Another Chapter of the Great Rescue Journey...

I'm writing again! This means two things: 1) I've got stuff to share with you and 2) I've got time to do it! Of course, making time for one thing means cutting back on something else, or in this case all the things. This post is equal parts catharsis and chronology, so bear with me while I bring you up to speed...it's going to be a lengthy one. And before I begin, thanks for listening...it means a lot!

When we moved to California, I had to start from scratch and find a way to insert myself into the rescue scene. As I described in my reflection post about 2014 rescue, I dove head first into the thick of things, gained a lot of experience, and made a bunch of amazing friends along the way. 2015 was messy. As with any field that involves passionate people striving to do big things in the name of change for a common cause, drama and egomania all too often play a nasty role in rescue. The group I poured my soul into during 2014 tore apart at the seams, causing an enormous divide within the rescue community in its wake. Trusted leaders made selfish decisions in furtherance of personal legacies and recognition, spinning webs of lies and destroying reputations along the way without regard for damage done to the cause. I spent most of 2015 trying to recover from the personal hurt and attempts to flay my integrity; I found that fighting the good fight by marching forward with the ever-present need for rescue work was the best way to heal my wounds and affirm my value. Nose to the grindstone, as they say. Rescue never sleeps, never stops, never takes a breath. I showed people who I am and what I care about, which turned out to be a very effective way to gain trust and get good work done. Apparently this approach isn't used as much as it should be. Sincerity is always a breath of fresh air; it's too bad we only ever seem to catch fleeting gasps of it here and there.

Some of my favorites from Unleashed...

Drew and I fostered for a few other groups during the great gap period of 2015 and we had some awesome dogs come through our home, but time and time again I found myself discontent with the group dynamics for one reason or another. I also found it difficult to simply be a foot soldier when I was so used to leading and carrying a bigger role. I struggled to find my place post St. Francis and bounced around quite a bit as a "free agent". Fortunately, I had an awesome little job which I absolutely loved at Unleashed (a boutique concept store owned by Petco) as their Dog & Cat Department Manager. I worked here happily for a bit over two years and enjoyed the meshing of animal welfare between my job and my rescue efforts. Pet nutrition became my major jam and orchestrating our store's relationships with rescue groups for adoption events and fundraising suited my skillset and brought me great joy. Our little store found its way to #1 in the District (and I think the Region) for adoptions during my stint. I even got to organize the Adoption Alley participants at San Jose's annual Christmas in the Park 2015! I took serious pride in my work at Unleashed and my two bosses' support and friendships helped me through the transitional period between what I call St. Francis Round 1 and St. Francis Round 2.

Maddie's Fund foster awareness campaign interview

In March 2015 after spending some time doing courtesy evaluations for various rescue folks, I was asked to join the San Jose Animal Advocates team - four of us (at the time, but later we became six) who walked, slept, ate, breathed, talked, and dreamed rescue triage around the clock. SJAA acts as a liaison between the rescue community and the San Jose shelter, inserting itself into the flurry of deadlines and dates in an attempt to ease the burden on both sides by doing the legwork and heavy lifting of networking. The "needs rescue list" pinged my phone every night around 3-4AM, indicating the latest round of dates and notes on those who needed a little extra help in order to make it out of the shelter. We used our relationships with local groups and rescuers all around the Bay Area to help give these guys voices; we knew which folks to "pitch" which animals to and how to focus our efforts in a perpetual avalanche of deadlines. Review the list, choose candidates, go perform evaluations, take photos and videos for networking, write creative bios for networking, fight the clock, ask for deadline extensions if needed, ask for medical updates, work social media, cash in favors, secure funding when needed, cross your fingers, become heavily emotionally invested, and then either succeed or fail. Save a life or mourn a life. Either way, get over it quickly because the caseload is never just one dog or cat - it's 5, 10, 15, or more at a time. And that clock is always ticking in three day increments. I got to the point where I'd wake up in the middle of the night just before the next NRL came in so I could catch up on messages in order to get a head start on the next day. No alarm clock needed, just the constant need to check my phone and do work that could never wait dragging me out of my slumber each night. I easily put in 40 volunteer hours per week for SJAA in addition to my 40 hour per week job. SJAA is like an around the clock emergency that never allows for breaks, comfort, or a lasting sense of accomplishment. On top of that, we constantly had to sort out difficulties between team members and often between ourselves and the shelter team. Dynamics flew from both sides every day and it wasn't always clear that we were on the same side. It became sort of a "too many cooks in the kitchen" situation. Sure, there was one week in which we secured rescue for twelve dogs who weren't supposed to make it out, but there was also the week immediately preceding where we lost four into whom we'd poured immeasurable effort. I'll never forget the day I assessed 17 dogs in three hours, only to spend three more hours typing up my formal evaluations once I got home. In any case, even for someone as capable of compartmentalizing and embracing a clinical approach to heavily charged tasks as I am, I couldn't sustain the emotional roller coaster of SJAA. I found it hurting my marriage, as I became more married to my inboxes than my husband, more likely to be late to dinner because my evaluations at the shelter ran long, more likely to fall asleep on the couch with my phone in my hand during a movie, more likely to lose myself in the endless flurry of rescue triage and lives in limbo. After 9 months of SJAA trenchwork, I resigned. I quit for myself, for my husband, and for the animals. I had to make sure I didn't burn out completely so that I could continue saving lives longterm. It was an amazing ride, but it was time to rest and switch gears. Turns out I didn't have much time to rest...

St. Francis APS 5k "Run for Rescue" 2016

I'd maintained a working relationship with the President of St. Francis after the "break up" and during my time with SJAA. I'd reached out to her a few times to take in animals we were networking. She lives in Arizona, so the deal was always that I'd manage the dog and its foster home if St. Francis sponsored it. I was amazed by her willingness to work with me after all of the mud-slinging done during the split, but we put our cards on the table and shared our healing processes. I'd never had anything but pleasant dealings with her and she'd never shown me anything but graciousness. When she asked if I'd assume rescue operations for St. Francis and help her rebuild, I needed time to think. It took me a while to process this development and to really consider whether it was something I wanted to do. After SJAA, I felt I needed to run a rescue like I needed a hole in my head - those of you who know me have heard me say this time and time again! And oh my god, I'd have to do cat rescue, too! Hah. But I also really valued the concept of helping restore a community pillar like this group and seeing something good triumph over all the garbage tossed our way. I accepted her offer and began recruiting fosters and rebuilding our animal inventory. I made it my mission to do things differently - I had to in order to show the animal welfare community that St. Francis wasn't the monster under the bed that they'd heard about from a few power hungry egomaniacs who'd lost their way and attempted to burn the barn on their way out. I had to regain everyone's trust on behalf of this organization; I had to make St. Francis rise from the ashes. There's only one way for one girl to do that: get. to. work.

Most of our trusty crew!

Tee up St. Francis Round 2! I spent eight months championing this 44 year old organization's legacy, its present approach, and its future mission. I believed in what I was doing; I believed in this little mini crusade that became my pet project. I was so done with the default desperate ways of rescue; I wanted something more sustainable and more stable that would cause less grief for everyone involved. Working with my friends proved to be the most powerful approach I could've ever cooked up. One by one, the very best of the old St. Francis crew - most of whom are my personal friends - returned to the group wanting to help. It turns out that helping friends make a difference in something you all share passion and respect for is a very powerful thing. And with every animal we helped, with every new or old volunteer we recruited, with every adoption event or fundraiser or volunteer get together we held, we felt that sense of community achievement that so many rescues fail to foster. We made one hell of a team and we saw St. Francis grow in ways it never had before due to the strong ties and great integrity across our volunteer network, our little St. Francis family. We won. We all banded together and enabled St. Francis to shrug off the cloud of disrespect and misuse left behind from 2015 and reclaim its place as a cherished pillar of animal welfare in our community. We all got to glean a great sense of vindication and achievement for ourselves, as well. This felt amazing. Not only did this "project" help me heal, but it helped me build even stronger friendships and hopefully make some lasting impressions for change in the way volunteers are treated across the board. Don't get me wrong, our animal inventory and "numbers" were impressive, but that's only one moving part of the machine. The people - they're the key. When people want to help, it's our job to help them figure out how to help. Folks could do anything with their time, so if they want to give it to you, to your cause, take their hand and graciously show them how to do so. It's not rocket science; treat people with respect and foster constructive contribution. Take the time to high five or publicly recognize or raise a glass when someone does something good. We all need that pat on the back! Rescue isn't about us, but we can't do it if we lose ourselves along the way. Find that balance and help others see it - don't keep it a secret. I am thankful to Caron and humbled by the opportunity to further St. Francis APS; to say it's been a remarkable journey is an understatement. I owe extensive thanks to Kim for her undying support and eagerness to learn all things rescue on such a quick timeline. I am eternally grateful to my friends and rescue peers for the support and camaraderie they've given me throughout this crazy endeavor. I believe St. Francis will always be better for it, because of all of you and the love you brought back to it.

My birthday rolled around and I got an unexpected gift in the mail: an acceptance letter to the Foothill College Veterinary Technology program. Finally. Except I felt nothing upon opening the envelope; I wasn't excited anymore. I'd found so much purpose in the St. Francis project and gained so much more experience than I'd ever imagined; I wasn't keen on giving it all up for something that would throw me back into a state of grueling challenge. Timing is a funny thing; I still very much want to build a career as a vet tech, but not right now. I worked toward acceptance for almost three years and it was weird to say no when the opportunity finally presented. I was happy...I'd found my place. Finally. I signed my name to the line declining my spot in the program and stuck the form in the mail. With great discussion and realization that our West Coast adventure had just come to a transition point, we decided to move back to Atlanta. Just like that, my focus changed. California hadn't kicked my butt after all - it just threw me curve ball after curve ball until my carefully laid plans became an almost unrecognizable tapestry of colorful experiences. I got a new tattoo to symbolize this and to parallel the one I got upon leaving Atlanta. Drew took a new job and I left mine to focus on rescue full time and, incidentally, I've started a small pet sitting business along the way (Wet Noses ATL). 

Count the brown dogs!

So, that's what I've been up to since 2014. The decision to leave St. Francis in the form of a gradual hand-off was difficult, but I managed things long distance for about a month and then found myself ready to let go. I learned so incredibly much during the almost three years we spent in California. The good, the bad, the ugly, the awesome, the inspirational, the humbling, and the challenging. These things make us who we are...I wouldn't change any of it, not even the lessons your own mother hopes you'll never have to learn. I will never stop being a pain in the ass! Never stop questioning the status quo, pondering change, stretching that comfort zone, building new bridges and carefully crossing old creaky ones without looking back, pressing for success, and advocating for what you believe in. Never. Stop. Being. Genuine. I'm still struggling to find my place here in Atlanta rescue again; things are different since we left and I'm having a hard time not running my own circus so to speak, BUT I'm proud to say I've been here before and patience will yield whatever is next. In the meantime, we foster here and there. You know the drill! The time has come for our next adventure...

P.S.: To those of you at the San Jose shelter, at SJAA, and of course to everyone who played a part in St. Francis Round 2, thank you from the depths of my crazy dog lady soul. Much love!

P.P.S.: This one's for all my St. Francis Round 2 critters: Dogs Chowder, Zoe, Holly, Mimi, Pepper, Prince, Annie, Perry, Sabrina, Bonsai, Snoopy, Big Ben, Rango, Dozer, Buttercup, Alfie, Bumble Bee, Dottie, Skipper, Chippy, Charlie Brown, Rascal, Star, Bailey, Shelby, and Zed and cats Arrow, Harper, Sequoia, Brie, KitKat, Skittles, Candy, Gumdrop, Taffy, Charlie, Raven, Rain, River, Daisy, Magnolia, Cosmos, Dora, Diego, Jesse, Jason, Jill, Friday, Professor Pudding, Ivy, Big Boo, Little Boo, Poppy, Monkey, Tiger, Bear, Bunny, Dizzy, Duke, Miles, Nina, Orangie Orange, Gris Gris, Oscar, Simba, Roo, Stevie, Stewie, Skip, Scout, Tommy, and Oreo. I can't name all my SJAA animals, but you're all in my heart forever.

Peppercorn's Plight: A Difficult Rescue Journey Comes to a Difficult End

Pepper, just a week before the end.

This is one of those posts that requires a large glass of wine next to the computer as I type. It's not a happy post, but even the saddest situations often have positive takeaways. If you recall, we last left off with Peppercorn adjusting to being the only dog in his new (third) foster home and doing well with a bit more space. Please, if you've got a few minutes to spare, have a refresh of his full story: http://ohfortheloveofdogs.blogspot.com/2015/04/peppercorns-plight-overcoming.html

Our last moments with Pepper

By way of Peppercorn, I came to know my wonderful rescue friend, Dawn Piazza. Dawn and 

I were both drawn to Pepper while he was at the shelter and we both committed to finding him rescue. Dawn is the one who found Jenna, Pepper's first foster, who made his jailbreak possible. Little Taco, the grey-ish Chi playing with Pepper in one of his shelter videos, is one of Dawn's own dogs she uses to test shelter dogs and help gauge their social skills. Dawn was right there with me on day one of Pepper's journey and we've since saved more dogs together than I can count, both independently and as part of the San Jose Animal Advocates team. Today, Dawn was right there with me on the final day of Peppercorn's journey. Today, together, we let him go.

Enjoying that cheeseburger

Over the past month or so, Pepper's foster dad (Henry) noticed his lymph nodes seemed enlarged. Over the next few weeks, he noticed Pepper seemed to be generally uncomfortable and extremely tired. He lost interest in walks, food, and water. His physical appearance changed; Pepper looked both oddly bloated and emaciated at the same time. He had no muscle tone left, just a bag of creaky bones. The vet cultured Pepper's lymph nodes and discovered that he had terminal Stage IV Lymphoma. Last Thursday, the vet informed us that Peppercorn had 10-30 days left. Just four days later, Henry called me to say he felt Pepper's comfort level had further declined and that we should go ahead and make the difficult decision to let him go. This evening, one week after we received Pepper's diagnosis, I made that painful one-way trip to the vet. After Henry gently kissed his head and said his goodbyes, I drove Pepper to Burger King for a treat. He enjoyed a bacon cheeseburger in the front seat of the car before we went inside for our appointment.

He went peacefully. In fact, Dawn and I think he passed on his own before the cocktail kicked in. His poor little body was so tired, so worn out, and so ready. I honestly believe that today was his day to go. Dawn and I stood by his side the entire time, stroking his back and gently scratching his formerly tattered ears (they healed in time!). In many ways, seeing such a weary creature finally let go and just slip gently out of our world came as a relief. Cancer is a terrible, exhausting, all-consuming monster. I am glad, in a poignantly bittersweet sense, that it took him so quickly.

Peppercorn spent ten months and eight days in foster care, during which time he bounced from Jenna's home to mine and finally to Henry's. To call Pepper a village effort would be an understatement. I remained his foster coordinator the whole time and got to see, unfortunately, that Pepper seemed determined to remain on the wrong side of the "unadoptable" cusp. But we are RESCUE. It doesn't matter. What matters is that Peppercorn had almost a whole year of freedom and love. Although we can't have every case be a "Peppercorn", it is so tremendously important that we take one on every now and then in order to grow in our efforts, to check our motives, to make a difference, and to save a life. So when you wonder why Dawn and I are smiling in the photo with Pepper on his last day of life, it is because he brought us together and together we will save many more lives in his memory.

Thank you to everyone who played a part in Pepper's journey. Jenna & Alyssa M., Dawn, SJAA, Alyssa S., Tina, Heidi & Jake's Wish, Drew, and most of all, thank you to Henry for loving him for seven months without a single hint of impatience or complaint. You may never read this, but I hope you know that you meant the entire world to this little dog and I don't know what we would have done without your commitment.

Pepper & Henry

Pepper: thank you for bringing Dawn into my life. Thank you for reminding me that I can't fix every broken dog. Thank you for keeping me humble. Thank you for the opportunity to grow even more in what I do. Thank you for trusting me and for allowing me to be part of your journey. Now rest, and know you were loved, Peppy. This hard life is behind you.

2014: Rescue in Review

It's New Year's Day 2015 and all I can do is get super excited to save a whole bunch more lives this year! I had a pretty fantastic time rescuing in 2014. The year started off a bit quiet with our move to California, but by March I was already in deep again. 2014 brought different types of rescue involvement for me: volunteering in our shelter's vet clinic, acting as a foster coordinator for St. Francis APS, evaluating shelter dogs for different groups, and pulling dogs for sponsoring rescue groups. All of these new experiences taught me a ton. I quickly learned that I hated foster coordinating - my heart belongs to the dogs, not people. I work best in the trenches where most people don't even like to go, not fighting customer service fires at all hours of the day and night when foster parents feel like giving up. Having said that, there was something very rewarding about evaluating a dog, networking the dog, pulling the dog, placing the dog in foster care, providing foster parent support for the dog, and then facilitating successful adoption of the dog. Foster coordinating meant that every time I pulled a dog, I was involved in 100% of that dog's journey to furever. This was fun in theory for a minute, until I had 7+ "sub-fosters" as I called them at once, each of which seemed to have an emergency at the same time. Every time I patched one leak, another sprung. My fuse is too short for that. I wouldn't do 2014 any differently; foster coordinating was an invaluable experience. Having said that, I am looking forward to simply being a foster mom again in 2015.

My favorite aspect of foster coordinating is evaluating dogs for interested rescue groups. I'll continue to do this in the New Year, not as a foster coordinator but just when needed. If a rescue group is interested in a dog that is on the rescue only list, it helps to send someone in to get better pictures of the dog than their (often terribly unflattering) intake photo and to get an idea of the dog's personality. This helps rescues decide whether the dog is a good candidate for their adoption program, which helps them determine whether they want to pull the dog out of the shelter. The shelter has behaviorists who evaluate each animal that comes through the door. Their notes are included on the needs rescue list, but with how over-burdened they are it is always helpful to send in someone for a second look. The shelter is stressful and an animal's behavior can change a lot from day 1 to day 3 in a kennel. Oftentimes the behavior notes from day 1 aren't representative of the dog's true demeanor. 

When I go to do an assessment, the first thing I do is read over the behaviorist's notes on the animal, the vet's notes, and the general intake notes to get an idea of what I'm looking at. Then I pay attention to the dog's kennel presence - whether he's friendly and soliciting my attention at the front of the kennel, whether he's cowering in the back corner, whether he's alarm barking, etc. Next I get shelter staff to help me take the dog out into the courtyard, where I can get a better feel for his personality. I spend about 15 minutes with the dog comparing how they do in the courtyard with how they presented in the kennel. Some of the things I note are how long it takes the dog to solicit attention from me, whether their body language is showing signs of fear / stress / aggression / overstim / confidence / etc., leash skills or lack thereof, signs of possible potty training, any training skills or commands they already have, and how they react when other people walk by the courtyard fence. I also note how they do with me touching their paws, looking at their teeth, checking out their ears, feeling their belly, snuggling or even picking up like a child might do, and other general handling patterns. I also usually get the shelter staff to help me do a brief dog-to-dog or at least a walk-by with another dog, so I can get an idea of how the dog does with other dogs. Then I get some decent photos and move on to the next dog. When I get home, I type up little assessments of each dog I evaluated and send on to the interested rescue group with the updated photos.

I enjoy doing evaluations so much because it is something further I can do to help dogs stand a chance at getting out of the shelter. I like challenging myself to recognize different signals dogs give, to better understand how we can communicate with dogs, and to just be quiet and listen for a change. Each dog is different and although they can't speak for themselves, I can do my best to give them voices. It's taking a second look. That's all. It's incredibly rewarding to be able to place dogs I've evaluated and then watch them get the "happy tails" they deserve. When I evaluate a dog, it works out that I'm usually the person who goes back to pull them if they are chosen for rescue. Pulling dogs out of the shelter and delivering them to their foster homes is just such an awesome experience. Although I assessed many more, I had the pleasure of pulling 18 dogs out of the San Jose shelter in 2014. Some of them became our personal foster dogs, but most were simply my "sub-fosters" as a foster coordinator. I want to give them a place in my blog, even if they didn't live with me. Their faces mean so much to my heart - they defined my year. The Chihuahua on the bottom right of the final collage with the questions marks turned out to be Mischa, my last pull of 2014. I pulled her last night, NYE 2014, at 6PM and delivered her to her foster home. One last save of the year! Each dog pictured has a different story. Some are wonderful, some are sad, some are ongoing. Regardless, I will always feel connected to them and I look forward to doing my best to help others like them in 2015. So cheers, 2014, and thank you to everyone out there who played a part in saving these lives. It takes a village! With more rescue adventures, more foster dogs, and vet tech school beginning, I know 2015 is going to be just as meaningful. Enjoy the faces of my 2014 :-)

Pupdate: Moving Forward with Buck's Cataract Surgery

Whew, sorry for all the dead-air time on this blog recently! We've been going 100 miles per hour with rescue around the clock it seems. I know many of you probably already know the latest report on Buck through his Facebook page, but I want to share it here as well.

Uncle Buckle had his ERG at the eye specialist last week. We received both good and bad news from it. The bad news is that the left eye, which houses the older cataract, experienced retinal detachment at some point. This means that there is no hope for Buck to regain sight in that eye, with or without cataract removal surgery. Thus, we will not do the surgery on that eye and will instead manage the inflammation caused by the cataract with prescription drops. Now for the good news: Buck's right eye passed the ERG and is a perfect candidate for cataract surgery! He is scheduled to go under the knife next Tuesday, June 17, and will regain all vision in that eye. Hurray!

I know it's a bummer that we can't salvage the left eye, but hey - one eye is way better than none! Although St. Francis is willing to pay whatever it takes to give Buck the gift of sight, only doing one eye will reduce our bill by a good bit. That's not what we're focused on here, but it's a silver lining for sure.

St. Francis is doing pretty well raising funds to cover Buck's eye care. We've applied for a grant through the Doris Day Foundation. We've received a good amount of private donations from folks via Facebook, adoption events, and the St. Francis website. We've got $500 in GAP funds pledged from the San Jose shelter where Buck came from and the eye specialist is giving us a 30% rescue discount on his procedures. Without the rescue discount, Buck's diagnostics and surgery would cost roughly $5,500. We are still hoping to raise a total of $4,000 to cover follow-up visits and prescriptions. Although only fixing the one eye does reduce the surgery cost, it doesn't knock off quite as much as you might think. We're still paying for the vet's time and expertise, the use of the hospital's highly specialized equipment, a full day hospitalization, and slightly less anesthesia than we'd need for two eyes. The major difference is that we're only paying for one artificial lens implant, which knocks about $500-700 off the bill. So that's the state of Buck's financials for those of you who are curious. He's very fortunate to have St. Francis's and his followers' support. Last time I posted we didn't have a designated sponsorship page set up for Buck yet. We do now! If you'd like to do a one-time donation or a recurring sponsorship, please click this link to visit Buck's page: http://stfrancisanimal.rescuegroups.org/animals/sponsor_this_pet?AnimalID=6895219

In other Buck-related news, he's been doing great overall. He's got some itchy allergies and minor tummy issues going on that we're working to resolve. No biggie - just the normal stuff for an old man! Buck attended several adoption events over the last couple weeks. He's not available yet, but he really enjoys car rides, walks, and outings in general. One of his favorite outings is going to the food trucks at Willow Glen Movable Feast every Friday evening. He wears his fabulous blue "adopt me" vest and catches everybody's eyes. Check out the video below to see how excited Buck gets when he hears his leash and collar jingle! That signals him that he's about to go for an adventure. Thanks for reading our latest update! Stay tuned to read how Buck's surgery goes next Tuesday...can't wait to share pictures and videos of that tremendous life-changing moment!

Pictorial Pupdate: We Love Lucy!

I know I just posted a pupdate about Lucy, but I wanted to save these gorgeous portraits for their own separate post. Talented photographer, Renee Scott, donates her time to St. Francis Animal Protection Society by holding portrait sessions for adoptable pets. What she captures through her camera lens is truly breathtaking. We took Lucy to Renee's home studio last weekend for her photo shoot. Even though Lucy still felt yucky from her surgery and didn't look her best (what with the scars, shaved fur, and skinny ribs still showing), Renee harnessed a few fine moments of Lucy's beauty. We at St. Francis are so grateful for her efforts. Somebody is going to see these photos of Lucy and scoop her right up once she's ready for adoption!

If you'd like to have a portrait session for your own pet, Renee is holding a limited time special benefiting St. Francis APS! During this special, creation fees will be $75 and include a one hour location shoot anywhere within 30 miles of South San Jose. Portrait packages start at $300. Dogs, cats, horses, and pretty much anything with fur are all welcome! Renee is happy to shoot at your home, at the park, at the beach, or anywhere that means something special to you and your pet. Her special runs from April 22 - April 26. Contact Renee at 901-497-0898 to schedule your session and be sure to mention St. Francis!

Find Renee Scott Photography on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Renee-Scott-Photographer/498072920250114

Check out Renee's website here: http://www.reneescott.com/

10,000 Views!

Hurray, hurray, this little blog broke 10,000 views yesterday! That's pretty exciting. Thank you all so much for reading, liking, sharing, and following. I love telling stories and sharing adventures! Most of all, I love spreading rescue awareness. I try to keep this blog fun and informative in an effort to get more people tuned in and involved in rescue. Knowledge is power: the more folks that know about the plights of homeless pets, the more power there is to change the animal welfare climate. 10,000 views gives me hope that I'm reaching people and somehow making a difference. If you have any suggestions for future posts or ways in which I can improve my blog, please leave a comment below. 

Now, I have a request for all of you: follow me! I only have a small handful of actual followers through Blogger / Google+. I'd really like to see that number increase. If you're a regular reader, just give me a click next time you think about it. There's a "follow me" button at the very bottom of my blog page. It's super easy and it makes a big difference. If nothing else, it lets me know I'm not talking to empty space when I post. So go ahead and send my blog some love by following and throw your PAWS UP for 10,000 views! Thanks for reading, everyone. I hope you enjoy reading this thing as much as I enjoy writing it! :-)

San Jose Animal Care Center: A Breath of Fresh Air

SJACC Lobby

After living in California for a full month and getting somewhat settled, I finally ventured out last week to explore the AC/rescue scene around here. Take a look at San Jose Animal Care Center, my local shelter. That's right, it's beautiful. It's so impressive that I had to ask the front desk people if I was in the right place the first time I walked in. It's not a sanctuary. It's not a humane society. It's not privately funded. SJACC runs as a division of our city government. It is the City of San Jose's animal control facility. That's the pound, folks. Feel free to let your jaws drop for a minute. Mine certainly did. Coming from the dire straits of AC hell at DeKalb County Animal Services in Atlanta, to say I was completely blown away by SJACC is a massive understatement. I'd like to use this post to shine a light on what SJACC is doing RIGHT, not what shelters elsewhere are doing wrong. Having said that, the only way I can do that is by comparison through my own experience. I'm not going to post pictures of what DeKalb looks like. You guys can google that. I try to use my own photos in my blog anyway and I never really took any of the inside of DeKalb. It's been in the news enough. Please know that there are amazing people who work at DeKalb and devote many hours of their lives to helping the animals in every way they possibly can. It's not their fault, so please know that anything I say here is not said against them, but against the situation at the shelter. I promise you, they wish DeKalb looked like this as well. Now, on to the relative Utopia of animal control that is SJACC...

Small animal habitats, kitty cubbies, volunteer lounge, & kiosk

SJACC is gorgeous. Shiny floors, fresh paint on the walls, natural light galore, and abundant green space are all just the first few features that catch your eye. The facility's design is really innovative. The lobby is an open atrium with a large skylight (shown above) that is very inviting and easily accommodates crowds on high volume days. Brightly lit small animal habitats greet you as you walk in the door. This draws attention to the small animals in a fun way. There's a "find-a-friend" touch screen kiosk that allows visitors to browse adoptable animals easily. There's even a large volunteer lounge equipped with computers to track our schedules, update animal photos and bios, and print out adoption charts. The best part of the volunteer lounge is the quiet space (shown in bottom left photo in above collage). It gives volunteers a special place to chill with extra shy dogs so that they can enjoy human attention free of any scary/startling distractions. The top right photo in the collage above shows some of many "kitty cubbies" that house adoptable cats. It's a really great way to show off the kitties in all their whiskery glory. Just so many great ideas...who needs a pet store when you have an adoption facility like this?

One of many kennel rooms: bright, clean, and fairly inviting.

Rather than having one giant "main ward / gen pop" room full of animals, there are kennels featuring adoptable animals housed in several small rooms all down each side of the building. Having a bunch of small rooms like this is absolutely brilliant. It cuts down on the noise, smells, and the overwhelming visual volume that smacks you in the face in shelters that have one giant warehouse-style kennel room. Inside the kennel rooms, there's no standing water (note the hose tidily kept off the ground on its reel in the picture to the left), there are no roaches scurrying about, there are no mice or rats squeaking in the drains underneath the dog runs, and there are no abominable grated floors in the runs. The absence of grated kennel floors is HUGE. Although grated floors make high volume cleaning easier, they cause discomfort for the dogs' feet and often lead to musculoskeletal development problems in growing puppies. Imagine being a senior chihuahua with teeny tiny arthritic toes splayed across the grates or a puppy who now has "frog feet" because his stance and alignment were so compromised. The dogs at SJACC don't have to suffer these issues. The dog runs at SJACC are pretty spacious too, especially considering most of them only contain one dog. Another major thing: there is generally only one dog kept in each run. Sometimes they'll pair up lonely dogs or really small dogs, particularly friendly Chis. In the collage above, you can see a metal divider behind the black Chi in the bottom right photo. Each kennel has a dividing wall that can be lowered so "roommates" can be separated while they eat. That means no fighting over food!

Toward the back of the building, you'll find the vet clinic, wildlife, staff lounge, dispatch and field operations, different quarantine and recovery wards, and of course storage. There's also a full laundry room with industrial washer/dryer where volunteers and staff are constantly washing bedding. Each dog is given fresh bedding every day so they can have a little bit of comfort. The little dogs especially appreciate having somewhere cozy to burrow so they can escape the stress around them. Volunteers also provide each dog with a frozen stuffed KONG on a daily basis. At the end of the day, the KONGs are all collected, soaked in hot soapy water, sterilized in the industrial dishwasher, re-stuffed, and frozen for the next day's distribution. In the world of animal control, that's above and beyond.

Just a sampling of SJACC's outdoor space

Feast your eyes upon the outdoor space at SJACC. Top left photo shows just one of the three fenced play yards. Volunteers can bring dogs out here for a romp, but the SJACC animal behaviorist also holds play groups in this space three times a week. Play groups give him a chance to evaluate how each dog interacts with each other and take notes on their personalities. Then volunteers know what each dog needs to work on individually. These efforts combine to help SJACC appropriately match dogs with suitable adopters. The middle left shows the doggy courtyards, where potential adopters can meet and get to know pups they're interested in taking home. Both of the photos on the right side of the collage show the outdoor cat courtyards. These spaces are totally wired in so that the cats can get some playtime in the fresh air without risking escape. How awesome is that? Cats get very stressed if they don't have mental stimulation, just like dogs if not even more so. Getting them outside in a safe manner is a great way for them to fantasize about snagging birds as they fly past, bat at butterflies, and just get a genuinely good sniff of the outside world. In the bottom left picture you can see part of the outdoor hallway going down one side of the building. Along this side of the hallway are several more kennel rooms that house mamas with litters, orphan pups, and pregnant moms.

Rockin' the volunteer swag (snerk)

I could go on forever about SJACC. Yes, it's still animal control and they still euthanize, but I really think this is about as good as AC can possibly get. I love knowing that the dogs are well-cared for, even though I desperately wish they were all in homes instead of kennels. I love what a strong volunteer corps there is and how everybody really works together. I love that SJACC is so well-staffed. They've got fantastic employees who are always milling about doing whatever is needed. Where I come from we had one vet, not three. We didn't have a dedicated administrative / front desk person, let alone a couple of them. There was even an extra bad time where we only had eight field officers and ONE person to handle all of the adoptions and rescue coordination. They were spread so thin due to chronic under-funding. So to me, seeing how many wonderful people go to work every day at SJACC is really an incredible thing. So yes, we are lucky enough to have the funding here at SJACC to do these awesome things. San Jose is the capital of Silicon Valley; I realize this is an area with a high concentration of wealth and a mindset geared toward the environment. But we can see these changes elsewhere! Look what can be done when we take responsibility for our overpopulation mess, when we focus on the environment and caring for the creatures in it, and when we allocate adequate city/county funds to improving the animal welfare climate. Having a building that the public wants to visit makes such a huge difference for our homeless animals. No people coming in = no animals getting out. SJACC is a place where families can feel comfortable coming to adopt a new addition. It is clean, bright, welcoming, organized, and minimally depressing. I so desperately hope that someday there will be no more DeKalbs out there, that someday soon our whole country will be able to devote enough focus to animal welfare, and of course that someday we will finally get a handle on our overpopulation problem. Call me an idealist, a tree-hugger, a hippie, or an overzealous Californian. Call me whatever you want, but I'm an animal lover and I'm super mega proud to be an SJACC volunteer.

To see all the wonderful adoptable animals at SJACC, click here: 

http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?NID=1389

For more information about volunteering, feel free to ask questions in the comments below or click here to be re-routed to SJACC's volunteer page:

http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?NID=1395

In Memory of Colby

**This post is dedicated to all homeless animals facing loneliness, fear, and death every single day, but especially to the animals of DeKalb County Animal Services in Atlanta, Georgia. I am in awe of your ability to love us unconditionally despite the situation we've created for you. It is my utmost hope that someday soon we will make up for our irresponsibility and ignorance by creating a society where each of you is valued.**