All Things. Spring Adoption. Is The Happiest Option. Adopters Share Stories from Home. Maddie s Fund Supports Our Lifesaving Work.

Transcription

1 Pawsible All Things Spring 2013 Adoption Is The Happiest Option Adopters Share Stories from Home Maddie s Fund Supports Our Lifesaving Work

2 Hello Friends! We absolutely believe there is a home for every animal. Currently, less than one-third of the pets in people s homes are adopted from shelters. If we can increase that number by only five percentage points shelter overcrowding will be eliminated. This month, our newsletter celebrates pet adoption. We re sharing stories of happy, healthy animals that found wonderful loving homes, like those shown on the center pages of this newsletter. We post even more adoption success stories on Facebook everyday. Visit us there and make sure to share your favorite stories with your family and friends. Springtime marks the beginning of Kitten Season. As you ll read in this newsletter, our new Kitten Nursery is helping us make tremendous progress in our ability to save the lives of more kittens. That s why we continue to work so hard to find solutions for kitten and cat adoptions, as well as to deliver innovative spay/neuter programs. Your continued support of lifesaving programs like our Kitten Nursery helps us advance our vital work across the Silicon Valley community. Thank You! President Humane Society Silicon Valley 901 Ames Avenue, Milpitas, CA (408) Humane Society Silicon Valley is an independent nonprofit organization. We are not governed by or affiliated with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) or the American SPCA (ASPCA) and receive no funding from these organizations. Adoptions/Lost & Found M-F: 10:30 am-8 pm Sat & Sun: 10 am - 7 pm Adoptions: (408) x150 Lost & Found: (408) x110 Pet Store M-F: 10:30 am-7:30 pm Sat: 10 am-6:30 pm Sun: 10 am-6 pm (408) x164 Grooming - by appointment only (408) x124 Medical Center Spay/Neuter Drop-Off: M-Sat 6:30 am-7:30 am Pickup: Same Day 4 pm-6 pm (408) x108 Vaccinations/Microchips M-F: 9 am-6 pm Sat: 9 am-5 pm (408) x108 Neighborhood Pet Adoption Centers Open every day 10 am-7 pm San Jose PETCO 500 El Paseo de Saratoga, San Jose (408) Sunnyvale PETCO 160 East El Camino Real, Sunnyvale (408) Board of Directors Marilyn Anderson Kara Berg Sue Diekman - Chair Sumita Dutta Gayle Haworth - Vice Chair Terry Lee Sue Levy Kate Mulligan Linda Netsch - Treasurer Stephen Sullins - Secretary Erin Toeniskoetter Honorary Board John Diekman Judy Kleinberg Judy Marcus Betty Moore Gordon Moore Tara VanDerveer Steve Wozniak

3 Amazing Space Kitten nursery hatches new adoption solutions Our nursery may not rhyme but it totally rocks! The new Kitten Nursery, and all the rooms around it that staffers like to call our Kittygarten, has already contributed to saving 889 loving little felines since July And that s with our three busiest months of kitten season still ahead of us, says Jeri Seiden, Manager of Rescue and Foster Care. Last May alone, we had over 200 kittens go through the Nursery, Seiden smiles. The facility has greatly expanded the number of kittens we re able to help. In conjunction with our Foster Care Program, we have already increased the number of kittens saved by 27% this year. You re Not Kitten. The nursery serves so many felines that it s hard to remember them all. A few, however, really stick out even when they re not kittens. Monkey was one of the most amazing mothers we have ever seen, Seiden smiles. She was a stray. Kind of a mess because she was very thin with almost no fur and a wild disposition. Seiden remembers Monkey began her stay as one of our more disruptive felines. Within four minutes of arriving, she already bit the Good Samaritan who rescued her and then began to give birth to a litter of kittens. Monkey s rough start continued. She was so emaciated that despite her best efforts, one of her kittens did not survive, Seiden recalls. But Monkey never gave up. She constantly cradled her babies and cleaned them so often they sparkled! Not Monkeying Around. Monkey remained much more loving with her kittens than she was with the Nursery staff and quickly racked up three more bite quarantines. They were never really bad bites, according to Seiden. But at a lot of other shelters, Monkey s behavior would have put her at risk. Feline Behavior Specialist, Ashley Vinar got to know Monkey very well. Monkey s behavior is pretty common. First off, she s on high alert because she s a new mom. She went on to explain, It s also typical for cats to Monkey is perfectly peaceful in her new home display playful aggression. But Monkey could be very quick to escalate from playful into lunging and biting. Ashley and the behavior team continued to work to socialize Monkey. But her stress level from living in a shelter was working against her. Finding Adoption Solutions. I saw Monkey s photo on the Humane Society Silicon Valley website, Marie remembers. She has such big, beautiful green eyes. My husband liked her, too right away. Marie came in and met with Jeri Seiden, who gave her the history of Monkey s challenges. My husband and I liked her, but I was a bit nervous about taking on a cat with her challenges. We probably would not have adopted her at that point. But Jeri gave us another option. Our goal is always to try to find a solution that s best for each animal, Seiden nods. We couldn t be certain how Monkey would behave when she was out of the shelter. We suggested fostering. Fostering Monkey would give Marie a chance to get to know Monkey better. In the worst case scenario, the arrangement would still provide our Rescue Team with some very valuable information about Monkey s personality outside the shelter. Marie remembers taking Monkey home, First thing we noticed was that she had a huge appetite. I mean, she d eat anything and everything. For the first few days, Marie confined Monkey to one room so she would acclimate to her new home. On about the fifth day, we opened that bedroom door. Monkey stepped out into the hallway, looked at the next room, then back at her bedroom. And then she just began running around. Marie smiles, It was like watching pure, unbridled joy. For fifteen minutes, she just ran around, jumping on beds and having a great time. Like she was finally home. Shortly after that, Marie and her husband adopted Monkey. The openness and support of Jeri s team and her willingness to find a solution that would be best for us and for this wonderful cat that made all the difference.

4

5

6 Saving Lives... Maddie s Fund President, Rich Avanzino, presents $1million award to WeCARE leaders WeCARE, the Santa Clara County alliance of animal shelters led by Humane Society Silicon Valley, has received a $1 million award from Maddie s Fund. Maddie s Fund is very pleased to present this Community Lifesaving Award to WeCARE, explains Rich Avanzino, President of Maddie s Fund. We are proud to recognize and support WeCARE s achievement of a 100% adoption guarantee for all healthy shelter dogs and cats for two years. Humane Society Silicon Valley has maintained a 100% save rate for all healthy animals in our care for the last seven years in a row, according to Beth Ward, HSSV s VP of Shelter Operations. Creating WeCARE helped drive a 100% save rate for healthy animals across the entire community by This very generous award recognizes the dedication and lifesaving work that we do in conjunction with all of the WeCARE partner shelters across Santa Clara County. Jon Cicirelli, Deputy Director of San Jose Animal Care Center and a founding member of WeCARE, remembers the beginning of the alliance. We started working together eight years ago, when Humane Society Silicon Valley first launched their Regional Rescue Program, Cicirelli recalls. The goal was to save as many animals as possible from our community s overcrowded shelters. In our first year together, we saved over two thousand animals by coordinating efforts with Humane Society Silicon Valley. The minute we saw that we were making a difference, we decided to do more. Beth Ward remembers moving quickly to enlist the other Silicon Valley shelters into the WeCARE The six WeCARE shelters are saving over 6,500 more animals per year a 55% increase in just 3 years! Find out more at hssv.org/asilomar

7 Takes A Community Humane Society Silicon Valley helps make Maddie s Fund Community Lifesaving Award possible alliance. We knew that to improve our ability to save lives all across Santa Clara County, we needed to act as a community. According to Ward, We worked diligently to increase communications between all of the shelters, and then to spread the word so that we could get the entire community involved and aware. Coordinated efforts to create county-wide spay/ neuter drives as well as adoption promotions have worked to reduce the number of animals at risk. We have really improved community awareness, Ward smiles. WeCARE is making a big difference. And now with the generous gift from the Maddie s Community Lifesaving Award, we will save even more lives in the future. WeCARE members include: San Jose Animal Care Center, Humane Society Silicon Valley, Town Cats, Santa Clara County Animal Care and Control, Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority, and Palo Alto Animal Services. The grant was divided between the organizations based on their increased pet adoption numbers over the prior year. Thank you, Maddie s Fund! Maddie s Pet Adoption Days Carol Novello, President of Humane Society Silicon Valley has two words for Maddie s Fund, Thank you. Novello continues, Driving an entire community toward the goal of saving every animal is extremely ambitious. WeCARE could not have moved forward so strongly toward that goal without the expertise and guidance of Maddie s Fund and the very generous support provided by their Community Lifesaving Award. We are very grateful. The Maddie s Community Lifesaving Award acknowledges outstanding contributions being made by communities that have implemented an adoption guarantee for all healthy shelter pets and plan to sustain that guarantee in the future. WeCARE was awarded $1.04 million. Maddie s Fund is a family foundation endowed by the founder of Workday and PeopleSoft, Dave Duffield and his wife, Cheryl. Maddie s Fund is helping to achieve and sustain a no-kill nation by providing solutions to the most challenging issues facing the animal welfare community through the combined efforts of Maddie s Grant Giving and Maddie s Institute SM. The original Maddie On June 1st and 2nd, Maddie s Fund is sponsoring their fourth annual FREE ADOPTIONS event. We are very excited to be participating, says Carol Novello. This is a great opportunity for every cat and dog, a wonderful opportunity for adopting families, and a very important fundraising opportunity for us since each adoption means a donation of up to $2,000 from Maddie s Fund.

8 Twice As Nice A Tale of Two Kitties Adopters Tony and Victoria wanted to share their joyful journey to adopting two kittens Though we didn t know it at the time, it was in the height of kitten season when Victoria and I made several visits to Humane Society Silicon Valley last summer, making the acquaintance of what seemed like dozens of sweet kittens. Each tiny face pulled at our heartstrings, but we were unable to make up our minds. Then we saw Butters whose name didn t seem sufficiently dignified for the stunningly handsome but very shy marbled tabby kitten sitting quietly at the rear of his cage, not at all eager to be come out and meet us. We went home kittenless, but I couldn t get him out of my mind That same evening we dashed back to the shelter, where we were taken in-hand by a wonderful adoption counselor, Finnegan Dowling. She was very kind and helpful, but also quite frank in letting us know that some shy, wild-born kittens like Butters can take a little longer to warm up to a new home that includes humans. But I was smitten, and Butters came home. In honor of our new friend, Butters was rechristened Finnegan. I think I had not fully appreciated how shy Finn was, and he remained in hiding under various pieces of furniture for the first few days. When he did begin to cautiously emerge, he would go straight for a narrow spot, low on a corner bookshelf, where he felt comparatively safe. Our previous cats had been an indoor pair, and we were in any case considering two new kittens this time around, so that they could provide one another company and entertainment. Finnegan (the two-legged one) had told us that a second, outgoing kitten a cheerleader, as she put it can be helpful in socializing a shy one. Thus, two weeks later, our Finn was joined by Samantha. Sam is an utterly charming, highly curious little tabby, as ready to trust us climbing into our laps and purring herself to sleep as Finn was suspicious of us. After the requisite several days separation, during which time there was much sniffing and pawing under the door, we introduced them. It took about ten minutes of wary circling, followed by a few more of cautious sniffing, before they were chasing each other around the house, wrestling, and curling up together. Finnegan, (the four-legger) now a bit over a year old, has grown into a large, long-legged, regal-headed lion who could earn his keep just lying around looking magnificent. He s still not jumping into laps, but has become quite unafraid, likes to hang out with us, and invites petting and brushing to which he responds with pleasureful purring and head-butting. Sam, a month or two younger, is now also full grown, still full of her kittenish curiosity and as sweet and affectionate as ever. She completely charms all who come through our door. But best of all, Finn and Sam are inseparable. They tear around the house together at amazing speeds, tumble together in mock battles (Sam is half Finn s size but more than holds her own), and, exhausted, curl up together, often in elaborately entwined arrangements of cat parts. We cannot now imagine our household without them. Many thanks to HSSV, and especially to two-legged Finnegan, for helping to bring us all together. Twice as Happy Tony & Victoria