Association for the Protection of Animals

The History and Mission of the Granite City APA

The APA in Granite City began in March of 1972 when ten hard-working volunteers decided that there was a need for a no-kill animal shelter in southern Illinois.. The "APA" was incorporated and the shelter opened in a member's basement.

In 1979, the ten members began fund-raising efforts to begin a building fund. The present building is housed on land that was donated by a generous individual, but the actual construction of the building took five years. It took many bake sales, rummage and candy sales to finally raise enough money to complete the building. Many generous individuals helped to shape the shelter that is our current home. The APA receives no city, county, state or federal assistance. We are a 501(C)3 non-profit, public corporation.

In 1999, a group of people were asked to go to the shelter because they received reports of animal abuse. They found animals living in unbelievably filthy conditions at the shelter. One person was attempting to care for over 150 animals. Some of the dogs had large, open wounds and mange. All of the cats had eye drainage and upper respiratory infection. Vaccination records were non-existent. Some animals had been tested heart worm positive and then never treated. The shelter veterinarian knew when one of the APA animals was in his waiting room because he said that he could smell them.

The shelter was not air-conditioned. There were no fans and all the windows and doors were left open for ventilation. Flies and mosquitoes covered all of the animals because there were no screens on the windows or doors. The lucky animals were outside lying in their own waste and much of their food was full of maggots. Their water was stagnant and discolored. There was no shade outside and they just sat in the sun. The cat rooms were full of mice droppings and everything smelled like urine. Three 55-gallon drums of animal waste were cleaned up and removed from the shelter during the clean-up.

Today, the shelter is air-conditioned and pavilions have been built outside to shelter the animals from the weather. Each animal now has toys to play with. In the summer, the animals have plastic swimming pools to play in and keep them cool. Carpeted towers were purchased for the kitten and cat rooms for hours of fun and play and the cat and kitten room is screened in so the animals can easily view the workers, volunteers and visitors in the lobby. We also hold mobile adoptions every weekend for so that people that cannot come to the shelter can meet our critters..

Our challenge is the shelter is an old building and is worn out from taking care of all the animals. Around 500 animals a year are taken in and adopted. The local municipalities and the Tri-City Port Authority have been contacted about acquiring some land so the shelter can relocate. These companies have ignored our little shelter so we are still hunting for a newer, larger building.

The Granite City APA is a "no-kill" shelter meaning that we do not put a time limit on how long an animal will be maintained at the shelter. We give the animals we accept or rescue every attempt at adoption possible. "No-kill" does not mean "never kill" - we wish it did - but in reality, not every animal that comes to us can be adopted. Euthanasia may be performed if an animal is so sick it cannot be helped, or is so vicious or lacks socialization that it cannot be placed in a home. Our animals are not sentenced to a life in a crate, but are free to play and interact with others throughout the day.

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