Lydford, St Ann – Maureen Sheridan’s no Cruella, and the more than 100 stray, injured and abandoned dogs that she has taken in at the Animal House, a shelter she started 12 years ago, don’t have much in common with Disney’s 101 Dalmations, but they could become a valuable source of income if she can get the shelter fixed.

“We got an offer from Air Canada Vacations that if we could make the place pretty, they would send all of their tour people to us,” Sheridan told the Sunday Observer. “However, funding for that project, which was being sourced through TPDCo (Tourism Product Development Company), did not come through.”

It’s a pity, really, because the Animal House, a non-profit shelter, located in Lydford, St Ann just outside Ocho Rios, has shown the potential to be a viable attraction, especially since it is on the way to the Bob Marley Mausoleum.

“People keep saying to me, ‘you’re doing the government’s work’,” said Sheridan. “We even get letters from tourists thanking us for what we do and complaining about the sight of animals and how they ruin their holiday to see them in such distress.”

Sheridan, who travels and picks up the animals in her own car, said that the visitors usually give donations ranging from US$50 – US$100.

With 120 dogs and counting, the shelter is overcrowded and Sheridan wants to lighten the load.

Ideally, she’d want them to be as lucky as Marley, the three-year-old puppy who was adopted in April by Canadian visitor Lesley Ferrier, who rescued him from starvation on a beach in Ocho Rios.

“We want to get them all good homes,” she said. “That’s our aim, to get some help and to get good homes for our puppies.”

Marley’s adoption earlier this year brought much-needed attention to the struggling shelter and has resulted in the adoption of another four animals with three more adoptions pending (all to the US). Sheridan, however, said much more is needed.

She said the shelter has been able to place dogs in homes locally in addition to the overseas adoptions, but is in dire need of consistent funding for the day-to-day expenses of feeding and caring for the animals until they are placed. Included in this cost are veterinary fees, as many of the dogs come to the shelter hurt and wounded.

According to Sheridan, it costs approximately US$4,000 monthly to run the shelter.

“We get no government help,” she explained. “The only person that has supported us consistently is Chris Blackwell. He gave us an outright donation a year ago and has followed that up with monthly contributions since.”

The shelter, added Sheridan, has also received recent donations from Vanguard Security, Sandals as well as individuals.

“The impact of the three hurricanes on us was pretty intense,” she said in reference to last year’s active storm season and the effect of Hurricane Ivan on the island in 2004. “After each hurricane, you find a lot of lost and injured dogs on the roads, so we also have that to deal with and that was what threw us off our feet.”

In addition, she said, the structural damage that the shelter suffered during Hurricane Ivan has never been fixed, and they also lost medicine and food from flooding associated with hurricanes Dennis and Emily last year.