Busy Fences for Fido group looking to add local volunteers

A Portland-based group that builds fences for dogs chained outdoors is in desperate need of crew leaders and volunteers for Southwest Washington projects, Fences For Fido team members said.

In addition, the group is seeking an extra-large, insulated dog house for a Great Dane/lab mix thats awaiting a fence in Castle Rock, according to Dolores Handy of Longview, Fences For Fidos Southwest Washington coordinator.

Unfortunately, we cant find anything that big, and we cant build his fence until we get a shelter, Handy said last week, adding that the insulated dog houses built by a Salem volunteer arent large enough for the giant dog.

Fences For Fido, an all-volunteer, nonprofit group formed in 2009, is dedicated to improving the lives of dogs kept outdoors by removing chains, building fences, providing new dog houses, offering medical care and free spaying and neutering. The group typically builds eight to 10 fences each month and usually has about 20 dogs on its waiting list.

The dogs owners arent charged a cent for the work, which runs an average of $600 per project, including the fence, insulated dog house and spay/neuter, according to http://www.fencesforfido.org. The group is funded by donations. Neighbors can anonymously request a fence for a dog, too, using a form on the website.

The dogs owners arent charged a cent for the work, which runs an average of $600 per project, according to http://www.fencesforfido.org. The group is funded by donations. Most clients are low-income and cannot afford to build their own fence, but there are no income requirements. Fence projects are based on the dogs needs rather than the familys financial status, according to the group.

Fences For Fido has built 46 fences for 81 dogs in Cowlitz, Wahkiakum and southern Lewis County. The groups Southwest Washington chapter could help more dogs if it had more local people willing to take charge of leading fence construction projects and getting the materials, Handy said.

So far, were having to rely on people coming up from Portland ... but Portland is booked out until April, Handy said. We would love to build a house every single weekend, but so far, we have not been able to find enough people to fulfill that need. ... We have so many dogs up here who need help.

Just on Wednesday, a volunteer discovered two painfully skinny dogs chained outside in Cathlamet by a ramshackle dog house. Fences For Fido volunteers brought over food and bedding and created makeshift shelters for the dogs until their cozy new dog houses arrive. The dogs owners, who said they couldnt afford to feed the dogs enough, accepted Fences For Fidos offer to build a fence, Handy said.

Fence building is easy, she said. Volunteers dig holes for cedar posts and cement them into the ground. (Within Longview city limits, however, a permit is required, and a city inspector must approve the holes before theyre cemented, which adds a couple of days to the project, Handy said). Volunteers return the weekend after the post-setting to erect a wood-and-wire fence.

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Busy Fences for Fido group looking to add local volunteers