The Milo Foundation has leased a 5,000-square-foot space in Point Richmond where we are building a fantastic new Rescue and Adoption Center. Finally Milo will have a permanent, real home with three dog yards – and even our own dog park! This move is very promising for Milo and the animals at risk in California’s high-kill shelters. We now rescue more than 1,500 animals annually – once we are open and functioning in our new space, we will be able to increase that to 2,500 lives saved per year starting in 2014.
Milo Point Richmond (MPR) will be a spacious facility with state-of-the-art kennels, intake and isolation areas, an indoor meet-and-greet room, three group rooms for cats, a grooming space, and the three yards where dogs can play and romp during the day and evening hours. Our dog park at the end of the block will be a place for flying disc and ball playing, plus classes, casual agility meets, and more as we develop our programs. The new location is free from residential neighbors so we’ll have no concerns about noise. We can all bark, laugh, and howl at the moon – and you can join us! We‘ll be open seven days a week and will have ample volunteer opportunities, plus Open Houses and FUNdraisers on a regular basis. Our first Open House is scheduled for August 10th from 3-7pm, with plans for an official grand opening celebration in September.
It’s been our dream for many years to have a functional, well-appointed space to facilitate adoptions and provide an enhanced environment for rescued dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens – and now we (almost) have it, and with the security that comes with a 20-year lease. We’ll be scheduling regular work days when the community can get involved in helping us realize the dream (stay tuned to our website for updates).
The build-out of the facility will be costly, of course. Floor drains, ventilation, proper access for the disabled, and so many more hidden costs are already adding up to $100K more than planned, so as this goes to press we are still busy with fundraising.
Milo started in 1994 at our sanctuary location in rural inland Mendocino. We rescued animals from the Mendocino County shelter which, during those early years, was still selling dogs to laboratories. It was so difficult making the bi-weekly trips to the Ukiah shelter and deciding who could come with us and who had to stay and meet an ugly fate.
Fortunately, much has changed since then in the animal shelter and rescue worlds. The Internet, Petfinder, and a huge increase in public awareness have vastly improved the plight of homeless pets, however the rural areas of our state are still so very far behind. We are always amazed at the numbers of highly desirable dogs and cats that fill California’s shelters – making education and outreach ongoing tasks for all of us doing rescue work.
Milo is an all-breed and all-mixes rescue and we do our best to save adoptable animals from shelters across the state, getting them healthy and “fixed,” and taking care of other issues before finding them homes. MPR will be a huge help in making this possible for more animals.
Our Mendocino Sanctuary where it all began in ’94 is thriving and placing more dogs than ever before. In addition to events at the new location, the Sanctuary will be holding some work weekends this Summer (email sanctuary@milofoundation.org to volunteer).
The marriage between the original Sanctuary and the Bay Area intake and adoption center at MPR will give a huge boost to our life-saving work. We are very excited about the future of MILO and invite you to get involved in completing our facility in Pt. Richmond. Check our website and Facebook page for updates and volunteer opportunities. We still need your help to make this dream of a “real” home for Milo come true!
Lynne Tingle founded the Milo Foundation in 1994 after many years of volunteering at the Berkeley Animal Shelter. In the years since, she has seen Milo through many transitions while saving more than 23,000 homeless pets from high-kill shelters in California.
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Main article photo by: Milo Foundation
