What does it take to start an animal shelter?

Well, there are different types of shelters.

They all cost a lot and take a lot of time and effort.

The 'easiest' way is for someone who lives on a farm, and can devote a whole farm building to cats. Individual cages must be built, as well as a play area, a cat area outside. Isolated small rooms must be built for sick / aggressive cats.

Food must be purchased. ALL cats that come in MUST be spayed or neutered, as well as given their vaccines. They should also be microchipped.

Any medical problems need to be addressed (ie frostbite, broken/gangreneous limbs, torn eats, cuts, infections, eye infections / loss, mites, fleas, tickets). A community of people need to be involved to foster cats before adoption, as well as to socialize cats.

She must be ready to deal with all sorts of situations, including boxes of kittens being dropped off, abused animals being abandoned or brought in, cats found in dog/bear traps, cats who were poisoned, cats who got lost and were found half starved, cats with missing eyes, serious infections, limbs which must be amputated...

And permits are required (depending on the area, to keep that amount of cats and to adopt them out).

All in all, it will cost her a lot of money, which it does not sound like she has. Frankly, her time would be best spent volounteering at an existing animal shelter, and fostering cats and donating food, rather than trying to start her own.

I gave the practical answer about regulations, etc. a thumbs up and am glad I don't have to repeat them. If you don't have much money, you can't afford to do it by yourself.

The next best alternative would be to look for a local group that needs homes for fostering. They will do a background check on your cousin and require health certifications from a vet, as well as immunization records for any pets that are already in the house. They will also do an extensive interview, probably more than one, to get some idea of how much your cousin actually knows about cats. Some shelters offer courses for their foster families.

That would be one way that she could feel like she is doing shelter work without having to come up with a big chunk of change before even opening the doors. Sometimes, it's hard to give up one when a suitable home is found, but I always take comfort in the fact that there will be another one along soon, who will really need my help and might not have the chance unless I have a spot for it.

Good luck!

1) Determine the size of the shelter. If its just a cat shelter its probably going to be relativly small.

2) How many cats do you want to be able to keep. Don't have too many or too little so if people want to adopt they have cats to choose from.

3) Make sure you can handle the price. Remember food, water, living spaces, and toys.

4)They need social contact. Make a room where you can let some of the cats room at the same time, with scratching posts, things they can climb on and toys. Also if a person wants to adopt let them bring the cat in the room so they can get to know the person.

5) Make sure you sell things. Such as treats, food, and other things to keep your income good because cats do not sell like hot cakes.

6) Make sure the cats are well taken care of by you and your staff. If someone sees a cat thats fur is mangled or it hisses a lot the probably won't adopt it.

7)Make sure all medical problems are taken care of and that the adopters can choose from nuedered or not nudered cats.

I hope it helps and good luck!

It takes much more than love. Absolute committment, total dedication, painstaking preparation, the ability to deal with inevitable loss and a great deal of money.

Before you start :

You need to find a place where the local government will issue a permit and the neighbors will not complain.

You need to source funding and be sure that funding can be maintained year after year, and you need to find volunteers you can rely on. You're talking a 24/7 schedule here.

You need to find veterinarians willing to donate time, or offer services (neutering, worming, vaccination, emergency treatment, etc) at significant discount.

Then you will have to adapt the place to meet health and safety codes, and be prepared for regular inspections.

That's just the tip of the iceberg :-)

Not easy, and you can't do it half way - but truly rewarding if you can pull it off.

Of course that is what I would do if I ever won the lottery. It takes absolutely millions of dollars - a big outlay at the beginning and then lots of effort to get donations to keep it going or a big endowment that will generate steady income for years and years.

just look on line for animal shelters an call around and ask for ideas how to start one