One critter’s brainfood can be another creature’s comfort.
At the Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley, kittens doze on blankets and unfolded newspapers. Puppies circle on beds of shredded broadsheets.
But the group’s store of newspapers is almost exhausted. The organization is requesting newspaper donations to all three of its adoption centers, including Coon Rapids and Woodbury, to offset a slump in donations.
“We definitely have been using a lot of newspaper,” public relations strategist Brittany Baumann said. “But the amount and the volume at which it’s actually coming to us onsite has just significantly decreased.”
Lining kennel floors with newspaper allows volunteers and staff to clean kennels quickly, said Naomi Main, operations supervisor at the organization’s Golden Valley adoption center, and puppies can dig and play in shredded newsprint.
“It’s very funny when you take them out and put them back in after cleaning,” Main said. “They’ll just jump around in the shred the whole time.”
Main estimated that the Golden Valley site alone uses 50 to 100 pounds of newspaper a day.
In the facility’s newspaper room on Tuesday, volunteer Tariq Stewart, 23, of New Brighton, separated double sheets to line kennels and single sheets to go through a shredder. On the shelves were a couple of paper bags that had held donations, and the corner usually reserved for shred bags was empty.
