A new job would be tough for anyone, but add balancing budgets and caring for animals and that would frazzle anyone.

However, that task is not frazzling the Coles County Animal Shelter’s new director, Jaime Elliott, who took over in December.

With talk of budget shortages in the county and state, Elliott says cuts have yet to be made. “We’ve stayed within budget so far,” she said.

However, to keep the budget steady, the shelter has made cuts in areas that weren’t needed at the animal shelter, Elliott added.

For instance, instead of hiring out maintenance, they are having the county provide maintenance to the facility. Also, instead of purchasing supplies such as cat litter, cleaning products or animal food, the shelter is relying primarily on donations.

People in the area usually donate the cleaning supplies, while KalKan Animal Food donates pet food.

“We try to solicit for people to donate,” Elliott said.

Although the month of January was slow, the shelter, which was founded in 1979, usually brings in at least 200 animals in the spring. Most are cats and dogs, but occasionally they will get unusual animals.

In the past, they have brought in rabbits, pot-bellied pigs, goats, sheep and horses because of cruelty. The shelter provides rabies treatment and animal control, plus investigates complaint calls and cruelty to animals.

The goals that Elliott has for the rest of the year is to decrease the number of animals brought in, increase adoption, especially with the number of dogs and cats. The shelter also advocates the spaying and neutering of cats.

With dogs that are brought in, the shelter keeps them for seven days and then it evaluates the health and temperament of the dogs. If the dogs are fine, they will go up for adoption. However, if the dogs are not fine, chances are they will be euthanized.

“Euthanasia is a last resort,” Elliott adds.

On an average, 30 dogs and 10 cats a month are euthanized.

“The only cats we euthanized are if they have feline leukemia or feline AIDS, or if they’ve been trapped,” she said.

Elliott emphasizes that this is a very low number compared to other animal shelters.

“I’ve been told there are shelters in this area that euthanized 98 percent. We won’t be satisfied until we euthanized zero percent,” Elliott commented.

Currently, the Coles County Animal Shelter has six full-time and four part-time employees. However, they are always looking for volunteers to help out.

Typically, volunteers brush cats and dogs and take the dogs out for walks. By walking the dogs, this reduces stress in the shelter, Elliott said. What the volunteers do depends on how long they have been volunteering.

Volunteers who have been helping out at the shelter for awhile are able to clean the kennels and feed the animals.

“A lot of Eastern students come out and take the dogs for a walk,” she said.

However, letting go of the animals is never easy for the staff.

“We get attached to the pets,” Elliott said.

People wanting to volunteer at the shelter can call 345-4112.