Mission
The mission of the Cedar Rapids Animal Care & Control is to serve and protect with compassion, the animals and citizens of our community through education and enforcement, and to facilitate successful pet adoptions while respecting and striving to improve the quality of life for both pets and people.
UPCOMING EVENTS
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Wine & Ap-PAW-tizers
The Friends Helping Friends Foundation of Cedar Rapids intive you attend the Wine & Ap-PAW-tizers event, Thursday, June 6, 2013. The special event will benefit the Cedar Rapids Animal Care and Control Shelter. Wine & Ap-PAW-tizers will be held at the 1st Avenue Wine House, 3412 1 Ave NE, from 5:30-7:30 pm. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $25 per person and are limited to 150 attendees. CLICK HERE for a flyer to post in your office.
FIDO'S FREEDOM 5K!!!
Cedar Rapids Animal Care and Control has been invited to participate in the 30th anniversary of Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival with Fido's Freesom 5K, a fun run/walk that will be held Saturday, June 22,nd, along with the DockDogs event on the Kirkwood College Campus. The 5K will include a Pet Expo with pet supply and retail vendors, food vendors, music, pet contests, fly ball agility and nose work demonstrations, and loads of fun for the whole family - including Fido!
Mark your calendars now, and get ready to register for this great event. Registrations will include string bags filled with lots of goodies for both you and Fido, as well as Freedom Festival buttons that will get you into other festival events like DockDogs. Fido gets in FREE.
Support Fido's Freedom 5K with a Memorial Sponsorship!
Memorial Sponsorships of our Fido’s Freedom 5K dog walk can be made in memory of a loved pet who has passed away. This is beautiful way to honor your beloved pet and at the same time support the Cedar Rapids Animal Care & Control. In this way, your special friend will be honored in the lives of the many animals we will be able to help in the coming year. CLICK HERE for a Memorial Sponsorship form.
Volunteer Orientation
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, Saturday, May 18, 11:00 am is the day to learn how. Plan to attend at the Cedar Rapids Animal Care and Control Shelter and learn what you can do! We need you!
History OF Animal Care and Control
The Cedar Rapids Animal Care & Control is an 'open admission' shelter with a small staff and corps of volunteers who help care for more than 3,000 animals per year. We accept all animals brought to us from the City of Cedar Rapids and Marion. We work collaboratively with foster and rescue teams to ensure that our animals are either reunited with their owners or are placed in new, loving homes.
Cedar Rapids Animal Control was founded in 1958. The first shelter opened in 1959 at the home of Charles A. Lockhart on Otis Road. By 1980, the staff had grown to 5, including: an Animal Warden, one kennel attendant, and 3 animal control officers. The shelter was relocated in 1981 to an abandoned sewage treatment facility on Cedar Bend Lane, where it remained until late Spring of 2008 when the shelter was destroyed in the flood. Every animal was saved, and an emergency animal shelter was established at Kirkwood Community College until the current temporary shelter was leased on North Towne Lane NE in November of 2008. A new Program Manager was hired in October 2009 to oversee shelter operations, animal control enforcement, and the new shelter building project.
Plans for the new facility are underway to rebuild on the Kirkwood Community College campus with a ground breaking ceremony this Fall, and a tentative Grand Opening in July of 2013. (See design concept drawings and plans by clicking on the LEARN MORE link on the right.)
Enforcement
The Cedar Rapids Animal Care & Control provides animal control services for the City of Cedar Rapids only, and provides sheltering for the City of Marion.
Animal Control Officers are authorized to investigate possible animal related law violations and take appropriate enforcement action. Each year, CRACC receives 30,000+ calls for information and service. Officers conduct hundreds of investigations, ranging from relatively minor code violations to major animal cruelty cases.
In some cases, our officers may promote voluntary compliance by educating owners about their animal care responsibilities; other situations may warrant administrative action and/or prosecution. Additionally, our officers rescue animals that are stray, sick or injured, or endangered by other situations.
If you are aware of a situation that you believe may harm or jeopardize animal welfare (such as animal abuse, neglect, injury, or endangerment) or public health or safety (such as a bite, attack, or harassment of a person by an animal), or that may otherwise be in violation of an animal related law, we urge you to contact our office and report what you have seen or heard. A dispatcher or Animal Services Representative will take a report and forward the information to a trained Animal Control Officer for investigation. Please call us at: (319) 286-5993
Animal related emergencies and urgent matters may be reported at any time of the day or night, any day of the week.
NOTE: For Any human life threatening situation, please call 9-1-1.
Although we do our best to keep current and reliable information on each report and stray animal in our care, we strongly encourage you to personally visit our shelter to look for your lost pet, since only YOU can accurately identify your pet. And we encourage you to visit daily until your pet is found.
Unidentified animals are held for only five days (excluding date of impound and Sundays/holidays) for owner reclaim. Animals that are injured or diseased may be held for a shorter period. Animals that are not claimed within the five-day holding period may be made available for adoption.
Donations
Cedar Rapids Animal Care & Control gratefully accepts monetary donations for the building project as well as animal care and spay/neuter of our orphaned pets. Donations can be mailed to:
Cedar Rapids Animal Care & Control
"Friends Helping Friends" Foundation of Cedar Rapids
2109 North Towne Lane NE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402
We also maintain a Wish List of items we need a supply of on a daily basis. A convenient online Wish List can be found on Amazon.com.
This online list includes several items the shelter needs on a daily basis (see partial list below), but the online list also includes those items needed for our new facility as well.
DAILY WISH LIST ITEMS
Bleach
Paper Towels
Sponges
Mr. Clean Magic Markers
Dawn Dish Detergent
Toilet Paper
Copy paper, colored paper stock and Pens
Gift Cards to: Walmart, Target, PetSmart, and Thiesen's
Big KONGS for the dogs
Cans of Authority brand cat food
Cat carriers and Litter pans
Kitty toys
Kitten formula
Clear plastic storage boxes
Off-Leash Dog Park Permits
Permits/tags (or daily passes) are required for all dogs using the Cedar Rapids off-leash dog parks.
Cedar Rapids has 2 Off-Leash Dog Parks:
Cheyenne Park Off-Leash Area
1650 Cedar Bend Lane
Ely, IA 52227
and
Squaw Creek Park – expected to open in Spring 2013
(Located in Marion by Squaw Creek Park across from Gardner Golf Course).
The annual permit is good for both parks. Annual permits are $27/year, with a $5 discount available if your dog is spayed or neutered, OR if you are purchasing permits for more than one dog (you may choose only one of these discounts). In addition, you qualify for a second $5.00 discount if your dog has passed a Recall test offered by K9COLA (this is a one-time test and passing means $5.00 discount off the cost of your permit each year for the life of your dog. Email info@k9cola.org for information on test dates).
You will need to present proof of vaccinations and/or proof of spay/neuter from your vet to purchase a permit. If your dog has passed the K9COLA Recall test in the past, you will need to show the test certificate to get that discount.
Daily permits will be available for $6 at the dog parks if you just want to try them out, or if you are visiting the area.
Permits can be purchased at the Cedar Rapids Animal Care & Control (2109 N Towne Ln NE; phone is 286-5993; email AnimalControl@cedar-rapids.org). Click here to download a Permit Application: http://www.cedar-rapids.org/government/departments/animal-control/Documents/Dog%20Park%20Permit%20Application%202010.pdf
If you have questions, contact Cedar Rapids Animal Care & Control at 286-5993, or email K9COLA at info@k9cola.org.