Animal Rescue Center May Be Forced To Close

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(POLAND) - “Our Lil Bit of Heaven Animal Rescue Center and Sanctuary” in rural Owen County, near Poland faces a threatened cease and desist order from the state board of health.

And it was just last June that the center was flooded out of its former location in Martinsville.

Operator Joyce Deckard recalls that she spent "the night in the house in about a foot of water with 55 dogs and a pot-bellied pig!" she lost her home and most of her belongings.

Eventually, she moved to higher ground and with the help of private contributors built a kennel barn for the animals.

But now the board of health has told her she must install a separate septic system for the kennel and put a roof over all her outdoor dog runs.

The ground beneath the property is mostly clay, requiring a "mound" system that pushes the estimated cost of the improvements to as much as $20,000.

Once again, Joyce Deckard is appealing for help.

She was already auctioning donated items at www.bitofheaven.org, but that money was intended to establish a fund for helping low income residents of Owen County get their pets vaccinated as well as spayed and neutered.

She says cash donations would also be appreciated.

You can give at the web site or send a check to: Our Lil Bit of Heaven Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, 4259 Mangus Road, Poland, In 47868.

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