Sanctuary Animal Updates
It’s been a few months since my last update and boy have we been busy!! We had a very rough few months and due to budget constraints and a decreasing population of animals we made the very tough decision to lay off nearly a third of our staff in March. Since that time the remaining staff has been working extra hard to cover all the shifts. I am so thankful to them all for their tireless dedication, passionate devotion and extraordinary love for the animals in their care.
Intakes and Adoptions:
February: Intakes- 14 dogs, 22 cats and 0 rabbits
Adoptions- 36 dogs, 27 cats and 1 rabbits
March: Intakes- 45 dogs, 11 cats, and 1 rabbit
Adoptions- 38 dogs, 26 cats and 2 rabbits
April: Intakes- 45 dogs, 25 cats and 4 rabbits
Adoptions- 56 dogs, 15 cats, 4 rabbits
That’s a total of 205 adoptions in 3 months!

SMOKEY:
In my last update I told the amazing story of Lucinda. A sweet old girl who had lived in the shelter for her entire life but was adopted in January to a true angel named Karen. Lucinda has been battling cancer for the last few years and Karen wanted to give her a home for her remaining days. Well we are happy to report that Lucinda is doing just wonderfully and has been the catalyst in saving yet another life – our boy Smokey.
Smokey was surrendered to the shelter in 1997 as a nine month old puppy. In the last few weeks the staff and volunteers have been focused on finding fosters and permanent homes for all of the seniors in our care and Smokey’s story went viral in just a few hours (huge thanks to Town of Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner for his help with that!)
Immediately I received this note in my inbox:

I am Lucindas mom, and I saw the article on Smokey. I called Marcy and she told me all about him. He’s the one that cries at nite. That breaks my heart….sooooo I want to adopt him and have him come live with Freckles and Lucinda. Let me know. If someone comes forward and adopts him after seeing this article than fine, my motive is to help get them out, and if someone beats me to it than great. Marcy said she would drive him down and stay over, so she can see it all go down and so she can visit Lucinda the crazy wild running maniac. LOL. Anyway let me know. Karen P.

We were ecstatic, what’s even bigger and happier then ecstatic? I don’t know but whatever it is that was the PAW staff and volunteers! We cheered, we cried, we rejoiced and we said goodbye to our old man. We wished him luck and told him to give Lucinda a big fat kiss for us. And off he went. To his new home and his new life. Just a few days ago Karen gave us this update:

Smokey is doing fantastic. He trots a lot, and with a good bounce thanks to the joint meds. He has gotten the routine down, loves walks (trots) in the fields, follows me everywhere, lays on the bed next to my computer every nite while I am on it, begs like a wild man for treats – loves them. I’m glad I took him. 3 is a bit hectic in my place, but it’s worth it. I love coming home and seeing the change with each day in Smokey. He really is understanding his life. Ms. Lucinda is soooo jealous when I take Smokey out first that she barks at the door until I come back, then when I take her out, she leaps off the deck stairs and runs like a mad woman to her favorite field. Once there she needs to stick her head in her favorite groundhog hole to see if she can catch us something. LOL!

I cannot thank Karen, our staff, our volunteers and each and every one of you enough for the difference you have made in Smokey’s life. Because of your love, your support, and your belief in our mission we are able to give these seniors a chance at life, love and happiness in their final days.
SAM & MR. HYDE (OC)
Sam is a beautiful black and white DSH sweetheart who had a rough start at life. He entered the shelter in 2003 at approximately 6 months old with a massive eye infection and a head tilt. He immediately underwent surgery to repair the damage to his eye and subsequently it was removed. Despite his medical concerns Sam quickly became a favorite due to his sweet disposition. When we began releasing the cats into open space rooms Sam quickly adapted to his new surroundings and was one of the first to readily accept his new feline friends. His best friend forever is Mr. Hyde aka OC.
Mr. Hyde was transferred to our facility in 2009 when a local shelter had decided they were unable to adopt him out. Originally thought to be a feral cat he was placed in one of the outside enclosures for several months. The cat staff at that time began reporting of Mr. Hyde’s sweet nature and affections towards them and the decision was made to transition him from the feral house to a cat room inside. And from the first time they met it was a true romance between them.
For our staff and volunteers there is nothing more exciting than when two animals are adopted together. MOST animals benefit greatly from having a companion. So you can imagine our absolute excitement when Nichole visited our adoption center and announced that she would like to adopt two older cats, preferably who have lived together. Our adoptions staff introduced her to each of our cat rooms and gave her some time to meet all of our amazing felines. Sam and Mr. Hyde must have sensed that this was their time because they both began to play with one another and greeted Nichole with love. But she wanted to be sure she would make the right decision, there were so many beautiful and deserving cats, so she told us she would come back another day. Just a few days later she walked through the doors and declared that she would be taking Sam and Mr. Hyde home that day!
PAW’s Therapy Dogs (written by staff trainer Misa Martin)

Pets Alive Westchester’s “Train to Adopt” volunteers have been visiting the Skyview Rehabilitation and Health Care facility since February of 2012. With a group of resident dogs that have been evaluated for temperament and skills, our volunteers make bi-weekly visits to the facility to visit the staff and residents. Residents of Skyview often welcome the dogs as they arrive with treats and hugs! More volunteers are needed for this program as we are getting more and more requests for our wonderful dogs and volunteers to bring comfort and joy to residents of long-term care facilities in the Westchester area. If you would like to join the team please contact Misa at misa@petsalivewest.org. We’d love to have you work with us, and our great dogs!

Thank you also to Skyview! They have been an amazing supporter to Pets Alive Westchester – giving us space for fundraisers, and in being instrumental in raising awareness for our animals by holding regular donation drives. Thank you to the residents, families and staff of Skyview for believing in what we do!
Notice anything about our therapy dogs? Yes! We almost ALWAYS try to use pit bulls as our therapy dogs. Why? Because we feel that in order to help fight the stereotypes associated with these wonderful dogs, that the public must see them out and doing GOOD things, instead of the minimal few dogs that you read about in the papers – dogs that are used in negative ways by humans that are giving them ALL a bad name. Pets Alive Westchester wants to help STOP seeing so many wonderful pit bulls being euthanized at shelters all across the United States. Please consider adopting a pit bull. They are wonderful family dogs. Bright. Energetic. Loyal. Friendly.They make wonderful therapy dogs, wonderful family dogs and we have hundreds that are in need of finding their family!
Needs this month
Please consider signing up for a monthly sponsorship! We offer different levels for every budget. You can even purchase a sponsorship as a gift for your animal loving friend or family member. All funds go directly towards the care of our animals. Sponsorships allow us to purchase food and medications. For more information please visit our sponsorship page.
Pets Alive Fur Ball – We Need Your support!

The Fur Ball Gala Fundraiser is our largest and most important fundraiser of the year, and we are asking everyone to help make it a success. Last year Pets Alive supporters from all over the country donated auction items, became event sponsors, or took out journal advertisements to show their support. It was truly only with the support of everyone, and tons of fabulous ideas that the Fur Ball was such a great success. The excitement and the love we felt was completely heartwarming and exhilarating! Then, hundreds of our friends came, from all across the country, got dressed up, had a blast, and raised money to support our rescue work through the year. And this year, we are doing it again, and we just cant wait to see everyone! But right now, we are still in need of support to make the event a success. Will you help?
 
 

• Buy a ticket and attend the event!
• Reserve a table for ten!
• Become an Event Sponsor
• Pay tribute to a pet with an ad in the event program
• Donate an item to the event auctions (contact community@petsalive.com)

The Fur Ball takes place on Saturday, June 2nd at 7:00 pm (until midnight) at The DoubleTree, Tarrytown, N.Y.
Five fun filled hours of cocktails, dinner, dancing and incredible auctions
The Fur Ball is made possible because of the support of our friend and Platinum Sponsor,
Daniele Churchill of Churchills of Mount Kisco.

Our mission is to improve the lives of companion animals everywhere by any means possible, including rescue, adoption, advocacy, collaboration, intervention and education. Please consider making a donation to help us.