WINTHROP — Plagued by the increasing costs of veterinary care, the Protectors of Animal Life Society No-Kill Cat Shelter is asking for donations to help keep its cat rescue in operation.

Executive Director Theresa Silsby said although the shelter plans to remain open, it might close if it doesn’t receive the revenue it needs to care for the shelter’s nearly 100 cats.

For now, the cat and kitten intake is on pause, but people may still adopt cats at the shelter located at 188 Case Road.

The chief concern in accepting new cats is the cost of potential medical care.

“We have no intention of laying down and giving up,” Silsby said. “We are going to kick and scream and fight the whole way. We are going to fundraise. We will take care of these cats, and we are hoping that it is just a bump in the road, and we will be able to get some backup funding and reserves to be here another 45 years.”

The PALS No-Kill Cat Shelter has helped thousands of cats over its 45 years as a shelter. Currently, around 400 to 500 cats come through its doors on a yearly basis.

The small shelter requires between $500,000 to $600,000 to operate, support the cats, and pay staff of nine people plus Silsby.

It primarily makes its money from donations from the public, as the shelter receives no local, state or federal funds.

The shelter’s largest cost is for veterinary procedures, which Silsby said are becoming more expensive. Also cats that enter the shelter are arriving with greater needs for medical attention, if they have been neglected or come from a hoarding situation.

“Every day, I get people who want to bring in cats,” Silsby said. “Last week, I had someone call me with 22 cats. There is a problem out there and the shelters can only do so much in education without any funding. It’s hard to exist. This problem has always been there. We never had tons of money, but we got by.”

Other shelters across Maine, including the Kennebec Valley Humane Society in Augusta, are feeling the increase in demand for pet medical care.

In a post-COVID world, prices have quadrupled around regular veterinary care, emergency veterinary care, medications and utilities to run the shelter, said Hillary Roberts, the shelter’s executive director.

Running the Kennebec Valley Humane Society costs around $1 million annually, and most of the money is raised by adoption revenue, through contracts with the communities it serves and through donations or fundraising efforts.

“Unfortunately, there is a fairly significant cost to run shelter operations,” Roberts said. “We see animals coming in to us that need a lot of care. Not just preventative care, like vaccinations, but surgeries like broken bones or long-term management for chronic conditions. Those are expensive things. We place 97% of our animals, so we have no kill status.”

The Kennebec Valley Humane Society grew out of its former space and moved into its location at 168 Leighton Road in Augusta about a year and a half ago. The shelter takes in cats, dogs and pocket-size pets, like birds, rabbits and ferrets, and at the end of 2024, had around 2,000 adoptions, but the numbers are only increasing. The Somerset Humane Society is pondering a new space, as well. 

In April, Roberts said 140 cats arrived at the shelter and 80 were placed into foster homes. Fifty-six dogs and four pocket-sized pets were also brought in.

Roberts said many animals are brought in as strays by municipal animal control officers. Aside from that, there are three other main reasons animals end up at shelters: some may need specific medical care, or an expensive emergency vet visit that an owner can’t afford; a change in living situations means owners can no longer keep pets or afford to pay a pet deposit; and specifically with dogs, it can be temperament issues.

“The good news is, we have a high placement rate and so does PALS and many other shelters,” Roberts said. “We want them to go home.”

Currently, PALS has about 100 cats. Officials say they hope to resume cat intake when the population reaches 50 cats. The low-cost vet clinic attached to PALS is not affected, Silsby said.

The Winthrop shelter has seen a fairly good response to its donation ask on Facebook. PALS has an online Facebook auction in June and hopes to gain enough revenue to hire someone to help plan fundraising events to keep the revenue pouring in.

Both shelters said the best way to help out, if people are able, is to donate money. Donations of pet food, old towels and blankets, among other items to stock the shelter, also help.

“If this works, it will be full-speed ahead,” Silsby said.