Environment

Animal shelter grants awarded

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By SHEILA SCHIMPF
Capital News Service
LANSING – About $135,000 in funds donated by taxpayers who ticked a box on their state income tax forms will go to 23 registered animal shelters throughout the state. The Animal Welfare Fund grants range from $175 to $10,000, and many will be used for spay and neuter programs, staff education and to cover the cost of housing animals involved in legal cases, according to Jennifer Holton, a communications representative for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. But, she said, some of the money will go to innovative programs that teach children how to take care of animals. Grants for three such programs will finance public education on pet care on local television, a visit to a school with shelter pets to talk about animal care and a virtual fostering program that allows a classroom to follow the course of a shelter pet’s experience. Gladwin County Animal Shelter in Beaverton will get $10,000, its first grant from the Animal Welfare Fund, said Krystal Moore, one of its officers.