Hello Folks...
I am not sure whether you have heard, but a few rescues have come together to create and open Ventura County's first "no kill" shelter. The Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center (SPARC) is a joint effort between the city and a newly formed non-profit corporation. The city canceled its contract with Ventura County and the new local shelter will perform all animal control function for Santa Paula. You can read more about this project at www.santapaulaarc.org or follow them on Facebook!
In order to fund the operations, the center will depend on the city for about 1/2 of the costs and will need to raise the balance from adoption fees and donations. To keep expenses down, they are trying to get as much of what is needed by way of equipment and supplies, donated.
Here are some of the things the center needs in order to open its doors on June 1:
- A patio set for the outdoor meet and greet "park".
- Wire dog crates of all sizes.
- XL dog crates for quarantine and overnighting.
- Approx. 5'x10' chain link or wire dog runs to create exercise pens.
- Good condition "easy ups" to provide shade for the outdoor runs.
- All manner of supplies: paper towels, detergent, fabric sheets, towels, spray bottles, bleach...
- Xpens for small dog play yards.
- If you have any of these items that you are willing and able to donate, please e-mail me.
In addition to these material things, the center needs pledges from individuals and businesses in order to pay the fixed bills like rent, insurance and utilities. These can be in any regular increment but they are asking for a minimum 6 month pledge period. For example, a local woman has pledged to send $100.00 a month for the next 6 months. Were 10 people to match her generosity, the center would have an additional $1,000.00 a month to provide care and re-homing for more animals and extend its services in new and innovative ways, like classroom education projects and mobile spay/neuter clinics.
P.A.P.A. is one of the founding organizations in this venture because to the extent SPARC is a success, it will demonstrate how local community shelters can address and solve local pet overpopulation problems more humanely and more efficiently than the centralized and overcrowded county shelter has been able to do. It is our goal that SPARC be just the first shelter of its kind in Ventura County.
P.A.P.A. was formed to create a "no kill" shelter and community in Ventura County. If the central county shelter cannot achieve this due to staff and budget constraints, then dividing the pet overpopulation problem into smaller increments and letting local communities tackle the problem locally, seems like a viable alternative. Satellite shelters will also help to ease the overcrowding in Camarillo!
SPARC can be the prototype...it can set an example for other communities to follow. And for this additional reason, we are hopeful that you will give careful consideration to the ways in which you might be able to ensure its success. Not just for Santa Paula...but for all of Ventura County.
If you have any questions, fire away. If you have something to donate, holler. If you are able to make a monthly pledge, let me know.
Who knows...maybe YOUR community will be the next one to take back the homeless pet problem and forge its own solutions!
Thank you!...and please forward this on to others who are interested in saving Ventura County's animals.
Diane Rowley Van Sickle
P.A.P.A.
"...until they ALL have homes."
www.vcpapa.org
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead (1901-1978)