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Dr. Rusher (left), clinic staff and PAWS
volunteers show off the new surgery table

PAWS with Dr. Rusher Rescue Relief Service have a clinic that assists rescue groups with low cost spays/neuters and other minor surgeries. The clinic has been using old and outdated equipment from other pet and human hospitals. Their surgery table was old and the hydraulic system had been slowly failing until it finally took three people to lift and lower the table top. The cost to repair it was almost as much as a new table, so PAWS decided to see if we could raise the money to purchase a new one. With the help of generous donors, PAWS delivered a beautiful new surgery table for the clinic. The new table can be easily raised or lowered smoothly with a foot pedal. It has the additional features of a top with an adjustable incline and a heated surface, which helps keep animals warm during surgery. We would like to thank all those who donated, especially Gary, who donated almost 50% of the needed funds. Your generosity has allowed PAWS/Dr. Rusher Rescue Relief Service to provide “just what the doctor ordered.”

Jett is a handsome black Labrador that was hit by a car and came into the San Jose shelter as a stray in October with a badly broken front leg. Since he was not reclaimed by his owner, his only hope was a rescue stepping in to save him. Enter Peace of Mind Dog Rescue, a group based out of Pacific Grove. Part of their mission is to find new loving homes for senior dogs in animal shelters, and at 12 years young, Jett qualifies as senior. When the POMDR volunteer met Jett at the shelter she reported he was a very calm, happy senior dog despite the pain he must have been in due to his broken leg. He required orthopedic surgery to repair his broken leg which included plates and pins. He is recovering well at the vet hospital. The hospital reports that Jett is an excellent canine patient. He is delightful to be around and often just hangs out loose in the treatment area greeting everyone and every dog that passes by. Jett will soon be going to a POMDR foster home to finish his 6-8 week recuperation before all the healing is complete, but he will make a full recovery. Jett will be an excellent family member for any home, making someone a fabulous companion in his golden years as he is so mellow and well behaved. Look for Jett on POMDR’s website, www.peaceofminddogrescue.org. The PAWS for SJACS Medical Fund helped fund Jett’s surgery and it is thanks to your donations that we are able to help such needy animals.

In early summer, San Jose Animal Advocates (SJAA) launched its “Save a Kitten 2012” program aimed at saving more local young shelter kittens during high kitten season when euthanasia is highest. Partnering with the Humane Society Silicon Valley (HSSV), which has an extensive foster program, SJAA provided an outreach to the community focused on fostering to insure that everyone who can foster a kitten has the knowledge and opportunity to foster. SJAA developed a new web page that eases the fostering application process and provides an informative Facebook page dedicated to the program. Links to these are located at the end of this article.

Kitten fostering consists of providing a temporary home and care until the kitten is old enough (approximately 8 weeks old) and developed enough (2 pounds) to undergo spay or neuter surgery. Once that occurs, the kitten can be adopted out to a permanent home.

HSSV helps other shelters such as SJACS, when they can, with the overflow of kittens in high season. With 15 new foster homes this year in their foster system, HSSV was able to save 59 more kittens from their partners than in prior years. Those kittens have HSSV and SJAA to thank for their little lives!

Good work, SJAA, for your first year of “Save a Kitten”. Here’s to saving even more in 2013!

Website: http://www.sjanimaladvocates. org/save-a-kitten.html 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ SaveaKitten2012

PAWS_newsletter2012winter

President’s Letter

Janice Frazier, PAWS for SJACS President

This is the time of year when many people reflect on the past year and what they’ve accomplished and look forward to the new year. For PAWS for SJACS this is no exception.

This year we are very proud to have purchased a new surgery table to enable the Dr. Rusher Rescue clinic to do more advanced surgical procedures for rescued shelter animals, and to make surgeries easier for Vet Specialists. Dr. Rusher and PAWS are also running a monthly vaccine clinic at SJACS, which provides low-cost vaccinations to the public in this easily accessible location, and raises money for PAWS to help the SJACS animals.

During our last fiscal year, the PAWS medical funds helped 26 SJACS animals: 15 dogs, 8 cats, and 3 rabbits. This represents help for thirteen different rescue groups, with eight groups reaching out for funding for the first time with PAWS! See our article about one of our recently funded dogs, Jett, and the great rescue group that saved him.

SJACS asked us to help broaden the enrichment program by adding Natural Balance Logs as dog training treats. This may seem like a little thing to mention, but the most common reason why dogs end up at a shelter is behavioral issues. A better-trained dog coming out of the shelter is more likely to keep its home, so the staff and volunteers work to train them. We are happy to help them accomplish this goal in this simple way. PAWS is always open to supporting new ideas for keeping the animals happy during their SJACS stays, thereby helping them get adopted, and stay adopted!

Lastly, we need to mention the rollout of a new, exciting program. It starts with the same never-ending theme, it seems: “If only spay/neuter was less expensive.” Well, PAWS for SJACS is proud to offer a voucher program to help people get their dogs fixed. Working with six vets in the area, and open to other vets wanting to participate, PAWS offers a voucher an owner can apply for to get up to $100 off the cost of the spay or neuter at a participating vet. We have included the flyer in this newsletter, so please give it to someone you know who needs to fix their dog, or post it. This program is funded in a partnership with SJACS, as we donated the prize money for the licensing amnesty lottery, which ran in the Fall of 2011 (Amnesty Lottery Winners, page 4). Having exceeded their target with the amnesty program, SJACS committed money to help PAWS run the spay/neuter voucher program. Thus, SJACS received increased licensing revenue and PAWS was able to get some more dogs spayed and neutered.

PAWS for SJACS looks forward to another great year of being able to help the animals of SJACS. We wish you happy holidays, and ask that when making your charitable contributions, please think of us, as all these programs are a result of our fundraising efforts and/or donations from caring people such as yourselves.

From the 2012 Winter Newsletter

$100 Voucher for Spay/Neuter of your Dog

(One voucher per household)

Please visit this page to Request your Voucher