It upset a lot of people when Bid-A-Wee, the Wantagh animal shelter closed down. Luckily, a new animal shelter has taken its place. This shelter is called the Last hope, it is a no-kill shelter and celebrated its 30 year anniversary by opening in Wantagh.

After Bid-A-Wee closed due to economic problems, those working at Last Hope were the first people to ask about renting. There was much negotiation, and Bid-A-Wee was continuing to use the Wantagh location on Saturdays to promote their other locations. They then lent the shelter to Last Hope for cat spaying and neutering. After much consideration Last Hope rented out 10 of the existing dog kennel runs, and the original cattery.

If you haven’t visited the new shelter yet you should know that a couple of renovations have been made. Cats at this facility have two full rooms to roam around and do whatever they please. They are also able to put cats and dogs in the same facility. Before the Last Hope had to house dogs in Lindenhurst and cats in Huntington. Wantagh gives the cat volunteers and dog volunteers a chance to work together. The shelter has so much more than before and now includes grooming rooms, feeding rooms and even meeting rooms.

If you have spare time you should check out some of the fundraising events that the Last Hope is hosting. It would be helpful considering they rely on donations and grants. They already held a Zumba-thon where many people paid $10 dollars for admission and got a high energy work-out. During this event people were also selling books and doing raffles. On October 30th they will be holding a ‘’Howl-O-Ween Festival” where your pets can participate in a costume contest. There are four different categories to enter. There will also be raffles, and Halloween goodies.

The Last Hope is always looking for new volunteers. They are afraid that some of the volunteers from their other locations won’t want to all the way to Wantagh. The Last Hope welcomes people who had volunteered at Bid-A-Wee. The Last Hope has 100 volunteers in all. New people are always welcome.