QUINCY — Homeward Bound Waggin, an animal rescue center at 1800 N. 24th, will soon be forced to spend thousands of dollars to replace a failing drain line. Without the ability to drain water, the shelter would be faced with two options: shut down, or dig in cash reserves it doesn’t have to make the repair.
Director Ronna Robertson said Homeward Bound occupies a building from the early 1940s with a clay plumbing system just as old. The plumbing issue was first discovered when a geyser sprung up from a toilet while employees tried to run animal bedding through the washing machine.
“Because the landline was clogged, all the pressure forced the drain water out of the washing machine and to the weakest point in the system,” Robertson said. “It came out through the toilet. Needless to say, there was a bit of a frenzy with water spraying out of the toilet.”
When a plumber was called to the issue, they found that 80 years of animal hair had filled the drain pipe running from the front of the building to a septic system in the back of the complex. To make matters worse, roots have grown through the clay piping, anchoring the hair in place.
Without the ability to run water, Homeward Bound can’t wash dishes or bathe animals because of the cold and the risk of animals running away if bathing is done outside. The shelter also has to wash animal bedding twice a day to maintain cleanliness.
As a temporary fix, a plumber bored a half-inch hole through the hair clogging the four-inch pipe. Robertson says the solution could last anywhere from six weeks to six months, but will not be permanent.
“We’re doing the best we can do to minimize and try to capture all the hair we can to prevent it from going down the drain. Impossible to get it all, but we’ve brought in as many filters over drain ports as we can to try to minimize the amount of hair that goes down the drain.
Homeward Bound was quoted $4,000 to replace “several hundred feet” of drain line. Without donations, the money will come out of cash reserves dedicated to the medical needs of rescues.
“Ultimately we’re gonna have to do the line to keep the facility open,” Robertson said. “We can’t go indefinitely. Ultimately this impacts the animals because we’re going to have to pull money out of a vetting medical fund that we have.”
In the world of nonprofits, Robertson says that there is something called the “core number.” This is the amount of money it takes to provide for each beneficiary for one day. In the case of Homeward Bound, it costs $7.20 a day to provide for each animal. Currently, she estimates that the shelter has 22 dogs and 36 cats, an estimate that comes out to $417.60 a day to run the shelter.
“We are 100% volunteer. We are a 501(c)3, nonprofit. We have no source of income but donations (and grants.) We don’t get any government funding or anything like that,” she said. “We only bring in about $50,000 a year. That has to pay our rent, pay our utilities, pay our water bill as well as supplies and medical care. When you start dividing that $50,000 up amongst everything, ($4,000 is) a hit.”
Donations are tax deductible and can be sent to the organization at P.O. Box 3261, Quincy, IL 62305 or made online at homewardboundwaggininc.org.
The shelter has an Amazon Wish List, and an upcoming Christmas stocking event allowing donors to send items to specific animals and watch them receive them on Facebook.
Homeward Bound receives its animals throughout Adams County and Missouri cities like Canton, Palmyra and Monroe City. Robertson says Homeward Bound is the only rescue in Quincy with a Missouri license. Many of them are owner surrenders or animal control catches.
“(If we don’t take them), unfortunately, the answer is without a shadow of a doubt they would be euthanized,” Robertson said.
One of Homeward Bound’s missions is to only transfer and rehome animals to licensed no-kill facilities, rescue groups or foster homes.
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