New Hope for Eastern Oregon Animals seeking volunteers

Dec. 30—If you've ever spent a sick day in front of "The Price is Right" you could always count on Bob Barker's signature closer — "Help control the animal population, have your pet spayed or neutered!" — as the credits and theme song rolled.

But on the front lines of the work, including in Baker County, there is no glitz or plucky melody.

And the prizes might include bites, scratches, howls, screeches, and an all-expenses-paid vaccination.

But if you're patient, you might receive a warm, steady purr, or a slobber-coated tennis ball out of the deal.

Dick Haines understands.

He's the board chairman for New Hope for Eastern Oregon Animals, a local nonprofit that started in 2010.

New Hope's volunteers, including Haines, strive to provide shelter for feral cats and dogs and, ultimately, to place them in adoptive homes. The organization has been busy over the past year or so, in part because some people who adopted a cat or dog during the pandemic haven't been willing or able to continue caring for the pet.

"During COVID it was, to my sensing, a massive amount of rescue dogs were adopted by people," Haines said. "But when people got back to work, our world filled with phone calls, that's the part that's been very difficult for us."

New Hope acknowledged the challenge in its fall 2022 newsletter, which stated: "With the surrender of too many COVID puppies and kittens, we have seen more than our usual busy in 2022 with many projects and programs to rescue and rehabilitate dogs and cats in Eastern Oregon."

New Hope relies on donations and grants, which allow the group to house, feed and rehabilitate as many as nine dogs and care for roughly 20 cats on its property on K Street, south of the hospital and near the Powder River Correctional Facility and New Directions Northwest.

This fall, New Hope opened two cat "condos" and two dog shelters, with security fences, where Haines and other volunteers can train and socialize dogs in preparation for adoption.

"We insulate them well, make them habitable, make a strong capacity for winds and heavy snow, we put heaters and air conditioners in them," Haines said, emphasizing the structures' chew-proof materials and design allowing them to be hosed out for cleaning.

The land was donated by the Leo Brookshier Trust, started by Brookshier, a Baker City resident who died in 2008 at age 74.

The cat condos and dog shelters were built with donations from the estate of Joanne Britton, who lived near Baker City and died in December 2020 at age 75. Britton was the first president and first lifetime member of New Hope for Eastern Oregon Animals.

Gayle Hammond, who oversees New Hope's efforts to trap feral cats, spay or neuter the animals and then release them, has also been busy.

"We can use all the help we can get," said Hammond, who estimates New Hope has spent nearly $13,000 over the past year or so handling 150 cats through the trap-neuter-return project.

You can recognize these cats by their cropped ear.

Another 20 kittens were rescued and tamed, then taken to the Oregon Humane Society in Portland for adoption.

Hammond said New Hope received $2,500 from the city of Baker City to support the program. "There are many more feral cats (and pet cats) in Baker that need our help," New Hope's Fall 2022 newsletter states. "Encourage your friends and neighbors to spay and neuter their pets early. Kittens can become pregnant by the time they are six months old!"

Powder Pals

New Hope's cooperative project with the Powder River Correctional Facility has resumed after being delayed in 2020 and part of 2021 due to the pandemic.

Haines works with inmates at the minimum-security prison to train rescued dogs so they're suitable for adoption.

Powder Pals started in 2011.

Haines is also trying to expand the program to include the Warner Creek Correctional Facility in Lakeview, although he said he hasn't been able to find residents there to carry on the program in his absence.

The program has proved popular at Powder River, giving inmates a positive experience and potential skills they can use after they're released.

Help always welcome

For a larger group of people, New Hope's tasks are manageable, but Hammond worries they're approaching burnout.

If you'd like to contribute, the group is always in need of pet supplies, adopters, feeders, trainers, walkers and foster homes. Given the recent thaw and rains, New Hope would also be grateful for donations of river gravel and straw for dog exercise pens. If you're interested, call Haines at 541-403-0724 for more information, or the organization's main number, 541-403-2710.