The notion of pets being a part of the family unit is not a new concept, but it is an ideal at the heart of Ruff Haven Crisis Sheltering. Community Care Manager Shelby Roberts stresses that while pets may be seen as “add-ons”, the connection between people and their pets keeps people alive during times of crisis.
Ruff Haven Crisis Sheltering is an animal rescue service that operates in Salt Lake City. However, unlike other shelters or organizations, Ruff Haven is not looking to give any animals away. Instead, they do “crisis sheltering” of pets. Crisis sheltering is exactly what it sounds like– Ruff Haven cares for animals whose owners are unable to care for them short-term. These pet-owners face anything from housing loss, mental health or substance abuse treatment, or domestic violence situations. Roberts explains how these owners approach Ruff Haven, “They say, “Hey, I’m in this situation–this unexpected situation. I should be back on my feet in the next couple months, but I don’t have anywhere for my pets to go until then.” We offer free boarding services so that they don’t have to surrender or rehome that pet.”
Beyond just boarding pets, Ruff Haven provides a variety of services to ensure they are happy and comfortable. “During intake, we get the animal all up to date on their vaccines. We get them microchipped. If an animal does become ill or injured. For any reason while they’re in our care, we do have some incredible volunteer veterinarians that we utilize, that can check up on them, prescribe medication, get them treated, so any medical needs that the animal has while in our care, we fully take care of.” Roberts says. However, Ruff Haven’s care does not stop there. The shelter environment is stressful for these animals and Roberts illustrates an example of how they help them to cope, “For example, we have a really stressed out little poodle, who has had a really rough time, back in our holding area. So I’ve just had him hanging out in my office with me today, give him a little break and some socializing and he’s doing fantastic.” Outside of intake care, Ruff Haven also offers quarterly vaccination clinics, rehoming services, pet grooming services, and pet pantry services.
However, this fantastic team does face some challenges. Given that they’re a small organization, they require onsite assistance and volunteer work to help keep their operations running. Beyond just onsite, Ruff Haven’s ability to care for animals is directly influenced by how many foster homes they have. Foster homes increase their carrying capacity for animals and also positively impact the experience of the animals who are displaced. When asked about how the community can help, Roberts says, “Onsite assistance…Just having enough hands to help with all of the things. Some people will make donations, even if it’s a one-time donation of $5 or a monthly donation of $20, whatever that looks like. All of that money just goes directly into our, into the care for all of [the animals]. Even just word of mouth sharing, sharing our information on social media, things like that, just to let more people know that we’re available.”
Volunteer and donation opportunities can be found at https://www.ruffhaven.org/. They also have Facebook and Instagram.
