The Atmore Animal Shelter was closed for a time in Atmore, but Kathryn Sumrall is glad it is back. The shelter reopened in the waning months of the 2011 calendar year, roughly one year ago.

Sumrall is the owner of K-9 Kleaners and is doing her part to make sure it stays open. The company is having a fundraiser to support the cause.

Sumrall is a former animal control officer, so she knows firsthand how important funds are to maintaining the shelter.

“The reason the city went to the Humane Society is because they didn’t have enough funds to keep it open and then they contracted the Humane Society,” Sumrall said. “The Humane Society couldn’t keep it open either and they ended up closing it. We really need to push letting the city know if we want it to be there, we need to help support it.”

Sumrall said she feels very fortunate to have done well with her business and felt the need to give back.

“We’ve been blessed as a facility to be open,” she said. “I opened up and I was just hoping to be able to do something with animals and stay open in the job. I’ve been open for seven years this year and I said if I can make it when everything got going good, we wanted to give back to the community for animals. Since we are a pet-related business, I want to give back a percentage of whatever we make in November and turn around and give it back to the shelter.”

For the month of November, donations will be accepted and a portion of the money received for any type of service at K-9 Kleaners will go to the shelter.

In addition to a fundraiser for the entire month of November, pet owners can go ahead and mark their calendars for Dec. 1 if they would like to have their pet’s photo taken for a reasonable price and to benefit the Atmore Animal Shelter.

“December 1 we’re going to do Santa Paws pictures,” Sumrall said. “We’re gonna’ have Santa Claus come and it’s gonna’ be $5 pictures and all proceeds go to the shelter. Then, we’re gonna’ reveal how much money we make at the shelter for the November fundraiser and then present them with all the supplies donated. We’re hoping to raise about $2000 in funds and then, donations we’d like to give them enough donations to maybe make it for half a year, so that they don’t have to worry about going out and spending for supplies to keep the shop open.”

Sumrall said she attended a similar event back in 2005 when she worked with the Human Society.

“The Santa Paws pictures were only $5 and it’s hard to find a pet photographer that can do something for $5,” Sumrall said. “It was just a fun event: seeing the dogs’ reaction to Santa Claus. It’s just like children. They don’t know, they kind of stand back with that white beard and big red suit. But dogs do the same thing that children do.”

Sumrall said the biggest thing for her is to show appreciation for the many good services the shelter provides for the community.

“We’re gonna’ set up out here and do pet pictures with the dogs, we’re gonna do raffle tickets, door prizes, just make that day to really say thank you shelter for being there for us,” Sumrall said. “I’ve seen them come out and pick up dogs and keep dogs from getting hit. We’ve had a lot of dogs dumped here that people think that we’re going to be able to take them, but we have to immediately send them to the shelter because we don’t know if they’ve had their shots or not. So, they’ve come in and done all of that for us and I know they’ve worked with the community too.”

K-9 Kleaners, located at 1410 East Nashville Avenue, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Monday by appointment.

The major items needed for donation include: Pine-Sol, kitty litter and treats, trash bags, Clorax, antibacterial dish soap, washing powder, collars, leashes, dryer sheets, toys, blankets, and money donations for the spay/neuter fund.