Maricopa County, Arizona sent this bulletin at 07/01/2021 05:54 PM MST
Hello Subscriber,
June has been an intense month - multiple fires throughout the state, days of excessive heat, and shelter capacity constraints. As with most shelters in the valley, we are utilizing every kennel we have. We have ramped up all our efforts to get pets out through our partnerships, fosters, expanded volunteers shifts, adoption promotions and transports. To help these pets, we are urging all potential adopters, fosters and partners to help free up space which will allow us the time and opportunity to find the right placement for even more pets.
Other efforts we have been implementing are:
Waiving licensing penalty fees through July 4th to promote the ease of licensing your pet. All services are available online.
Reducing Return to Owner fees July 1 – 15th to facilitate quicker reunification of families with their pets. So far this year we have reunited over 1,700 pets!
Asking finders of stray dogs to house in place for up to five days. Lost pets are often reunited in their own communities, less than a mile from their homes, which helps the pet find their way home quicker and helps us by preventing the pet from having to enter the shelter. Finders are still assisted with posting the found pet to our lost and found page for the greatest chance of reunification.
Restarted bi-monthly vaccine, microchip and licensing clinics at our west care center which helps keep more pets safe and healthy.
Increased media efforts to get the word out! We have been featured on all major media news outlets over the past week including Univision. In addition to communication regarding capacity constraints, we have also been focusing efforts of safe keeping of pets around the holiday.
We continue to request help from the public, as we know this is a critical time in saving more lives due to upcoming fourth of July celebrations, monsoon season and the eviction moratorium. Please consider supporting our homeless pets any way that you can.
To learn more about our programs, adopt, foster, volunteer, or donate, please visit Maricopa.gov/pets.
With gratitude,
Robyn Jaynes, DVM Director
Photo: Staff treating and moving chihuahuas safely inside.
SURPRISE INTAKE OF 18 PETS
You never know what each day will bring when you work in animal rescue, and a few days ago it brought us 18 chihuahuas at once! A couple turned up at the shelter with a car and truck cab full of little dogs after they were evicted from their home and were out of options. Our team scrambled to get all of them safely inside and out of the heat, set up water bowls, and then began the intake process of vaccinating and flea/tick treating all eighteen. After reaching out to our rescue partners, we are so grateful to say that several of them have responded and will be taking some of the little dogs to give them the additional care they need before they can be placed for adoption. The couple did decide to keep one additional dog, and will be working with our Pet Help program to get him vaccinated and altered and make sure he has everything he needs.
We want to say THANK YOU to all of our staff who came together to get all these dogs to safety (during one of our busiest adoption events of the season no less!) and all of our partners who will be helping these little ones with the next step of their journey to finding new homes!
Photo: Multiple staff from various departments treating and moving chihuahuas safely inside. See more photos here.
JOIN OUR HEROES PROGRAM
We work hard at finding loving homes for any unclaimed or surrendered pets in our shelters through our onsite adoption and foster programs. Our MCACC Fosters provide an essential service as they open their homes to pets that need temporary additional support. These can be pets who have medical and behavior issues, whelping moms, orphaned bottle babies, seniors with special needs or in need of hospice. Our continued greatest needs are homes for our larger dogs (over 30 pounds).
“Working with MCACC as a foster has provided me an opportunity to work directly with the homeless pets in our community. When I’m able to assist in finding a perfect match between a dog and an adoptive family, I never feel more fulfilled.” Tara McKinney@tarasfostersaz
Getting more pets each day means we need daily assistance. Interested but looking for a shorter commitment? We have day foster and overnight foster opportunities available. Visit our website for more details.
Photo: Tara (center) of Taras Fosters meeting her next foster senior dog Bravo with MCACC Foster Coordinator Kyle SImmons (right).
Please note that fireworks could start as early as Friday, July 2nd and continue throughout the weekend. Have a safe and happy 4th of July!
PET HELP COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Last Litter Pilot Launches We had a successful pilot of our Last Litter program this month. We spayed four mama dogs and two mama cats, took in four puppies and two kittens, and we have four litters getting started on their vaccines to prepare them for intake. There has been a lot of great teamwork across departments (Alt Placement, Admissions Office, Clinic, and Shelter) to help get this important program started. It has also been a great learning experience in working with the public and pregnant mamas. Read more about this program in our previous newsletter.
Spay and Neuter Mobile Clinics Pet Help partnered with Dr. Kelly’s mobile vet to put on a Spay/Neuter clinic sponsored by Fix.Adopt.Save. We were able to alter and microchip 20 dogs and 9 cats, and thanks to our friends at One Love Pitbull Foundation and AARM, all the pets attending the clinic went home with tags and collars. Community Canine Project donated 30 break-away cat collars enabling us to help our feline friends. We also had special assistance from REACT AZ, for a family that needed assistance with transportation for their kittens' Spay/Neuter appointment. The kittens had a minor health concern they needed cleared up before they'll be ready for surgery and REACT AZ took care of getting their treatment started. For more information on our Pet Help programs, contact our Outreach Coordinator, Cierra, at accpethelp@maricopa.gov
CRITICAL ADOPTION HELP WITH CURRENT PET CRISIS
Double Support We are grateful to the Bissell Pet Foundation who has supported us with life-saving efforts of getting more pets into homes. Bissell sponsored two emergency adoption events resulting in 200 dogs and 15 cats getting adopted, thus helping to make more room for the hundreds we expect over the fourth of July weekend. MCACC will also be participating the next National Bissell Pet Foundation event on July 7- 11th. For more information and to make an appointment to adopt, please visit pets.maricopa.gov
Summer Lovin’ Adoption Special Community Tire Pros helped with sponsoring ten adoptions in June. Ten lucky large dogs had their fees waived including their license, microchip, vaccinations and spay or neuter surgery. We are grateful for the continued monthly support from CTP!
SHELTER ART ENHANCEMENTS
Lobby Murals Our friends at Tito's Handmade Vodka commissioned the artistic endeavors of muralist Edgar Fernandez to paint accents throughout our admission and adoption lobby. This art is in conjunction with the original mural that Edgar painted a few years ago. The addition of this mural continues our improvement projects of creating a welcoming place for our customers and our staff love it too.
Life Rooms Community Canine Project helped spruce up of life rooms by donating printed banners. These rooms are used to highlight specific pets in need like our pittie palace room or medical room. We appreciate the extra messaging to help these pets get adopted.
More Mouths to Feed
We are lucky to have an amazing group of partners/organizations who help us monthly with enrichment items including long-lasting treats and toys. This month we received over $13,700 in edible enrichment donations from the following groups: East Side Elves, Four Paws and Friends, Community Canine Project and One Love Pitbull Foundation. We value your support and thoughtfulness in helping our shelter pets – and they love it too!
Saving Lives Through Microchips
#LovePup Foundation continues to help support our mission of working together to serve the animals and people of Maricopa County with sponsoring microchips for all adoptable pets that leave the shelter. Read more about the benefits of microchipping and why its so important to the health of your pet.
Photo: Ike, the teddy bear, is still available for adoption. #A4548631
Sustaining our Mission
Have you been thinking about a long-term way to help the homeless pets in your community? Consider setting up monthly giving with our recurring donation portal. It costs an average of $56 per day to provide medical care, shelter and food for each of our shelter pets and your contributions greatly help us support the animals in our care.
Upcoming Events and Holiday Hours
Click each event to view details.
July 1 - 6 All Shelter Pets $25
July 7 - 11 Bissell Empty the Shelter Adoption Event
July 17 Petco Adoption Event
July 4th Holiday Hours We will be open 11-3 pm for adoptions only on Sunday, July 4th. On Monday, July 5th, we will be open for all services for shortened hours of 11-3 pm.