CLOQUET — Carlton County has actually lacked an animal shelter considering that 2018 when
Friends of Animals closed its doors;
nevertheless, a group of people is figured out to alter that.
Carlton County Animal Rescue
formed in 2021,
and although the organization is without a physical shelter for the time being, its organizers are taking steps to better animal welfare in the community, board members said.
Contributed / Carlton County Animal Rescue
The group recently became an official nonprofit organization with the approval of its 501(c)(3) status, and organizers intend to keep expanding the rescue’s operations.
Board President and Cloquet resident Cory Martinson said the group’s biggest goals right now are to fundraise and organize to develop their foster system and to work towards gathering funds for a shelter.
To make progress more manageable, they created committees to disperse the workload, said board member and Cloquet resident Erin Thompson.
“Our board members all have day-jobs or other family commitments outside of that, and so we know it’s going to take more people,” she said. “Creating specific roles for people to help has been our goal … we want to match people up with where their skills and expertise will best fit and where their time and capacity will best fit.”
In the meantime, their main course of action has been creating a foster system and educating the public, Thompson said. This includes what people should do if they find a missing animal, such as getting the animal’s photo, checking it for injuries, looking for a tag and where to take it to check for a microchip.
Currently, there are no resources for pick-up of found animals in Carlton County.
However, Carlton County Animal Rescue can help people figure out what to do with found animals; fostering (including foster training for those who don’t have experience with it and want to get involved); providing education; and scanning for microchips.
Contributed / Carlton County Animal Rescue
Thompson said they’ve also put a lot of focus on neighborhood outreach by holding open community meetings, walking in parades, and by establishing partnerships with other community organizations.
The Carlton County Esko Cloverleafs 4-H Club is one of the group’s partners, having made and donated chew toys for animals.
County Seat Theatre also got involved through their summer youth production of “Dogs!” At each showing of the musical, children could pay to “adopt” a stuffed animal — complete with an adoption certificate — form Carlton County Animal Rescue.
Thompson said getting community buy-in has actually been “huge.”
Martinson emphasized how grateful the group is for the community support they received so far.
“We’re dedicated and we’re moving forward. We’re here to help — this is going to happen. This is a real existing issue that is a crisis,” he said.
Anyone who has ideas or who wants to learn more can reach out to the organization.
“We wish to engage with the community,” Thompson said. “We want to really have transparency and communication happening to help us see how we can best serve the needs of the animals across Carlton County.”
Those who are interested in getting included with Carlton County Animal Rescue can visit
or ccarescue.org (goes to the same place) and fill out the volunteer form. You can likewise learn more by visiting their
and by joining their
community discussion Facebook page.
Donations can be sent to their P.O. Box at 1110 Cloquet Ave. pmb 14, Cloquet, MN 55720.
Jess Waldbillig graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Superior with a Bachelor of Arts in writing and interaction in May 2023 and began with the Pine Journal in June 2023. She formerly dealt with the University of Minnesota Extension in Youth Development with 4-H. When she isn’t working she delights in reading, treking, checking out the area, and curating Spotify playlists.
