Banning City Treasure: Ellen Carr

Ellen Carr and TLC Animal Rescue work closely with Riverside County Animal Control Services. TLC believes in sharing resources. Since Riverside took control of the Banning Shelter, Ellen Carr and TLC Animal Rescue have fostered many of the kittens and puppies that are too young to be in the shelter. Over the years Ellen's home has been a foster home to thousands of homeless animals who otherwise may have been euthanized.

As stated by Ellen Carr:

"We have a really great relationship with the shelter. The City Council has changed our shelter from a slaughter house to a sanctuary. Mayor Brenda Salas and the Banning City Council have been strong supporters of the animals and TLC is very grateful for the support and encouragement."

TLC Animal Rescue is a nonprofit corporation, and all donations are tax deductible. TLC Animal Rescue can be reached at (951) 922-1255 or P.O. Box 299, Banning, CA 92220.

Banning animal rescue looking for new home

September 8, 2008

BANNING - Volunteers with Tender Loving Critters are committed to finding permanent homes for abandoned or stray cats and dogs.

The local animal rescue group is now looking for its own home.

This would allow TLC to expand, said its treasurer and adoption coordinator, Ellen Carr, 60, of Banning. It also would keep TLC -- whose volunteers take in animals until they are placed in permanent homes -- from being a public nuisance, she said.

Carr said she has had run-ins with the local code enforcement division for having too many cats and dogs at home and other alleged violations.

Banning residents who live on less than 20,000 square feet can have no more than a total of three cats and dogs at home. Residents who live in rural and agricultural parts of town can have up to eight animals.

The Banning City Council recently strengthened the city's animal ordinance. Matthew Bassi, then interim community development director, told the council on Aug. 12 that the previous ordinance could be misinterpreted.

A new ordinance approved by the council clarifies how many animals residents can have at home. It does not make an exception for animal rescue groups like TLC.

Councilman John Machisic said at the meeting that the council's responsibility is to the welfare of the entire community.

TLC could house more animals if it finds a place in Riverside County. In unincorporated areas of the county, people can have up to nine cats and four dogs at home. Rescue groups can apply for a permit to have more.

The Banning City Council expressed interest on Aug. 12 in reviewing the county's ordinance as it pertains to animal rescue groups.

Carr's vision is to settle TLC on 5 acres, preferably in the San Gorgonio Pass area, where a caretaker would live with the animals rescued by the group.

Carr said the land would have to be donated because TLC, a nonprofit, operates on less than $25,000 in donations a year.

Tender Loving Critters, formerly Inland Empire SPCA, was incorporated in 1994 in Banning, where most of its rescue efforts remain focused.

The group's mission is simple: to find permanent homes for cats and dogs in need. The animals in TLC's care are placed in foster homes in the interim. More foster families are needed, said Carr, who is caring for many cats and dogs at her house. She declined to say exactly how many.

Carr and other TLC volunteers bring cats and dogs available for adoption to pet stores, where they hang out for a day. At least one volunteer also advertises online, using petfinder.com, for instance. 

TLC receives animals that need to be rescued in various ways. Sometimes, Carr receives phone calls from people who tell her a relative has died and they need to find a home for the person's cat or dog; can TLC take the animal?

"Ninety eight percent of the time, I say yes," Carr said. Other times, people leave animals at her home, sometimes anonymously. Someone once left six puppies. Cats usually arrive in lots of six or seven.

Banning Mayor Brenda Salas pointed out that when the Banning Animal Shelter was euthanizing animals by the dozens, TLC volunteers swooped in and rescued many of them. "They've done a tremendous job," Salas said of the group's efforts.

TLC volunteer Michele Mastro, 56, of Palm Springs, regularly visits the Indio Animal Shelter, which releases kittens and cats into her care. Mastro and other TLC volunteers then work to find them homes.

TLC has removed 172 cats from the Indio shelter since Jan. 1, according to Mastro. Approximately 150 have been adopted.

Mastro said she's motivated by "the kitties." She said Indio is "very dog oriented. Adoptions for kittens are very slow." 

TLC volunteer Wanda Gardner, 52, of Banning, bottle feeds kittens and puppies that the group rescues. "I've always liked animals. I thought it would be fun," Gardener said.

 Betsey Webster, deputy director of Riverside County Department of Animal Services, said animals that are only weeks old "really could not survive in our shelter." Carr is personally responsible for saving a couple hundred cats and dogs a year, according to TLC volunteer Maryellen Wilkins, 63, of Banning. 

Carr has volunteered at TLC since 1998. 

"I don't consider it a business," she said of the group. "I consider it a labor of love. I'm not a business person. I rescue animals." 

Despite having respiratory problems, Carr regularly attends Banning City Council meetings, where she makes impassioned pleas on behalf of cats and dogs. 

"My two great loves in life are kids and animals," said Carr, a retired teacher who moved here from Arizona.