Tough times for animal advocates – Last month, the family-run North Louisiana German Shepherd Rescue stopped taking in dogs.

Last month, the family-run North Louisiana German Shepherd Rescue stopped taking in dogs. The family’s homeowners insurance company decreed the group must move its kennels to the other side of the property and get a 911 address for that area. The relocation expense proved to be too much for an organization that runs on a shoestring budget.

While there’s never been enough money, time or fosters to help every homeless animal, times are especially hard for animal welfare agencies. The downturn in the economy has trickled down to the organizations that seek to save pets. These non-profits are now feeling the pinch between the decrease in donations and an increase number of animals who are dumped at shelters or need vet or spay/neuter services because their owners are unable to afford them.

At Spay Baton Rouge, those issues have been compounded by fraud. A Covington woman obtained a spay/neuter voucher, duplicated it and racked up $700 in unauthorized services.

It could not have come at a worse time for the organization, which was cash strapped and between grants.

As of its sixth anniversary this past March, Spay Baton Rouge had spayed/neutered 9,437 cats and 981 dogs. In first two months of 2012, affiliated vets had already performed nearly 300 spay/neuter surgeries.

The budget remains lean with 96% of expenditures going to vet services, 2% to voicemail, supplies, volunteer socials and 2% to insurance.

While national donors have been very generous in the past, many did not renew grants in 2011. Although impressed by Spay Baton Rouge’s outcome, some large, long-term, local benefactors simply chose to channel their funds to other animal non-profits. The net result left the agency short approximately $30,000 in 2012. Undeterred, the fundraising committee quickly staged a series of small events. A jambalaya dinner and a dog wash, laser tag benefit and other fundraisers help bridge the financial gap.

Buoyed by their early projections and success in raising $600,000, Companion Animal Alliance (CAA) expanded its staff at the East Baton Rouge Parish Animal shelter in an attempt to decrease the euthanasia rate. Their concentrated efforts worked. Only three months after taking possession of the 30-year-old facility, nearly 70% of animals were being fostered, adopted or accepted into rescue versus approximately 20% the prior year.

Unfortunately, the $85,000 a month operating budget proved to be unsustainable in light of the city contract which allotted the organization $35,000 per month. Unwilling to lose the momentum, the staff, board members and volunteers opened their hearts and wallets to meet immediate needs; but, ultimately, staff reduction became necessary.

“Our numbers and our save rate is amazing,” says Interim Director Debbie Pearson. “The staff is working a lot of extra hours without extra pay, and they are cross-trained to do more than one job. We’ve figured out ways to do just about everything. But, [without more funding] we can’t treat the animals that are sick humanely, successfully and emergently. That is a problem.”

While continuing to pursue donations large and small, CAA launched the Fur Ball, the city’s first pet-friendly black tie gala. With advanced ticket sales already beyond $30,000, organizers hope the soiree will contribute $50,000 to the operating budget.

With names like Cheryl’s Ferals, Pit Stop and Night Prowlers, some smaller organizations have received a tremendous amount of relief from yet another non-profit. In 2010, attorneys Judy Atkinson, Joel and Mark Mese founded Rescue Bank of Baton Rouge to subsidize the operations of small local rescues with pallets of donated food. Most of the food arrives in 18-wheelers donated by the Rescue Bank of Houston.

To date, the local Rescue Bank has distributed more than 250,000 pounds of food and other supplies to its 30 members. While the Rescue Bank model is not intended to be the sole source of sustenance for any rescue, it frees up funds and allows the members to help more animals or allocate additional funds for vet care or other essentials.

Even the Houston Rescue Bank has experienced a bit of a reduction in donations, which may reflect belt-tightening among pet food manufacturers, the Capital City shipments continue. Furthermore, “[Our local affiliates] are used to doing everything with little or nothing anyway,” says Atkinson. “They work as hard as they can to save every little life regardless of the lack of resources they have available. They are a staunch, stand-up bunch and are not given to a lot of complaints or whining.”

So, despite feeling the pinch of the economic slump, local rescues solider on and do much with little for as long as they can. For animal advocates, the value of saving only one life, placing one homeless animal in a loving home, stopping one more animal from breeding unwanted litter is worth more than a million dollars.