The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri is taking extra steps to care for animals in need throughout Cape Girardeau this winter season. It has redirected its focus from not only helping homeless animals but also to providing care to animals with homes whose owners are not financially stable enough to afford the necessary pet supplies.

Making sure the shelter animals are taken care of is equally important as helping the animals lacking necessities among the community, according to Kelly Goff, director of the Humane Society.

"We try to be as comprehensive as possible. We try not to worry about just the dogs here," Goff said. "This year we have started doing two new things. One, is providing dog houses for animals in the community whose owners either don't have one, or can't afford one. The other thing is we provide free straw for insulation, which is provided on the front porch."

Because there is a year round need for supplies at the Humane Society it has been encouraging the community to donate various pet items in order to have surplus for pet owners in need.

"We always try to keep extra around [pet food, dog houses]. If someone calls needing a bag of cat food, I don't always have an extra bag, but they are welcome to pick one up if I do," Goff said.

According to Olivia Landgrebe, a volunteer at the Humane Society and a sophomore at Southeast Missouri State University, the main concern for shelter animals in winter is making sure every animal gets the opportunity to exercise and socialize in the cold weather. Making sure the animals are comfortable and healthy is crucial for the adoption process.

"A lot of the time whenever it gets really cold outside people [volunteers] won't come. They'll just stop coming because they don't wanna be out in the cold but then they forget that there are dogs that are bottled up in these small cages and stuff and then what happens is the dogs get really anxiety ridden, because they're all barking, and all that and they don't have exercise," Landgrebe said. "They don't get to run out and play so whenever people come in to adopt, the dogs seem less adoptable because they seem all scatterbrained and stuff because they're not relaxed."

There are certain conditions that the volunteers follow to ensure maximum care and comfort for every animal at the shelter.

"In the winter the temperature requirement for shutdown is 38 to 40 degrees," Goff said. "Each animal gets a bed called a Kuranda and what that does is keep the animals off the floor."

The Humane Society began a Kennel Enrichment Program in 2013 in order to reduce any stress in the shelter environment. The program was adopted in order to make kennel conditions more soothing to the animals.

"We play classical music to keep them [animals] mentally occupied, and they get Kongs [toys] filled with peanut butter and toys to keep them physically occupied," Goff said.

The number of volunteers at the shelter decreases during the peak temperatures in winter and summer. People lose interest in walking and exercising the animals when freezing temperatures arrive. Because 70 to 80 percent of the volunteers are students at Southeast many of them reside home or end their volunteer work during the school break.

"Summer break is really what hurts us on the number of volunteers we have because the majority of them are students," Goff said.

If anyone is interested in becoming a volunteer at the humane society or fostering a shelter animal they can access their online applications at http://www.semopets.org/Volunteer.html. If anyone has any questions or is interested in adopting an animal from the humane society they can contact the shelter at 573-334-5837.