A message from our Executive Director
Our 2022 Mid-Annual Report is here!
As the numbers show, we are having a strong year saving and improving the lives of pets and people despite continued global challenges. I want to personally thank you: our dedicated staff, passionate volunteers, partners, adopters, donors, and regional community for helping make this success possible.
We continue to provide affordable community services helping thousands of pets who otherwise may not have received vaccines, microchips, and spay/neuter services. Thanks to our Pawject Team (aka pet social workers) and our Todd’s Medical Fund program, we have helped 234 beloved pets stay in their homes and receive the veterinary care they desperately needed.
As the number of pets and people in need continues to climb, our Help Desk provides callers with critical information to keep their pets where they belong: in their loving homes. Our trained staff offers advice for behavior problems and other resources to prevent surrenders.
Unwanted dog and cat litters are on the rise, which means we’re especially grateful for our incredible foster homes! These volunteers open their homes and hearts to puppies and kittens who are then lucky enough to grow up in a loving, safe environment until they’re ready for adoption. And the SPCA of Northern Nevada provides everything you need for these babies to thrive! Fostering is a great way to educate children about baby animals as well as teaching them patience, gentleness, and emotional resiliency. We have foster caregivers who care for sick babies, neonatal kittens (still nursing but without a mom), weaned kittens, and puppies of all types and sizes. And another benefit of the foster program is our fosters are considered first on the list as adoptive guardians if they choose to keep their foster pet. Please consider fostering so we don’t burn out our overachievers!
As always, we continue to prioritize our affordable community spay/neuter clinics to prevent unwanted litters. We hold three clinics per week and have already fixed 1,306 pets this year—an amazing success for our small clinic! We understand our appointments go faster than Burning Man tickets, but please don’t give up if you are trying to make an appointment. Keep going online the first and third Thursday of every month at 9:00 am for an appointment. Pro Tip: Cat appointments are often still available 2-3 days after we open appointments. Our growing community is in need of more spay/neuter resources, and we’re hard at work expanding our partnerships with private vet clinics to that end.
I’m often asked why we only have 5-20 pets available for adoption at a time on our website. Please understand that we have 130-150 pets in our care (including foster pets), but they have to go through a process before they’re adopted. This process consists of a 72 hour decompression for new arrivals, medical and behavior evaluations, medical treatment (if needed which can last weeks), daily enrichment, possible behavior modifications, spay/neuter surgeries, and more based on each individual pet’s needs. We post newly available pets every day. Bookmark our adoption webpage and keep looking—your new best friend may be just a click away!
The number of pets entering shelters nationwide is increasing and adoptions aren’t keeping up. This means pets are waiting longer for loving homes. We’re grateful adoptions are still strong for our pet-loving region here in Reno-Tahoe, but some types of pets are waiting longer. As a result, this reduces how many others we can rescue from our rural communities. Please consider adopting a senior pet or special needs pet this month—we’re here with resources to support you during and after you bring your new pet home!
Thank you for your continued support of the SPCA of Northern Nevada. Let’s make the next 6 months of 2022 even better than the first!
Thank you northern Nevada, it’s an honor to serve you!
Truly,
Jill
Jill Vacchina Dobbs, J.D.
Executive Director, SPCA of Northern Nevada