Fall 2014 - Humane Society Silicon Valley

Jaspurr and Important Start:
Life With A Perfect Family
11:11 AM Sunday. In the hallway outside the cat area
9-year-old Olivia proudly brandishes two fliers, each
bearing the picture of an adorable kitten. “These
two” she says, “we’re getting these two”. Her
mother, father and grandmother confirm: this family
of four will be growing by two with the addition of
Jaspurr and Important, two kittens. Confident and
outgoing, Olivia knows the family is prepared. She
attended our Summer Camp program last year.
Our Kitten Nursery
Historically, orphaned
allows us to save
kittens requiring bottle
more
of these tiny
feeding (known as ‘bottle
little lives.
babies’) have been lost in
shelters. Unweaned
kittens need to be fed
every two hours - impossible in busy shelter
situations. Some immunity to disease is passed
through mother’s milk, so without a mother they’re
extremely vulnerable to disease. Foster homes were
an option for some but only if available
immediately upon the kitten’s arrival in the shelter.
All Things
Pawsible
Fall 2014
Our Kitten Nursery allows us to save more of these
tiny little lives. Staffed by volunteers and kept
sterile, incoming kittens can be bottle-fed shortterm while staff locates foster care for them. Kittens
old enough to eat on their own but too young to be
adopted can be cared for at the nursery, freeing up
foster homes for the needier bottle babies. By
having this resource available, Important was able
to safely await a specially-trained bottle home.
Important, the black and white kitten, is a graduate
of a different Humane Society Silicon Valley
program. Both kittens came in too young to be
adopted. Jaspurr, a fuzzy brown tabby, was big
enough to eat kitten food and went to a foster home
to get a little bigger before going home. Little
Important, brought in weighing less than a can of
soda, needed to be bottle-fed and instead went into
our Kitten Nursery to await a trained foster caretaker.
Back in the cat area, staff replaces the kitten fliers
with the actual kittens and the family speaks with
an adoption counselor. While Olivia is clearly the
most excited, the whole family is absorbed with the
energetic little bundles, smiling and laughing.
Having recently suffered the loss of their beloved
fifteen-year old cat, the kittens will inject some
needed love and levity into the home. Important is
being renamed Patches and plans are being made as
to where to put litter pans and food trays. Before the
paperwork is even signed, it’s obvious these kittens
are home.
Incredible supporters make having a Kitten Nursery possible. When we decided to dedicate our South Wing
at the Animal Community Center to helping save the lives of younger kittens, we asked Mary Turner Gilliland
and Clinton Gilliland if they could help us. Their initial gift of $100,000 to launch the kitten nursery was the
kick-off to a record number of kittens saved in one year at Humane Society Silicon Valley.
Most people who are supportive to Humane Society Silicon Valley don’t come into our family giving large gifts
like $100,000 for special programs. The Gillilands’ first gift to Humane Society Silicon Valley over 15 years ago
was $15.00 to our general operating fund. To make a special gift designated for a specific purpose, contact
Lynn Green, Director of Inspirational Giving at 408-262-2133, ext 106 or lynn.green@hssv.org.
One Weekend.
Two Days.
240 Adoptions.
One Weekend. Two Days. 240 Adoptions.
How do you launch 240 animals into new lives in one forty-eight hour
span? And how do you bring in enough potential homes into which to
launch them?
You start with partnering with an incredible organization. For our
second year in a row we were lucky enough to partner with Maddie’s®
Fund to take part in Maddie’s® Pet Adoption Days. Using the incentive
of fee waived adoptions in select shelters across the country, it’s a
weekend dedicated entirely to helping solve the problem of pet
overpopulation.
You assemble an army of volunteers and staff dedicated to sending
deserving animals into new homes. You get the word out anyway
possible. And then watch what happens.
In this issue we see what happens, minute by minute. We meet some
amazing animals who all found their happy endings in those two days. As the hours tick by, we get to watch
a new story begin for each of these animals and their new families.
How exciting is that?
We have always known that we live in a community that loves and values its pets. Every single day, we see
your support through the amazing care your generosity allows us to offer to the pets of Silicon Valley. Luna
and Phoebe, Harrison and the boys, Important and Jaspurr, Misha - being able to send any animals home on
one weekend would be incredible. To be able to send them all home on the same weekend is a miracle. A
miracle you made possible.
Two hundred and forty is a huge number. And we did it together.
Carol Novello
President
Humane Society Silicon Valley
901 Ames Avenue, Milpitas, CA 95035 • (408) 262-2133 • www.hssv.org
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: 12–7 pm Sat & Sun: 10 am–7 pm
Adoptions: (408) 262-2133 x150
Lost & Found: (408) 262-2133 x110
Pet Store
M–F: 12–7 pm Sat: 10 am–7 pm
Sun 10 am–7 pm (408) 262-2133 x164
Grooming
By appointment only. (408) 262-2133 x124
Board of Directors
Medical Center
Spay/Neuter
Drop-Off: Mon–Sat 6:30 am–7:30 am
Pick-Up: Same Day 4 pm–6 pm
(408) 262-2133 x108
Vaccinations/Microchips
M–Sat: 9 am–12 pm, 1-5pm
Sun: 10 am–12 pm, 1–3 pm
(408) 262-2133 x108
Medical Center is NOW OPEN SUNDAYS
Marilyn AndersonSue Levy
Kara BergKate Mulligan
Sue Diekman - Chair
Linda Netsch - Treasurer
Sumita Dutta
Stephen Sullins - Secretary
Gayle HaworthErin Toeniskoetter
Terry Lee - Vice Chair
Lars Rabbe
Neighborhood Pet Adoption Centers
Open every day 10 am–7 pm
San Jose PETCO
500 El Paseo de Saratoga, San Jose
(408) 370-2732
Sunnyvale PETCO
160 East El Camino Real, Sunnyvale
(408) 720-1419
Honorary Board
John Diekman
Judy Marcus
Betty Moore
Gordon Moore
Tara VanDerveer
Steve Wozniak
The First Cat Out The Door:
Harrison And The Boys
Journey From Hoarding Case To Home
9:59 AM Saturday. Tammy and her teenage son had been the first to line up outside the cat entrance at 9:30 AM. Even though the
doors didn’t open until 10 AM, they wanted to make sure they were at the front.
When the doors opened, they were the first through the door. As the crowd behind them dissipated through the adoption area, they
walked purposely past the cages of fluffy kittens that had already attracted groups of potential adopters. With an adoption counselor
in tow, they went directly to room 167, which housed a group of six middle-aged cats, some with fresh stitches and some with old
scars. In the room they scooped up Harrison, the six-year-old cream-colored tabby. This one. They were here for this one.
Used to a much smaller,
chaotic space, the boys
loved their adoption suite.
Harrison became the first cat adopted that day.
For Harrison and the other cats in room 167, it
was a long road to being the first out the door.
Only four days before, our transfer van had made the trip down to another county
shelter that had been inundated with cats. Area animal control had shut down a
hoarding situation that involved seventy cats being kept in a Winnebago. Harrison
and his roommates Lennon, Isaac, Hans, Ringo and Mac were among those seventy.
Kept in deplorable conditions and subjected to overcrowding, they were dirty and
most had dental issues. As many of the cats had been unfixed, fights had been a
common occurrence and several of them had wounds. All of them had been exposed
to FIV, though they tested negative.
Despite their upbringing, the cats were friendly and social, piling on anyone who
entered the room. The six got along well together and visitors to the room would
usually find several themselves with multiple cats perched on their laps. The boys,
as they came to be known, quickly charmed both dog and cat people alike. Most cats
find their first few days in a shelter environment to be a jarring, frightening
experience. Used to a much smaller, chaotic space, the boys loved their adoption
suite and took to sprawling out in heaps on the kitty cots, dangling off the cat trees
and stretching out on blankets next to the window.
Determined to get the deserving kitties into new homes as quickly as possible, our
medical and behavioral team prioritized their care to make sure they’d be ready for
Maddie’s® Pet Adoption Days - an adult cat’s best chance at a quick trip through the
shelter in midst of kitten season. Ears were cleaned, coats were brushed, everyone
was neutered, wounds were stitched, antibiotics dispersed and blood and fecal tests
done. They passed their behavior evaluations with flying colors, rolling over for
belly rubs and head-butting the evaluators.
When the doors opened for Maddie’s® Pet
Adoption Days, the boys were ready. And
as quickly as staff and volunteers fell under
their spell, potential adopters did, too. As
dozens of people met them, the confident
cats handled the deluge with aplomb,
dispensing purrs and displaying bellies.
By the end of the weekend, all but one of
the boys had been adopted. Two days later
the last cat, Isaac, went home as well.
Less than a week after entering Humane
Society Silicon Valley, all six of the cats were
beginning their new lives in loving homes.
Maddie’s® Pet Adoption Days are made
possible by Maddie’s Fund® and The
Maddie’s® Community Lifesaving Award.
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.
Maddie’s® Fund is a family foundation
endowed by the founder of
Workday® and PeopleSoft,
Dave Duffield, and his
wife, Cheryl. It was
inspired by their late
miniature Schnauzer,
Maddie, whose
unconditional love, loyalty,
dedication and spirit led
them to start a foundation
in her honor.
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
InstituteSM. For more information visit
www.maddiesfund.org.
Find out more about our animal statistics
at hssv.org/asilomar.
“We didn’t know if we could save her,”
Dr. Andrea Berger remembers. “She
was in terrible shape. But we were
going to try”.
Left in a backyard with ongoing skin issues, 5-year-old Misha had been
without medical care for years. As a result her skin grew worse, getting
infected. Struggling with long-term illness, her stomach began to have issues
and she dropped weight.
Within hours our medical staff had determined she wasn’t contagious, and our
Foster Team swung into action to find her a more comfortable place. Red
Rover Pet Resort stepped up to foster her, bringing her to their facility. Having
lived her life outside with minimal handling, the presence of the other dogs
was comforting to her and she took every opportunity to cuddle with the staff.
After a few weeks of medicated baths, special diets, antibiotics, and lots of love and care, she was well on the road to recovery.
Helping dogs like Misha is possible because we have supporters who have made commitments to programs that are most
meaningful to them. Gayle and Phil Haworth decided a few years back that they wanted to invest in a fund at Humane Society
Silicon Valley specifically to help older dogs get the rehabilitation they needed. Recognizing that some dogs need a bit more help,
they made an $11,000 annual gift over several
years designated specifically to such dogs.
Additionally they made an annual gift of
$5,600 a year to our unrestricted general fund
to be used as needed. Commitments such as
these allow us to plan more effectively for our
work each year, knowing that the funds will
be available.
Years of neglect meant Misha would always
need a special diet and care, but her bony ribs
had filled out and a peach fuzz of new fur was
sprouting on her. She was returned to us to
begin looking for her new home in earnest.
A Postcard From Misha:
A New Beginning For A Deserving Pooch
12:05 Saturday. Misha was enjoying the travelling life. Far from the clamor
and crowds of the Maddie’s® Pet Adoption Day event, the beagle mix with
the huge eyes and leathery ears was ensconced in a comfortable RV. She
didn’t know it was a momentous moment, that every single good thing that
had happened to Misha in the past few weeks - the RV, the hugs and cuddles,
these new people - was now going to keep happening to her forever. That
what had been a miserable, painful life was irrevocably in the past. For
good.
That at that moment, adoption counselors here were processing the
paperwork to change her trial adoption to a permanent one.
When she was brought to us for vaccines six weeks before, Misha barely
resembled a dog. Virtually hairless except for some sparse tan hair on her
face, her skin was a leathery black and her bald ears thick. Emaciated, she
was a walking skeleton covered in sores. Our medical center immediately
saw that the dog was in crisis and spoke with Erlana Rutherford,
Admissions working in Receiving that day.
Erlana talked the owners into surrendering her to us and immediately
rushed her back to our staff veterinarians. “We didn’t know if we could
save her,” Dr. Andrea Berger remembers. “She was in terrible shape. But
we were going to try”.
While Misha had been rehabilitating, retired
couple David and Jan from Nevada were
looking for a road companion online. Avid
RV-ers, they wanted a quiet, sweet dog that
could travel with them. When they saw
Misha’s picture, something clicked. They
drove in to meet her. We made the decision to
send her off as a trial adoption, to make sure
she would continue to thrive and ensure that
the burden on the couple wasn’t too onerous.
It wasn’t. And on that first day of Maddie’s®
Pet Adoption Days, it was made official:
Misha would spend the rest of her days with
David and Jan. From an isolated life in a
backyard to the endless roads of the US with
her loving family, it’s a brand new, wonderful
world for Misha.
And then came Maddie’s® Pet
“They were nothing
Adoption Days. Victoria, a stately
we were looking for
woman with piercing blue eyes,
but they’re perfect
came in with Melanie, her 14-year
for us.”
old-daughter. The two were looking
for a younger dog, something that
didn’t shed much...ONE younger dog. As the day was winding
down on Sunday, there weren’t many dogs left at all. “We were
going to leave,” Victoria remembers, “and then Melanie was
like ‘Mom, why don’t we look at Luna and Phoebe?’.”
Speaking of the pair, Victoria laughs, “They were nothing we
were looking for but they’re perfect for us. They make us laugh
every day. When I come home at night, they’re so excited to see
me, it’s like they’ve known me forever. And they follow
Melanie everywhere, waiting outside the bathroom for her. We
just love them.”
These days, Luna and Phoebe spend their days hanging out with
Melanie, who is home schooled, and enjoying family outings to
San Francisco and daily walks and snuggles.
Sue and John Diekman are people who
understand that when you save an animal’s life
you also enrich the human family who will adopt
that animal. When you save thousands of animals’
lives and find them new loving homes you enrich
an entire community.
When we approached the Diekmans with our
plans to treat and rehabilitate even more animals with medical conditions each year, they stepped up with
a $500,000 matching challenge offer for Humane Society Silicon Valley’s Special Medical program. Gifts
of $25,000 or greater for Special Medical Needs will qualify for the matching challenge. The Diekmans
will match dollar for dollar, up to $500,000.
The Best Dogs Here: Phoebe and Luna
Find Their Forever Home Together
4:46 PM Sunday. Inside their room, Phoebe and Luna sit and
entertain a stream of volunteers and staff and the occasional
visitor. Outside their room, the excitement of the crowd streams
by, and Luna turns her face up to the window, wagging her tail,
while Phoebe barks, her little forehead wrinkling.
“These are the best dogs here.” Staff and volunteers repeatedly
tell anyone who will listen. Still, as dog after dog leaves with
its new family, the pint sized pair is overlooked.
only would the eye need to
come out, but she would lose
some teeth as well. The pretty
blonde dog’s face would remain
permanently sunken on one side
from the bone damage.
Having her sister
with her helped the
already sunny dog
get through her
recovery and adjust
to losing the eye.
We met Luna and Phoebe separately, both transferred in from a
crowded city shelter. Luna came over because she had a
damaged eye and needed surgery that we could provide.
Phoebe, whom she had been found with, was still at the city
shelter. A delicate soul, Phoebe was terrified there and word
came that without Luna, Phoebe was deteriorating and
becoming more fearful. Two days after transferring Luna here,
the decision was made to bring Phoebe over as well.
The next day, Luna underwent
surgery. Having her sister with
her helped the already sunny dog get through her recovery and
adjust to losing the eye. Phoebe began to come out of her shell.
Staff and volunteers discovered that Phoebe was funny and
bright, loved to hide in odd places and, despite her often
deadpan expression, adored snuggling with people she was
comfortable with. Occasionally Luna would become frightened
or startled by activity on her ‘bad’ side and timid Phoebe would
step up to protect her, barking at the offending noise or activity
and pressing close to her side.
Outgoing Luna had greeted everyone here with delight, turning
her good eye towards them, her mouth open in relaxed joy. She
was quickly moved to medical to deal with her damaged eye.
When Dr. Berger, our staff veterinarian, took x-rays what she
found stunned her. Luna’s eye wasn’t infected - she had
suffered a blunt force penetrative trauma to her face. In addition
to the damage to the eye, she also had fractures below it. Not
Now that they were feeling better, the task of finding a perfect
home for the pair became a priority. While staff and volunteers
were enchanted with the pair, getting potential adopters to look
at a bonded pair of middle-aged dogs, one with a disability, was
nearly impossible. We reached out to the media, blogged about
the pair, featured them on radio stations to no avail. As the
weeks ticked by, the two dogs remained with us.
Sue and John feel so strongly about this work they also wanted to ensure the animals would continue to
benefit from their regular annual support so they also made a generous pledge, a multi-year commitment,
to our annual fund. Our Special Medical programs allow us to help dogs like Luna who need more care
than most shelters can provide. Philanthropic leaders like Sue and John help others envision how their
own support can make significant change, no matter the gift size. We are very grateful to the Diekmans
for all they do to help Humane Society Silicon Valley and the animals in our shared community.
To create your own change by making a $25,000+ gift to the Diekman challenge or by giving to one of our
other special programs that touches your heart, please contact Stephanie Ladeira, Vice President of
Development at 408-262-2133, ext 134 or email her at stephanie.ladeira@hssv.org.