late. It is hard for me to understand
since we are one of the fastest growing and richest counties in the
state.
 
I have recently returned to Hudson after living in a small town in
northern Georgia in one of the poorer counties in that state. At the
time, my husband and I retired there - in a beautiful section of the
foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains - there was no animal shelter
in the county. A group of interested animal lovers approached the
county commissioners to explain the situation to them. They agreed to
back us in our effort and put a sizeable amount in their yearly
budget to help build and maintain a shelter. Plans were carried out
and, in 1974, a shelter was established that is still up and running
today. We had fund-raising events and programs in the schools to
teach the children about proper care of companion animals. We
sponsored a yearly poster contest on being kind to animals. We also
had publicity in the local paper on the drastic need for spaying and
neutering dogs and cats. School children had their own fund-raisers
to purchase cat and dog food that they brought to the shelter on
field trips.
 
However, we never could have done any of the above or been successful
without the help of the county. The city of Hudson currently employs
an animal control officer who takes strays to the Animal Humane
Society in Woodbury, Minn., and pays them for the service. That
shelter is, no doubt, overcrowded and will become even more so as
Woodbury continues its rapid growth. Therefore, it is certainly not
an acceptable solution for St. Croix County.
 
There is a group of concerned people, St. Croix Animal Friends, who
are working diligently to establish and run a shelter in this county.
However, the County Board has not cooperated, claiming that it is up
to each municipality to handle its own stray population. I am urging
citizens of St. Croix County to assist SCAF in their attempt to build
such a vital and needed facility in our community. To help, contact
St. Croix Animal Friends, PO Box 1169, Hudson WI 54016, visit
www.stcroixanimalfriends.org or e-mail
info@st.croixanimalfriends.org.