Animal Shelters

Hope for county animals

2009-11-14T05:09:21Z

The new county animal care and regulation center on Bradshaw Road is providing a more spacious habitat to a wide variety of animals.

It houses cats, dogs, rabbits, reptiles, llamas, goats and horses and any other animal that comes through the doors. It also extends many animals' lives.

For visitors to the previous county animal shelter, the words 'five days' are chilling. That is the typical amount of time animals live at a government-run animal shelter before they are euthanized. If they are deemed dangerous, diseased, or unadoptable they will be killed immediately.

The new shelter allows the animals to have more time. The facility is spacious so the animals are displayed in habitats.

According to Chris Amos, communication and media officer for the County of Sacramento Municipal Services Agency, 90 percent of euthanized animals are feral cats.

"This is a fluffy adoption center," Amos said. "It's also a jail and a hospital. Because of that our adoption rate is up but so is our intake rate."

Improvements to come for the shelter include a bigger spay/neuter clinic run by the Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

"With this new clinic we could actually make a dent in the population," Amos said.

The volunteers at the shelter are dedicated specialists in their fields.

Gena Ensey, volunteer in the cat section, has been evaluating and spending time with 192 cats.

"We never thought this day would come, that we would get this facility," Ensey said.

"The new facility is better for everyone," volunteer Fred Stacey said. "Being cooped up they get hyper and stressed out."

Amos said the facility will host several adoption events in December. Pet Pantry, in a partnership with Coats for Kids, asks visitors to the facility to drop off a coat and a bag of animal food. Home for the Holidays offers animals one year or older to be adopted for free and receive free microchipping and vaccinations.

"It's a business," Amos said. "We're having to get more and more creative."

There will also be a celebration of demolition when the previous county shelter is blown up.

For more information on the shelter and to adopt an animal visit the animal care and regulation website.

Photos courtesy of Anthony Bento; for more photos visit anthonybento.com

Fluff, Muff, and Puff

Tia

Kitten #A510777

Kitten #A510725

Kitten #A50788

Kitten #A51347

Everton and Frisky

Jolene

Elena

Tamby

Flora

Faye

Jimmy

Butterscotch

Socks

Twinkle

Basil

Puppy #A511092

Rudolph

Maddie's Fund for a no-kill nation

2009-12-11T06:57:05Z

A miniature schnauzer named Maddie stole the heart of PeopleSoft founder David Duffield and his wife, Cheryl, before the dog died in 1997. Duffield made a promise to Maddie that should they ever become well off, their top priority would be to contribute money to animal causes to repay the love Maddie gave them.

To keep their promise, the Duffields started Maddie's Fund. It has set a goal of a 100 percent no-kill nation by 2015 by increasing the live release rate, or percentage of animals leaving a shelter alive, and promoting community involvement.

The nation's shelters kill 3.7 million dogs and cats, annually. That number must drop to 700,000 to reach the no-kill national goal, according to Maddie's Fund. Rich Avanzino, president of the fund.

According to Maddie's Fund figures, four million pets are adopted nationwide every year, which breaks down to three pets per shelter per day. In order to save the three million-plus pets that are being euthanized, two more pets per shelter per day would have to be adopted, an adoption rate of five pets per shelter per day.

"If, as a group and along with other rescue groups in the area, we can come anywhere near meeting the intent of the spay/neuter programs, the no-kill goal should be easy," said Kay House, director of Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary "It certainly would make everyone happier, and be much healthier for all the animals."

According to Avanzino, Maddie's Fund grants are available to all shelters in the United States as long as the shelters in a community are working together, making progress and have a goal to increase the live release rate.

"I have no idea if the goal is realistic, but it is something to aim for," House said. "The greater Sacramento area has done a terrible job of educating, encouraging and enforcing spay and neuter."

According to Avanzino, without community involvement Maddie's Fund would not be as successful.

"We are working on transparency and accountability," he said. "Public engagement and involvement is key to our success."

Whatever Maddie's Fund does to save animals' lives or what its goal may be, there always will be disagreement about animal shelters, Avanzino said.

"No-kill is just a movement — they are trying to make a point," said Penny Cistaro, manager of Animal Care Services facility. "'Kill' makes it sound like we're taking baseball bats and hitting the animals over the head. We perform euthanasia here."

"The shelters need to do what the loving pet owners do in their community," Avanzino said. " It's not about what the shelter can afford, it's not about what's easy. It's about what a loving pet owner would do for their animal."

Maddie's Fund has three multimillion dollar grants, including a $30,000-$40,000 one for communities that strive for no-kill status. All of the grants offer more money as communities work toward the goal.

It's important to educate people "that spaying/neutering ultimately is better for everyone than mass euthanasia," House said.

Avanzino said Maddie's Fund wants to work with Sacramento to increase its live release rate.

And that's a goal animal shelters agree with.

"We always say we wish we could be put out of business," said Lesley Kirrene, director of public relations for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Maddie's Fund is committed to every animal, Avanzino said, adding "they are more than just best friends, they're family members."

Maddie

Sac Press readers making Mission Orange a success

2009-12-13T04:03:41Z

Saving all adoptable animals—that's the goal of Mission Orange.

The four major animal shelters in Sacramento -- the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Sacramento Animal Cares Services, the Animal Care and Regulations Center and Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary -- hope to make a difference in animal welfare by joining forces in "Mission Orange." Also known as a community initiative, Mission Orange aims to increase the live release rate, or percentage of animals that leave the shelter system alive through adoption or return to owner, and earn a prestigious grant from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"We are combining all of our resources in order to increase the live release rate," said Penny Ciastro, Animal Care Services manager.

The mission was introduced to Sacramento in January and will kick into gear in 2010, according to Chris Andis, communication and media officer for the County of Sacramento Municipal Services Agency.

"We were selected because we were already working together as a group on many issues, including passing the licensing ordinance and our partnership with the SSPCA, who is going to be operating the new spay/neuter clinic when it opens early next year," Andis said.

According to the ASPCA, the bulk of the grants program supports Mission Orange partnerships across the country and funds a number of services, including spay/neuter and adoption programs.Grants range in value from $500 to $5,000.

"The programs should get going in 2010," Andis said. "We will be creating a special website with the mission, goals and actual statistics so people can see how we are doing. This first year we are gathering, analyzing and preparing and creating strategies and programs to reach our goals."

Each Sacramento shelter has its own goals based on the particular needs of the shelter. The Animal Care Regulations Center is focusing on resolving the aggressive pit bull issue and getting more adult cats adopted.

"We also want to reduce the numbers of animals coming into shelters," Andis said.

Lesley Kirrene, director of public relations for the SPCA, said cooperation between shelters and the community spreads resources and benefits the animals.

The ASPCA, a small New York-based animal shelter that receives the largest amount of donations in the nation, has been spearheading Mission Orange since 1866.

And it has pulled in other animal organizations with the same goals.

"We are equal partners in the grant and the program," said Happy Tails director Kay House. "The greater Sacramento area has done a terrible job of educating, encouraging and enforcing spay and neuter."

After the articles about the four shelters were posted on Sacramento Press with photos of some of the adoptable animals, 20 animals from the SPCA, eight animals from the County Animal Care and Regulation Center and eight animals from Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary have been adopted. The shelters have expressed thanks to the readers of The Sacramento Press for their support.

Peace, love and Adoption

2009-10-26T05:45:09Z

Peace, love and adoption were in the air Saturday night at the SPCA Raining Cats and Dogs gala.

The 1960's themed silent and live auction benefiting the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals brought nearly 1,000 people to the Convention Center, according to Steve Potter, director of development

"We had a wonderful turnout," he said. "Even in the economic downturn, animal welfare still pulls on people's heart strings."

A live performance of "Hair" was visible on four stages among auction items as well as on the main stage along with the live music were two continuous slideshows of adoptable animals. A puppy named Ears was a crowd favorite, as indicated by the "awwwwws."

"This is always such a great event," said Julie Bush. "We've been coming for the past three years and plan to keep coming."

Auction items, including a meeting with actress Betty White, tickets to next year's Emmy's, and a homemade apple pie, raised thousands of dollars.

For an update on the amount raised and to view prize winners, visit the SPCA's Web site.

Finding homes and hope at the Sacramento SPCA

2009-11-22T00:58:41Z

"You are super cute," said Lesley Kirrene, as she walks past bright-eyed animals waiting for homes.

"Once the animals are on the adoption floor we have made a commitment to them that we will find them homes," said Kirrene, director of public relations for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The shelter is keeping its promise. Cage after cage proudly displays the blue sign reading "On hold," which means the animal is waiting to be picked up and brought home. The lucky dogs for the day were Dorris, Roscoe, Rockie, Dot, Brindle, Fred, Conan, Bob and Kasey, who wagged their tails excitedly, knowing that they were about to go home.

The shelter is not considered a "no-kill" facility because it takes aggressive animals that have a history of attack and animals sick beyond treatment that need to be euthanized.

"We're not a no-kill shelter, we are an open-door shelter," Kirrene said. "We give animals that never had a chance at adoption a chance: un-weaned kittens, animals that need amputation and that 9-year-old dog that would normally be euthanized. We will treat animals, bottle-feed kittens and amputate a leg."

The shelter is constantly improving their home-like habitats and finding new ways to prevent upper respiratory infections that are common in animals with sensitive immune systems.

"We are putting more levels into the cats' habitats so that they have even more space to hide and play," Kirrene said. "Having more space is important to preventing the animals from getting sick."

Along with improving the habitats, the SPCA is partnering with the County Animal Care and Regulation Center on Bradshaw Road, Sacramento Animal Care Services facility on Front Street and Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary on Folsom Boulevard. Together, they have created "Mission Orange," a pact among the animal shelters to come together and raise the live release rate among adoptable animals and reduce the number of euthanized animals, according to Kirrene. If improvements are seen, the shelters will receive a grant from the ASPCA which will help to keep the improvements coming.

The shelter takes pride in the care that they give their animals and their high adoption rates.

"We have great volunteers that take the animals out multiple times a day for walks and to go to the bathroom," Kirrene said. "We take animals from anywhere as far as Santa Barbara to the Butte area and bring them here because we can adopt them out."

Despite the success that the SPCA has in adopting animals, the organization's wish remains the same for the nation: to not need animal adoptions and for people to be responsible with their animals.

"We always say we wish we could be put out of business," Kirrene said

The shelter is currently working on their annual book sale, one of three large fundraising events for the shelter. For more information on upcoming events, programs offered, adoption opportunities or to make a donation, visit the SPCA website or visit the shelter at 6201 Florin Perkins Road.

Harry Potter and Captain Hook

Bullet

Otis

Eve

Gracie

Jed

Bubbles

Whisper

Milo

Gracie

Penny

Bear

Jay Jay

Smoochie

Suzie

Leah

A Bay Bay

Eve and Sugar Pie

Angel

CoCo

City Shelter joins forces to make strides

2009-12-03T07:19:36Z

The Sacramento Animal Care Services facility on Front Street rotated dozens of animals and 30 people surrendering pets, filling out missing pet reports and retrieving their animals through the small receiving room on Tuesday.

The shelter handles all of the city's animal-care issues, including cruelty investigations, quarantines and licensing, but it still need help with their own deficiencies.

"We always need volunteers in all areas — clerical, socializing, feeding, adoptions, everything," said animal care services manager Penny Cistaro.

The shelter currently has 175 volunteers, compared to the other three shelters in Sacramento that have over 1000. Their medical care facility and spay/neuter clinic share a small trailer located in the back of the shelter, and despite the high volume of animals received, the available space for animals is scarce.

According to Cistaro, the shelter is not a "no-kill" facility because they perform euthanasia on animals that are deemed to be sick, too young, too old, not adoptable, or there is no space to house them.

"No-kill is just a movement—they are trying to make a point," Cistaro said. "'Kill' makes it sound like we're taking baseball bats and hitting the animals over the head. We perform euthanasia here."

According to Cistaro, to increase the live release rate and make a difference in the animals population, the community needs more resources like strong spay/neuter clinics and behavior programs, and look at the costs of veterinary services and of housing large animals.

"There are food banks for people who can't provide for themselves, but nothing for animals," Cistaro said. "So we opened a pet food bank."

The shelter is teaming up with the County Animal Care and Regulation Center on Bradshaw Road, the Sacramento SPCA on Florin-Perkins and Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary on Folsom Boulevard. Together, they have created "Mission Orange," in hopes of increasing the live release rate in Sacramento and receiving a grant from the ASPCA.

"We need to make this a social problem, not a shelter problem," Cistaro said. "Shelters need to be more proactive."

For more information about the shelter or to volunteer visit the Sacramento Animal Care Services website.

Katrina

Tabitha

Purrsimmon

Dart

Grace

Forrest

Aspen

Cali

wynter

Awesome Andy

Sully

Jasmine

Callie

Amie

Art

Grover

Sasha

Happy Tails gets a happy new home

2009-10-18T03:15:28Z

Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary celebrated their 16th anniversary at their new Folsom Boulevard location Saturday.

Hundreds of people came between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to check out the new sanctuary once located on 56th Street in an 800-square-foot space, now located on Folsom Blvd. in a 3,400-square-foot space.

"It's a huge success," volunteer Cherilyn Burton said. "It's great to have more space."

According to Kay House, director of Happy Tails, it is a 100 percent volunteer organization with 200 active volunteers on their roster. It is a no-kill, cageless sanctuary for rescued cats from other shelters, homes, or situations of abandonment. The sanctuary takes in the cats that would be euthanized elsewhere. They also have a foster program for kittens until they become old enough to move into the space with the others, although the move to a bigger space was not an attempt to get more cats.

"We don't want to increase the number of animals," House said. "We want to be able to take better care of the ones that are here."

The new location provides seven different rooms that house the cats. The FIV (feline aids)-positive cats are kept in one room away from the others. There is a senior room for the cats 10 and older, a room for the cats with special diets, two single cat rooms for the new additions that are being introduced to the living facilities, as well as two big rooms for all the rest of the cats. Each room has a list of the cats' names.

"Every cat gets some attention every day," House said. "We all get really attached to the animals."

At the grand opening, two cats, Chile and Hobbs, were adopted together, and five others will be revisited Sunday for adoption.

For more information about adoptions, volunteer opportunities, or fundraising events, visit the Happy Tails website or contact (916) 556-1155 or e-mail purrball@happytails.org.

Brio- FIV positive also big and fluffy

Chile- One of the two adopted

Figero and Magpie- Best Friends Forever

Harriet- Very Playful

Jack- Very Calm

Kashuna- New to the sanctuary and likes to hide

Lewis- Elderly and loves his basket

Martha- New to the sanctuary

Moses- 17 years old and very calm

Pekoe- Big but loves the little box

Spot- Elderly and has arthritis in his back legs and loves to sleep by the toilet

Sunny- Loves to be rubbed

Taffy- Very Fluffy

Volunteer Amy Brown holding one of the foster cats Wally

Ziggy- FIV positive and just had his teeth removed very lovable