Month in Review: June 2019!

June thought it could mosey in and ride on May’s coattails, but eh eh June, not so fast! You’re not getting out of here so easily (hence, this past weekend’s push).

Here's a snapshot of our June happenings:

PLACEMENTS:

We had 221 intakes and 29 transfers to new fosters, for a total of 250 placements (excluding sitters and sleepovers). Notable placements include: Thomas, Eugene, Fred, and Flute and her puppies

ADOPTIONS:

We had 187 adoptions! Notably, the following dogs found their furever homes: Rascal, Tyler (349 net days), Ravenclaw (362 net days), Saturn (371 net days), China (392 net days), Jazzy (649 net days), and Fredrick (1,040 net days).

VOLUNTEER WELCOMES & NEWS:

-Welcome to Jamile Santos Cralcev, a new Dog Foster Placement Team Coordinator!

-Welcome to Samatha Cruz and Mary Jo Chapla, both long-time and experienced fosters, now helping the Dog Foster Care Team send out medical emails.

SHOUT OUTS:

-Shout out to Allison Crane! Allison is one of our more veteran volunteers on our team - she’s basically a professional Dog Foster Placement Team Coordinator! Allison is super reliable, accurate, and knowledgeable and goes above and beyond to advise fosters when they have questions. She’s also a superstar foster, most recently finding medical case Lt. Dan’s bridge to a forever home. Thank you Allison!

-Shout out to Jen Schwartz! Jen is instrumental in helping our Dog Foster Care Team keep up with foster dog vaccinations and overdue notifications. Jen is going to have a baby in late July so will be taking some time off from volunteering for the next few months. Congrats and thank you to Jen!

HIGHLIGHTS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND INITIATIVES:

-WE DID IT! To help Austin Animal Center (AAC) with an urgent space crisis, APA! and Austin Humane Society teamed up with AAC the last weekend in June with the goal to place 500 animals (cats and dogs) in foster or adoptive homes. In the end, this collaboration resulted in 590 animals moving into foster or adoptive homes, and we contributed with 43 dog foster placements from TLAC/TT!

Everyone who fostered, volunteered, and put in extra work hours with this deserves a shout out, but special shout out to Julie Young, who called and emailed countless fosters who did not have a foster dog to encourage them to foster, and also to Amanda DiGangi and Linda Mitchell for helping to organize things onsite and Anju Ramkumar, Sharon Bryan, and Ann Fowler for holding down the fort with the waived adoption fees on the Dog Foster Adoption Team.

-We have a new and improved system for tracking Clinic appointments and to schedule surgeries, which should make scheduling easier and more accurate!

-We now have a very efficient system of flagging Distemper watch dogs that are ready to be cleared and getting them scheduled promptly, which has resulted in a decrease in the number of Distemper watch dogs and prevents dogs from lingering on Distemper watch.

-The 4th of July is a fun holiday for us humans, but can wreak havoc on our animal friends - companion animals and wildlife alike. Protect your dogs and cats on the 4th! See the attached handy guide that our Medical Team put together. Please also see our Facebook post about this, which includes a link to our Fireworks Safety Tips: https://www.facebook.com/austinpetsalive/photos/a.213995174065/10157657673514066/?type=3&theater

-In Memoriam: We know our team and our foster parents have experienced their fair share of heartbreak when each one of our beloved pups crosses over the rainbow bridge, but this month, one of our amazing fosters, Veronica Villarreal, who adopted her foster dog Charlie Brown, let us know that Charlie Brown had passed.

Veronica shared this beautiful story with us and OKd us sharing. We wanted to share it with you because it is such a testimony to fostering and what it can do for both human and dog and to taking a risk, trusting yourself, and being open to caring for a dog that has special needs.

“Hi awesome foster team. I wanted to give you an update on my sweet Charlie Brown, who I foster failed and adopted a few months ago. My sweet boy, Charlie passed away peacefully with me by his side on Thursday.

I think most of y’all know the story that Regan saw a very freaked out potential foster & somehow talked her into Charlie Brown, a senior boy with let’s just say “issues.” That day I was so nervous but she knew (because y’all are so darn good at what you do!) even before I did that I could do it & that Charlie & I would be a fit. It took me a while to finally know what everyone else did who saw us together, that he was mine & I adopted him after 7 months.

That fateful day at APA! was 298 days ago. From day one I promised him I would be there all the days, months or years he needed me. Turns out he needed me just those 298 days. I was there holding him and comforting him until the very end. Charlie came to me a rescue and everyone always gave me credit for rescuing him. I quickly told them you guys and the amazing work you do deserves the credit. You saw a senior dog with health & behavioral issues and knew he had love to give for a little while longer. Thanks to you Charlie Brown had 298 days where he didn’t have to worry about anything. Over those 298 days he probably had 298 lipstick stained kiss marks on the top of his head, a 1000+ walks he loved so much, 298 days of following me around to every room in our home, 298 days of lying at my feet, 298 days of constant belly rubs, weekends at the park, 100+ of his favorite car rides, 298 days in a warm comfy bed, all the treats & toys he wanted, and most importantly LOVE. In 298 days in my life he gave me nothing but his love. Dogs die, we know this. But more importantly, they LIVE! They live brave, beautiful lives, protecting us, loving us & making our lives a little brighter. Charlie had such simple needs, just Love. Charlie was a good boy who loved me & I loved him. My heart is broken in 1000 pieces but it’s stronger. Because Charlie gave me more love in these 298 days than I can measure making it all worth it. What y’all did for me that day, placing Charlie with me was so amazing and I can’t thank you enough. Keep doing the great work you do so dogs like Charlie Brown get all their 298+ good days of giving love & being loved.

I often told Charlie that he opened my heart in new ways and that after him there would be more animals. I’m not sure when I’ll be ready to foster again, but when I do I already look forward to helping someone find their own Charlie Brown and honoring his memory.

XO,

Veronica”

RIP Charlie Brown, and thank you to Veronica for her courage in taking a chance and for loving this good boy like he deserved.

GOAL FOR JULY 2019!

-Did you know that the most common way that fosters hear about fostering is through word of mouth? While Austin continues to experience a companion animal overpopulation crisis, we need help getting the word out about fostering.

Please spread the word via your social media, your community interactions, and Next Door. Please share our:

Foster Application: https://www.shelterluv.com/matchme/foster/APA/Dog

APA! Dog Foster Program Plea Board: www.austinpetsalive.org/foster/canicrashwithyou

Dog Foster Resource Website: https://dog-foster-manager.wixsite.com/apadogfosterprogram

APA Foster Dog Needs Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/apadogfosterneeds/

-Cashew and Serendipity, two out of area dogs, both spent some great time in loving foster homes in June. They are both back at TLAC, so we need to find foster homes for them ASAP.

You can read all about Cashew here: https://www.austinpetsalive.org/adopt/dogs/apa-a-70116

You can read all about Serendipity here:

https://www.austinpetsalive.org/adopt/dogs/apa-a-66734

Please email our Dog Foster Advocate, Audrey, at dog-foster-advocate@austinpetsalive.org if you are interested in meeting Cashew or Serendipity!

Onward and upward!