FERRIDAY, La. &045; Tuesday morning, Lisa Smith, Donna Maroon and Sonny Onucki were putting paint on the walls in an effort to finish the Concordia Animal Welfare Shelter.

The shelter &045; CAWS for short &045; is nearing completion but needs help from the community to finish.

Money, materials and volunteers are needed to finish the project that started with the purchase of the building last summer.

Smith, outreach coordinator, said the shelter needs someone to lay the cinderblocks in the indoor run for dogs that need to be inside.

Lyn Latimer, volunteer coordinator, said people that could lend a hand painting, especially murals, would be much appreciated.

The building has been undergoing renovations since about December, Latimer said. With help from the Town of Ferriday with in-kind contributions and the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office offering inmate labor, the shelter building has been revamped. But, with money running low, these volunteers must take time out of their days, after their full-time jobs, to put together the finishing touches.

&uot;We’re doing all that ourselves to try to save money,&uot; Latimer said.

The shelter needs kennels to house animals in, inside and outside. While the rooms inside are built and close to completion, the shelter needs the stainless steel cages. Plus, they are waiting until they can get the pens built outside before having a grand opening.

&uot;The funding is getting short,&uot; said Lisa Smith, outreach coordinator.

But all the work is to achieve the main objective of the shelter, &uot;to improve animal welfare in this community,&uot; Smith said. &uot;There’s an awful lot of animals and not enough homes.&uot;

Bottom line, she said, the animals need to be spayed and neutered to control the pet population.

The shelter will house puppies as well as adult dogs. And, the shelter has three rooms for cats &045; one for kittens, one for females and one for males.

All of the pets will be separated into life stages, which is better for their well-being, Smith said.

But, the shelter has an inside capacity of 60 animals. And, before it can open, hopefully in the next few months, the outside pens have to be complete.

Right now, there are about 15 to 20 animals in foster care.

The shelter is only taking emergency rescues right now.

&uot;The number of animal cruelty calls we get would astound you,&uot; Smith said. Some of their money has been used for these emergency rescues, Latimer said.

The volunteers are planning fund-raisers to finish the shelter. They will have a booth at the Delta Music Festival to sell homemade pet treats, issue ID tags and sell animal clothing. And Memorial Day weekend, they will start back with their big fund-raiser &045; poker runs on Lake St. John.

&uot;Strays roaming the streets sends a deeper message that we don’t respect life,&uot; Smith said. And the shelter wants to remedy that by providing homes for animals in Concordia Parish.

To help call Latimer at 445-0712; Smith at (318) 757-4205 or the shelter at (318) 757-0927.