Welcome...
Here are some ways you can help us help the animals of Amador County...
• Be sure that your pets are spayed/neutered and don’t be a contributor to pet overpopulation.
• Join A-PAL’s Save the Kittens Team
• Volunteer as a foster family and care for kittens
• Adopt an A-PAL dog or kitten and give it a loving and life long home.
• Remember A-PAL Humane Society in your will and life insurance policies
• Donate funds to A-PAL
We want to be sure that this is communicated to all of our wonderful partners, donors and volunteers. A-PAL understands that these accomplishments are the results of a group effort and would not have been possible without our many animal loving partners.
A-PAL DOG ADOPTION OUTREACH
2nd Saturday of each month from 10AM to 2PM at the Feed Barn.
Donate online to
A-PAL via PayPal!
A-PAL KITTEN STATS:
Kitten/cat adoption stats for 2011.
Our program saved 499 kittens/cats during 2011.
That makes the grand total (since the program began in 1999) 6,765 lives saved.
ANIMAL SERVICES CENTER
I think the challenge for all of us is to try to look beyond our lives and to assure that the good we do carries on into the future. A-PAL Humane Society has been is existence since 1978 working actively to promote the humane treatment of animals, but it has no location. Many people think the shelter is the Humane Society, but A-PAL serves the animals of the shelter and works to pull animals from there. Over 500 of the cats and kittens now go to the Feed Barn annually to be adopted.
Tri County Wildlife Care has been in existence since 1994 serving Amador, Calaveras and San Joaquin counties with wildlife rescue and education, but it has no location either. The Feed Barn has provided a space at the corner of their warehouse for intake and a small baby bird nursery. We could do so much more and provide more volunteer opportunities if we had a location.
An Animal Services Center would allow Tri County Wildlife Care to house more than songbirds on a temporary basis for volunteers to come help. Volunteers who do not have a spare room or dedicated space, cannot rehabilitate wildlife at their homes. A center would also be an ideal place to meet, work on all sorts of projects and to hold classes.
A-PAL could benefit greatly too from a property where central location could allow dog training classes and all sorts of adoption and fundraising events. Humane education classes could be held and perhaps special spay/neuter events as well.
There are certain cost benefits to not having a physical location for sure, but we are utilizing the Feed Barn now for adoptions, intake and meetings. The hope is that someone will donate, or sell at a low cost, a centrally located piece of property with no strings attached. Properties have been offered in the past, but with restrictions that could allow them to go back to the heirs of the donor, making this an unwise business transaction.
If you or someone you know has centrally located property that you believe may be appropriate for an Animal Services center, please contact Susan Manning, 209-304-9590 or feedbarn@volcano.net.
Jump on the "Critter Bus"!
If you’re driving around town, you can’t help but notice that the Amador Transit buses are now sporting advertisements. Soon a very special bus with very special messages will get on the road.
A-PAL Humane Society, Tri County Wildlife Care and the Feed Barn Country Store teamed up to sponsor a bus with a message. Animals are worthwhile and worthy of rescue because each life is unique and precious.
A-PAL’s message is loud and clear, Spay and Neuter your pets to prevent overpopulation and suffering. I hope people will be shocked to know that in 2011, 728 dogs and 1253 cats entered our local animal shelter.
Our animal shelter is a wonderful place staffed with amazing animal lovers. Our new shelter was a community team effort, but we continue to struggle to try to get intake numbers down even though we don’t want to discourage people from taking animals there when it is right and necessary, we want to prevent the birth of unwanted animals.
A-PAL has a free Mom cat spay/neuter program when kittens are surrendered at the shelter, free pit bull spay/neuter program because so many of them end up at the shelter, free county funded Medi-Cal recipient cat and dog spay/neuter, free feral cat spay/neuter and a certificate program for people who need spay/neuter assistance too. These are all made possible with our amazing local veterinarians working with A-PAL, shelter staff and shelter volunteers.
This team effort resulted in the spay or neuter of 1314 animals in 2011. Even with this, the shelter numbers are nearly the same, so the message is the same – PLEASE SPAY/NEUTER your pets, volunteer and donate to A-PAL. Just imagine what our numbers would be without the spay and neuter of 1314 animals all made possible with donations. If you need spay/neuter assistance visit www.amadorapal.org for program details or visit the shelter or the Feed Barn for a certificate.
Tri County Wildlife Care’s message is the same, wildlife is worthwhile, so give them a brake. Slow down on our roads especially at dusk and dawn for your safety and to protect local wildlife. Tri county wildlife Care and its awesome volunteers took in 440 critters in 2011 – birds, mammals and reptiles who were injured, ill and orphaned and 261 of these were released back into the wild and the freedom they deserve.
The Feed Barn’s message, well, as self serving as it may seem we are asking locals to shop locally with us to support local animal rescue. If you doubt our passion for the animals, you probably don’t know that in 2011, 564 cats and kittens who came from our shelter got new homes from the Feed Barn. And if you happen to come in at the right time, you may be treated to the shriek of an unhappy orphaned Barn Owl coming through to rehabilitation with Raptor Team Leader, Pat Benik or a nest of squirrels going to Squirrel Team Leader, Bruce Whiteman or mallards, or wood ducks, goslings, turkey or quail on their way to Rehabilitator Carol Galinski. Songbirds coming in to the Feed Barn for care totalled more than 300 and Chris Broadhead, Margot Culver and Peggy Miller along with many other amazing volunteers gave countless hours to assure finches, jays, grosbeaks, robins and more got a second chance at freedom.
Local people and local businesses make all of this work. Jackson Creek Vet clinic and all other local vet clinics support animal rescue. Margaret Blair’s Twin Cedar K-9 Training and her crew of dedicated volunteers also run Second Chance Dog Rescue; and 26
otherwise unadoptable dogs went to loving homes in 2011 because of their love, care, and training.
Local lawyer, Steve Zalkind, pours wine at A-PAL’s annual Whiskers and Wine fundraiser. Wife, Ruth Hartley, is on the A-PAL Board and a regular volunteer with Second Chance Dog Rescue at Twin Cedar K9 too.
Next, Jeff Holman Auto isn’t just about great car service, they work tirelessly to trap, neuter and release local feral cats. Jeff and Vickie Holman are dedicated to working to end the suffering that abandoned domestic cats endure when uncaring people leave them to fend for themselves.
And of course the local message isn’t just about animals. If people want to support our local economy and community projects, the best way to do that is to support local businesses.
The Amador county Chamber of commerce is a great way to see the “gems” of local businesses that support local community projects.
Visit www.amadorcountychamber.com and click on member directory to see the list. When you see the critter bus go by, we hope you are reminded to spay/neuter your pets, slow down for wildlife and safety, shop local and volunteer for community projects, too.
Amador Transit-APAL "Critter Bus"
As you know, A-PAL Humane Society
is a non-profit organization supported solely by donations.
100% of donations are used for the benefit of Amador County’s animals.
When you are reviewing your estate planning, bequests and legacies,
think of A-PAL Humane Society -
your donation will help provide care for unwanted and lost pets.
Your bequest can be cash, either a specific amount
or a percentage of your assets, or personal property
such as automobiles, art collections and jewelry.
Your donation will help build our financial base to provide long-term planning
for spay-neuter programs, adoption fairs and vaccination clinics,
as well increasing public awareness of the necessity
or spaying/neutering dogs and cats.
So, talk to your attorney and include A-PAL Humane Society
in your estate planning.
You’ll feel good about leaving a legacy that will help!
Please call 223-0410 if you have any questions.
