MUSCATINE, Iowa — A Muscatine animal rescue is in desperate need of funding to avoid having to close its shelter facilities.
It Takes a Village Animal Rescue & Resources (ITAVARR) was started back in 2021. Meagan Koehler is the founder and president of ITAVARR and said that if they do not receive more funding, the rescue is at risk of closing down its shelter facilities. It would still be able to operate as a foster-based rescue but Koehler says without the shelter, the number of animals saved and other rescue services would decrease.
"The difference is astronomical," Koehler said. "It's astounding....it's a big decrease in the number of lives that we can save."
During their first year operating as a foster-based rescue, ITAVARR helped 205 animals get adopted. After expanding to a full shelter facility, they placed 679 animals into homes in 2023.
Koehler says the shelter experiences its busiest time of the year during the summer months. It uses that peak revenue to help get it through the slower parts of the year. However, this past winter, the shelter had a distemper outbreak where all revenue-generating operations were shut down to help mitigate the disease from spreading. This ate up resources the rescue needed to make it to summer.
Around $40,000 is still needed to help keep the shelter operating until June, Koehler said. They have already had to close their daily spay, neuter and vaccine clinic as a result. Closing the shelter would also mean the rescue would be forced to close down its Pet Care Pantry, which provides dog and cat food, litter and other supplies to those that need it.
"Our resources that we had set aside to get us to those (peak) months, it's gone," Koehler said. "Right now, we are living fundraiser-to-fundraiser basically. And that is terrifying. As far as the future of our organization's ability to serve our rescue mission."
If you would like to donate to help fund It Takes a Village's mission, you can do so online here.