New nonprofit tackles pet overpopulation

Donation jars are being placed around at Clinton County participating businesses to support a newly formed nonprofit, Humane Choice Low Cost Spay and Neuter.   A newly formed Clinton County nonprofit is hoping to make spay and neuter services more affordable for pet owners facing financial hardship.
    Humane Choice Low Cost Spay and Neuter is an Illinois non-profit corporation recently established by a group of local citizens pursuing the opportunity for lower income pet owners to afford spay and neuter services for their pets.
    “Our mission is to reduce pet overpopulation and suffering by providing financial assistance to low income spay and neuter HARDSHIP cases within Clinton County,” the organization’s mission statement reads.
    Organizers said the over-population of unwanted and abandoned intact dogs and cats continues to place a strain on local county resources to address these animals with no owner willing or claiming responsibility for them.
    The group hopes that making spay and neuter services more accessible will help reduce the number of unwanted litters, stray animals and pets surrendered to shelters.
    Humane Choice Low Cost Spay and Neuter will enable low income pet owners needing basic veterinary services to get their dogs or cats of any age spayed or neutered to help reduce the over-population of pets, especially felines, who may otherwise end up as strays or abandoned animals due to the inability to afford them as a family pet.
    Local animal shelters maintained by the county typically take in animals that are not spayed or neutered, many of them surrendered by owners unable to keep them.
    Unfortunately, the dumping of litters of kittens and puppies also occurs when unspayed females reproduce and no one takes responsibility for the situation.
    The expense of spaying and neutering an animal in recent years has become a hindrance to lower income pet owners from accessing a local veterinary clinic for basic health care, routine vaccinations, and spaying or neutering their pets.
    Humane societies and local shelters are continually over-crowded with pets needing new families to make a home for them.
    Pursuing an avenue of affordability for some pet owners to not have to choose between giving up or abandoning a pet due to financial difficulty in getting their pet spayed or neutered is the goal of Humane Choice Low Cost Spay and Neuter.
    Humane Choice Low Cost Spay and Neuter will be providing coverage for the cost of these veterinary services primarily through the frequently held spay and neuter clinics at Clinton County Animal Control. They also will be pursuing a working relationship with local veterinary clinics to support their efforts in getting more animals spayed and neutered for lower income persons.
    Fundraising efforts are already underway, with donation jars being placed around the Clinton County area at participating businesses.
    Future sponsoring of other fundraisers will be announced and grow their ability to help pet owners and their pets who may need financial aid.
    A website is being developed to provide additional information about Humane Choice Low Cost Spay and Neuter, including details about available assistance.
    Those wishing to make a start-up donation may mail contributions to: Humane Choice Low Cost Spay and Neuter, 12920 Old U.S. Highway 50, Breese, IL 62230.

More than 400 students attend Progressive Farm Safety Day

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Written by: Matt Wilson - Breese Journal Reporter

Bartelso sixth-grader Ellis Dierkes throws a jar with an egg up in the air during Progressive Farm Safety Day.    More than 400 local sixth-graders attended Progressive Farm Safety Day at the Clinton County Fairgrounds on Thursday, Sept. 24.
    Progressive Farm Safety Day is sponsored by the Clinton County Farm Bureau Agriculture in the Classroom program. It is for sixth-grade students in Clinton County.
    All of the schools in Clinton County were invited to attend the program. A combined 425 sixth-graders from 10 schools were at the fairgrounds.
    "They come here for a day-long program and they learn about how to be safe on and off of the farm," said Susan Kleiboeker, agriculture literacy coordinator for Clinton County.
    Progressive Farm Safety Day was in coordination with Farm Safety Week, which was Sept. 21-25.
    Progressive Farm Safety Day started in 2010 and this year was the 16th annual event. They skipped 2020.
Germantown sixth-grader Sailor Musenbrock digs through straw during Progressive Farm Safety Day.    Among the organizations teaching the students about farm safety were Body By Boyd; Farm Bureau; Clinton County Extension Office; Clinton County Soil and Water Conservation District; Maschhoffs; Litteken Electric; Clinton County Electric; Julie, Inc.; and the US Army Corps of Engineers.
   All five of Clinton County high school FFA programs helped during the day.
    Kleiboeker said all of the students were having a good time. There were physical activities, games and hands-on activities for the students.
    Kleiboeker said by sixth grade many of the children who live on farms are already working on a farm.
    "Just because grandpa or dad always did it a certain way, that does not mean that is necessarily the way it is supposed to be," Kleiboeker said.
    Russell Holloman came in the morning as the keynote speaker. He did a presentation about how in 2009 he had his foot cut off in an accident.
Julie, Inc., damage prevention manager Brian MacKenzie shows sixth-graders different colored flags during Progressive Farm Safety Day.    "It was something that he had done every fall," Kleiboeker said. "Whenever the corn would get stuck in the combine, he would just kick it out without stopping the machine. And that one time, his pant leg got pulled in and it chopped off his foot."
   Along with coordinating Progressive Farm Safety Day, Kleiboeker also teaches Ag In the Classroom in local schools.
    Kleiboeker said Progressive Farm Safety Day would never happen without their supporters and presenters.
    "If we can save the life of one person, it is totally worth it," Kleiboeker said. "I put in about 200 hours within the last month of just focusing on safety day."
SIxth-graders learn about different chemicals during Progressive Farm Safety Day.