"Creature Features" is a labor of love and necessity.

Every story in the paperback collection of first-person accounts by pet-owners is an affectionate exercise.

But the other part is also true: the Mower County Humane Society needs money. Always did, always will.

It's that kind of job when the mission is saving unwanted pets.

And, it's another example of doing something good and being penalized at the same time for a certain philosophy.

The Humane Society's strict "no kill" policy, puts the "humane" in the organization's name, but also inadvertently complicates matters so long as the organization lacks the money and space to care for all the abandoned pets it receives.

After a successful September walk-a-thon fund-raiser for the Humane Society, volunteers raised $7,000.

However, extraordinary medical expenses are being incurred on behalf of claimed pets at the rate of $3,000 to $4,000 a month.

That's created a flurry of attention to new fund-raising ideas.

Jane Roden, president of the Humane Society, and Margie Culton, a volunteer, discussed the fund-raising project.

"We can continue," said Roden, "but we may not be able to pay to have all pets altered."

Unfortunate, this new fund-raising crisis comes at a time of otherwise

positive news from the Humane Society.

After moving to the new animal shelter location along 10th Drive SE in 1999, the value of the organization as a public service soon became apparent: the new shelter filled to over-crowding and a waiting list grew longer for pet-owners desiring to leave their pets.

This year, the Humane Society has adopted 175 abandoned dogs and 125 abandoned cats.

As the number of abandoned pets has grown, so has the need for volunteers. "We can always use more volunteers," said Culton. "There's so much to do and volunteering is a good way to fill community service requirements or to just help out."

In addition to person-power, the Humane Society needs financial help. Neither the city of Austin nor Mower County help the agency financially.

When volunteer Bill Culton suggested a paperback book of pet stories four years ago, it took some time before the idea was embraced by volunteers."The book is patterned after the 'Chicken Soup For Pet-Lovers' book," said Culton, sister of the project's founder. "We wanted true stories by local residents, so we asked our volunteers and adoptive parents to write them. Then, we advertised for more stories."

The Mower County Shopper assisted the project, which accumulated 70 to 80 stories of various length, plus pictures.

Roden, the Humane Society's president, likes the story about Simba the best.

Simba is a success story of the Humane Society.

"The Austin Police Department was called to the old Nelson Wheel Estates trailer court to check out reports of a dog barking," Roden said. "When they arrived there, they found a dog -- it was a puppy -- barking in an old shed. It had no food or water and the dog's owner had tried docking its ears and tail. It was a pit bull and it was in terrible shape and we took it to the shelter."

Bill Culton took the dog home as an adoptive parent, but became so attached that he later formally adopted the dog and named it Simba.

His sister, Margie, wrote a heart-warming account of the dog's life for "Creature Features."

Margie Culton likes best the story about "BeeBee," the Black Labrador retriever, who is one of 13 born to a mother, which had been shot with shotgun pellets as it ran loose two years ago.

When the shelter got the animal and had it treated for its injuries, it gave birth to the litter of puppies. The mother was later returned to its rightful owner, but the Humane Society had puppies to adopt. "It's a story with a happy ending,"

Culton said of her account of BeeBee.

The book went on sale in August at the 2002 Mower County Fair. Individual copies are $6 each with all proceeds gong to the Humane Society.

Every six bucks received is needed, according to Roden and Culton. Since January this year, the Humane Society has accumulated $26,000 in medical expenses. The money went for the physical examination, immunizations and other shots and spaying or neutering of the cats and dogs left at the shelter.

The society is also seeking to raise money with other fund-raising projects, including gift certificates, the sale of T-shirts pet photos by professional photographer Lisa Dockstader (coming this holiday season) and a project similar to the Austin Public Education Foundation's successful name on a wall project at Austin High School.

The Humane Society is offering a "Memory Wall" to honor all pets."

Interested volunteers may call the Humane Society for more information

(437-9262) or visit the animal shelter on Tuesday's 4:30 to 6 p.m. or Sundays, 1 to 3 p.m. All volunteers must be at least 12 years of age.

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com