Wet Pets and Other Watery Tales

The Book:

What is the Camden-Rockport Animal Rescue League?

Nearly 30 years ago, a small group of animal lovers looked around the mid-coast area and recognized a cruel reality: stray and homeless cats and dogs had little chance for survival.

Determined to change the situation, these men and women pooled their energy, scavenged facilities and equipment, and founded the Camden-Rockport Animal Rescue League.

For seven years, needy animals were sheltered in makeshift quarters, with food and facilities paid for solely through donations. When the kennel filled up, the League began collecting money for a new shelter to be built on Route 1 land donated by Eric Sexton. While fund-raising and construction went on, animals lived at a goat farm in Warren and the League-run dog pound.

In 1981, the Eric H.L. Sexton Shelter opened across from the small shopping center on Route 1 at the Camden-Rockport town line.

When the "new" shelter seemed about to burst at the seams, the attic was turned into space for cats, and a new fund-raising drive was launched. The current facility -- specially designed for animal care -- was dedicated in June 2000. Located at 146 Camden Street, Rockport, the Sexton Shelter is open 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Tuesday through Thursdays and on Saturdays, and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Fridays.

Who Benefits?

Today, CRARL follows the mission set forth in 1974, to offer temporary shelter and find permanent, loving homes for abandoned cats and dogs. The shelter also tries to help owners find lost pets and works to educate people about the responsibilities of pet ownership, including the importance of spaying and neutering cats and dogs, and the need to keep up-to-date on shots. CRARL euthanizes only when an animal is ill or injured beyond humane means to keep it alive, or is a serious threat to other animals or humans.

CRARL's mission means a second chance for many animals, including some who do not find new homes as easily as others. One cat lived at the shelter for eight years before being adopted. And an elderly, deaf and partially blind beagle was adopted after several months at the shelter. The shelter also offers a chance for pups like the five born in one of its cages one spring. They all headed to good homes, as did their mother.

But for them and the hundreds of others helped by CRARL in the past three decades, and for countless more in the coming years, the shelter means hope for the future.