Paw Prints Winter 2013

Paw Prints WINTER 2013

MEET OUR NEW CEO,

DR. STEVEN R. HANSEN Page 3

BUILDING THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

NEW SPACE HELPS SAVE MORE LIVES Page 4

FILL THE HOLIDAYS WITH LOVE Page 6

PUBLISHED FOR FRIENDS OF THE ARIZONA HUMANE SOCIETY

LETTER FROM OUR LEADERSHIP

MEET OUR NEW CEO

Dear Friend,

Dr. Steven R. Hansen Ready to Save More Lives and Lead AHS Into the Future

As we enter the holiday season, we reflect on all that we’re thankful for. At AHS, we’re so grateful to come to work every day and help bring a shy and fearful pet out of his shell, or give an energetic dog a few minutes of fun-filled fetch time in our agility yard. We’re grateful that we get to watch stray, injured cats enter our shelter through our Second Chance Animal Hospital™ and leave purring peacefully in the arms of their new pet parent.

And this year, we’re so very grateful for the exciting path we’re embarking upon and our new leader who is going to guide us.

If you haven’t already heard, Dr. Steven R. Hansen, a 30-year-veteran of animal welfare who has a vast background in veterinary medicine and non-profit leadership, has joined AHS as our new President and CEO. Dr. Hansen, who started on October 21, comes to us from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), where he has spent the past 15 years, most recently as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer.

Dr. Hansen is a brilliant and innovative leader, and you can learn more about his goals and vision for AHS on the facing page. He is the perfect champion to help implement our new strategic plan, which focuses on saving the lives of more animals, and lead AHS as we strive to become the animal welfare organization of the future.

In the short time I’ve known Dr. Hansen, I’ve come to realize how determined he is to better the lives of our pets and how passionate he is about our mission to safeguard, rescue, shelter, heal, adopt and advocate for animals in need.

On behalf of our compassionate staff and volunteers, Dr. Hansen and the 121 animals we take in each day who you help love and care for, thank you for being a friend to AHS and our homeless pets.

Sincerely,

All of us at AHS also know how important you are to that mission. Without your help, we couldn’t rescue the starving, abused dog left unloved in a backyard. We couldn’t provide a temporary home for the litter of stray kittens abandoned by their mother.

That’s why, above all, this year and every year, we’re thankful for you and the support you continue to give our animals. Every time you send a gift, you save a life. Every time you spread our message of hope, you make a difference.

Melinda Gulick Chair, AHS Board of Directors

Thank You For Helping to Raise More Than $500,000 for Homeless Pets AHS is thrilled to report that this summer’s annual Project 121: Action for Animals campaign and Pet Telethon raised an astounding $511,138 for the animals in our care! This eight-week community engagement campaign worked to not only unite loyal pet lovers in support of companion animals, but to educate Arizona residents on the extreme pet overpopulation crisis in Maricopa County.

Campaign Highlights: • During the month of July, AHS partnered with all 115 Arizona Safeway stores for a point of sale campaign where customers generously donated $25,000 to AHS at checkout.

• Pet lovers joined the Online Movement, creating teams in honor of their favorite furry friends and collecting donations on their online fundraising pages totaling $32,569.

• Valued partner VCA Animal Hospitals generously matched all online Project 121 donations up to $25,000 July 24-28.

Animals have always been part of Dr. Steven R. Hansen’s life. There was Brandy, his childhood Brittany Spaniel who he once rescued from his local animal shelter after she escaped from his family home in Iowa. There are Gracie, a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon dog; Nala, a domestic shorthair cat; and Wilbur, a guinea pig who he now serves as proud pet papa to.

And now, there are the 44,000 homeless, neglected and abused animals who will rely on him to be their most important advocate and greatest champion while they wait for their forever homes.

On October 21, Dr. Hansen joined the Arizona Humane Society as our President and CEO and will lead AHS’ organizational operations as we implement our newly adopted strategic plan, which focuses primarily on saving more lives and finding homes for more animals, and work toward becoming the animal welfare organization of the future.

“We need to focus aggressively and think about out-of-the-box, creative ways to collaborate and find more homes for

our animals while also diversifying our revenue streams,” Hansen said. “We have the ability to be an influencer on the national stage as we become a model for how to take animal welfare and pet care from an animal’s birth all the way until it’s time to say goodbye. In the next five to ten years, Phoenix will become the premier animal welfare community in the country.”

Dr. Hansen has 30 years of experience in animal welfare, including his most recent post as the Chief Operating Officer with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). AS COO, Dr. Hansen was responsible for leading the organization’s medical, finance, human resources, technology, capital projects and facilities programs and departments.

Dr. Hansen also brings an extensive medical and veterinary background to AHS. Prior to his time with ASPCA, he was the Director of Veterinary Research for Wellmark International in Chicago and also practiced clinical medicine in Houston and Chicago.

“We have high ambitions for saving and improving lives of a lot more animals,” Hansen said. “And it’s going to require help from our partners and donors.

Financial support is key and I know we have a very strong donor base and understand how valuable they are and how important they are to what we do. Our ultimate goal is to save every adoptable animal, and now more than ever, we need their support.”

Pixie Sees With Her Heart, Not With Her Eyes With 121 homeless pets arriving at AHS each and every day, the support of our generous donors, partners, advocates and corporate sponsors make all that we do possible. AHS extends a sincere thank you to our many partners whose dedication was critical in the success of this campaign.

You can only imagine how terrified Pixie must have been as she wandered the streets blindly. While living as a stray, the young Chihuahua suffered head trauma which caused severe damage to both of her eyes. She must have endured days of pain before someone finally noticed her plight, because when our Emergency Animal Medical Technicians™ rescued her, both eyes were in such poor shape that they were beyond saving, and our veterinarians had to surgically remove them in AHS’ Second Chance Animal Hospital™.

Although Pixie is now completely blind, her spirits are high, her hearing remains sharp and she wags her tail when she hears a kind voice. Resilient and adaptable, it’s incredible to see her maneuver around a room using her other senses and it didn’t take her long to memorize the layout of her new forever home in Lake Havasu City.

It’s thanks to the generosity of individuals like you that we are able to give Pixie and thousands of animals like her a second chance each year.

• Project 121 culminated in the 15th annual Pet Telethon on August 24. This year’s presenting sponsor, GoDaddy, challenged viewers with a match of its own, doubling all online donations made during the Pet Telethon up to $100,000.

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PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

Meet Some of Our Behavior Successes

Thank You for Rallying for Ryder

RAMSEY When Ramsey first arrived at AHS, he would shake in fear and cower in his kennel when anyone new approached him. However, after just several days of intense work with our Behavior Team, Ramsey was wagging his tail and eager to take treats. Ramsey is now enjoying his new life in a forever home in Tempe.

AHS sends our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has rallied for Ryder and helped root this amazing little pit bull on to recovery.

Ryder came to AHS in September after Phoenix Police officers found her chained so tightly to a door knob that only her hind feet were able to touch the floor. Ryder weighed just 28 pounds, was extremely malnourished and close to death.

Building the Road to Recovery New Cat Isolation Wing, Behavior Modification Space Offers a Second Chance to More Animals.

When our Second Chance Animal Hospital™ veterinarians began treating her, she was so frail, she couldn’t even stand or walk and we weren’t sure Ryder would survive. But after a month on a strict feeding schedule to build Ryder’s weight, constant medical care and plenty of love, Ryder has nearly doubled her weight and is a healthy 50 pounds.

The playful, loving 2-year-old pit bull is now in foster care working on her manners and will soon be ready to find her forever home.

Ryder is extremely grateful for those of you who sent her well-wishes, made a donation in her honor or took the pledge to end animal cruelty. It’s with your continued support that AHS is able to care for and save the lives of abused and neglected animals like Ryder every day.

THE ARIZONA HUMANE SOCIETY IS EXPANDING AND SAVING MORE LIVES. This winter, AHS will complete the renovation of a new cat isolation and behavior modification area at our Nina Mason Pulliam Campus for Compassion that will allow us to give a second chance to more sick cats and scared dogs who arrive at AHS needing just a little extra love and care before they are ready to find their forever homes.

OREO Oreo is one of our very favorite stories. He came to us completely shut down, fearful and needing a major confidence boost. For 22 days, our Behavior Team showed Oreo plenty of love and utilized a variety of training methods, including clicker work, to help ease Oreo into his new environment and bring him out of his shell. After a few weeks of work, Oreo was greeting our shelter staff with tail wags, eager to go on walks and chase balls. Oreo now lives in Phoenix with his new forever family.

The 1,500-square-foot space will include 35 kennels to temporarily house sick cats, as well as a private area free from distractions where our Behavior Modification Team can work with our shy, fearful and high-arousal dogs.

The project was born out of AHS’ newly adopted strategic plan, which focuses on several key objectives, including ensuring our facilities meet our ongoing needs, and, most importantly, placing more animals in good homes.

We project that this new isolation space will help us save the lives of an additional 600 cats who are suffering from Upper Respiratory Infection (URI) – a highly contagious kitty cold – or other illnesses that could easily spread throughout our shelters. The isolation wing will keep these cats separated to decrease the chances of a shelter outbreak, and will also allow for volunteers and staff to continue to socialize these cats and help keep their spirits up while they recover.

Additionally, cats who are currently housed at our Nina Mason Pulliam Campus for Compassion and become sick are transferred to AHS’ Sunnyslope Campus to be treated in our only existing isolation space. That trip back to Sunnyslope can create stress and make it more difficult to heal. The ability to keep them at our Nina Mason Pulliam Campus for Compassion will help alleviate additional stress and increase their chances for recovery.

The dog area will provide an air-conditioned outlet for our Behavior Modification Team to help socialize and de-stress our anxious and apprehensive canine friends, inside and away from the scorching Arizona temperatures during the hot summer months.

AHS’ Behavior Modification program partners trained behavior specialists with dogs who enter the shelter fearful, shy, lacking basic manners or with food aggression. So far this year, our Behavior Team has worked with close to 700 dogs, including more than 400 “project” dogs who needed help before they were ready to go up for adoption, and have been able to place a remarkable 93 percent of those project dogs into new homes or with one of our rescue partners.

“We’re so excited about what this new space will mean for our homeless animals who aren’t quite ready to find their new homes,” said Dr. Steven R. Hansen, AHS’ President and CEO. “Saving more lives is a key component of our plan to make the Arizona Humane Society the animal welfare organization of the future.”

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Ryder arrived at AHS weighing just 28 pounds.

AHS thrift stores now benefit both pets and people. Our Camelback Thrift Store recently partnered with Phoenix’s Alhambra High School to provide 50-percent discounts to all students, parents and staff on all items under $100, including clothing, household goods and furniture. In addition, Alhambra students and staff have been hosting coin drives in order to raise funds and store credit for those students who may not be as fortunate. AHS’ Tempe Thrift Store is offering a similar discount program to Arizona State University students.

ALLIANCE UPDATE The Alliance For Companion Animals – seven Valley animal welfare organizations, including the Arizona Humane Society, that have come together to help combat Maricopa County’s homeless animal problem – have made headway in our efforts to tackle pet homelessness.

Through August of this year, the number of animals who have been adopted or placed with partner organizations has increased by five percent and the number of animals taken into Valley shelters has decreased by five percent compared to last year. Additionally, the number of animals euthanized in shelters across Maricopa County has dropped by 16 percent. We’re making progress but there’s still a long way to go to solve the Valley’s homeless pet problem. To see how you can help, visit fixadoptsave.org.

Ryder is now a healthy, happy 50 pounds.

Planning for Your Pets What happens to your pets after you are gone? Valley estate planning attorney and AHS Board of Directors member Ronald G. Wilson sees this sad situation frequently.

“Many people finalize their Will or Trust, take care of bequests for their children, and make a plan for their home and special belongings. But they neglect to plan for their beloved pets,” Wilson said. “I encourage my clients to plan for their dogs, cats and critters to avoid confusion, stress for the pets, and stress on family or friends who may struggle to care for an unexpected pet or find a new home. A great option I share is AHS’ Continuing Care program.”

Continuing Care is a special program reserved for AHS’ Legacy Circle members, or those who’ve included AHS in their final giving plans. You can do this by: • • • •

THRIFT PARTNERSHIP BENEFITING PETS AND PEOPLE

Naming AHS as a beneficiary in a Will or Living Trust Establishing a charitable gift annuity with AHS Creating a charitable remainder trust (CRT) and naming AHS as the beneficiary Naming AHS as the beneficiary of a paid life insurance policy or a retirement account

COMPASSIONATE EDUCATION AHS’ Humane Education Department and legislative affairs committee are working with state legislators on a classroom education program called the “Compassion Project”, designed to help foster compassion for both animals and humans. This project will target the underserved education community as well as many of AHS’ high-intake zip codes that are responsible for a large number of the pets surrendered to our shelter. AHS will invite our partner legislators to join us for a humane education presentation to school classes, and we will also provide students with free workbooks that we recently received through a generous donation from Waterford Press. For upcoming Humane Education programs, visit azhumane.org/humaneed.

AHS is proud to make the Continuing Care program available to help Legacy Circle members plan for their animal companions’ futures. Pets who are enrolled in the program and whose owners predecease them are placed with new forever families carefully selected by our staff. Continuing Care is truly one of the best and most simple ways of planning ahead for four-legged family members who depend on you for care.

For more information about the Legacy Circle and Continuing Care programs, visit azhumane.org/legacycircle, or contact Lauren Martich at 602.395.3859 or legacycircle@azhumane.org.

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COMPASSION IN ACTION

CORPORATE CORNER

Fill the Holidays With Love

VCA Animal Hospitals’ Commitment to Fighting Pet Overpopulation

Stuff a Stocking for a Pet in Need.

This holiday season, give our pets joy, compassion and hope by filling our shelter with love. As our dogs, cats, and critters wait for Santa to bring them a new family and a forever home, your donation can provide blankets to keep them warm, medicine to keep them healthy and toys to keep them happy. We hope you will show our four-legged friends that the holidays are truly a time of giving and that you know our furry friends deserve gifts, too. From AHS and all the members of our shelter family, we wish you a happy holiday season.

How Your Holiday Gift Helps $10 Provides food and vaccinations for one animal for a week. $25 Provides one EAMT with life-saving supplies for an animal suffering from critical trauma. $50 Provides a “mercy groom” for one neglected animal with a painful, severely matted coat. $150 Spays or neuters one cat and one dog as we fight the pet overpopulation crisis in our community. $300 Covers the average costs to care for an animal until he is adopted.

Give the Gift of Compassion. DONATE TODAY Shelter Wish List Can’t make a monetary donation this year, but still want to help? Donate toys, treats, supplies or any of the many items on our Shelter Wish List, and help provide stocking stuffers to those pets who will be spending the holidays with us. For a complete Shelter Wish List, visit azhumane.org/filltheholidays.

Save the Date – Compassion With Fashion 2014 Pets Make Life Sweet!

Save the date for AHS’ sweet 16th annual Compassion with Fashion, March 29, 2014 at the Arizona Biltmore Resort. More than 1,000 guests will enjoy a seated luncheon, silent auction, fashion show and, of course, many delicious treats. Our sweetest AHS pets will strut their stuff in hopes of finding a forever home during the Sweet 16 Adoptable Pet Parade.

Tables, tickets and event sponsorships available. For more information on Compassion with Fashion: Pets Make Life Sweet, contact Page Englert at 602.943.7655 or penglert@azhumane.org.

$500 Covers the cost to repair an animal’s leg fracture in our Second Chance Animal Hospital™.

VCA Animal Hospitals has been a longtime partner of AHS. Most recently, VCA was a key sponsor of Project 121 and Pet Telethon, raising funds and increasing awareness of the pet overpopulation crisis in our community. This fall, VCA took another step toward reducing the number of unwanted animals in the Valley by underwriting a portion of our One Spay at a Time program.

Through One Spay at a Time, AHS is able to offer free surgeries to several highrisk groups, including pet owners who attend our free spay days, individuals

who surrender puppies or kittens to our Admissions department but choose to keep the pet parents, and low-income pet owners who our Emergency Animal Medical Technicians™ encounter in the field. This fall, VCA’s gift to support the EAMT voucher portion of One Spay at a Time has already allowed for more than 70 high-risk animals to be spayed or neutered.

We offer a huge thank you to VCA for their ongoing partnership and commitment to fighting pet overpopulation.

GoDaddy Cares About Animals What do you get when the state’s largest animal welfare organization teams up with the world’s largest platform for small business? One incredible partnership! A loyal supporter since 2006, GoDaddy and the company’s charitable arm, GoDaddy Cares, is committed to making a positive difference in the communities where their employees work, live and play, and this year’s Pet Telethon was no exception.

In addition to their generous $100,000 match during the Telethon’s live broadcast on August 24th, GoDaddy employees served as phone bank operators, taking calls from donors on set and also working behind the scenes as an extension of the AHS tech team, keeping our website up and running smoothly. On behalf of the 121 dogs, cats and critters AHS serves each and every day, we raise our paws to GoDaddy for their dedication to Arizona’s companion animals!

To learn more about how you or your company can become involved with AHS as a corporate sponsor, please contact Page Englert at penglert@azhumane.org.

azhumane.org/cwf 6

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Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Phoenix, AZ Permit No. 456

1521 W. Dobbins Road Phoenix, AZ 85041 azhumane.org

How Does More Paw Prints Sound?

AHS opens new location at Norterra

We’ve heard your feedback. You love seeing Paw Prints in your mailbox and want to read amazing animal stories more often. Now you can. We’re increasing the number of times we publish Paw Prints from two to three issues each year. However, in order to keep

There’s a new place to shop and adopt. In October, AHS celebrated the grand opening of Petique at The Shops at Norterra, a retail and adoption center in north Phoenix off the I-17 and Happy Valley Road. This new Petique location follows a similar model to our Petique at Biltmore Fashion Park store, with an increased focus on adoptions. The Norterra location boasts six dog kennels, 24 cat kennels, two critter kennels and a walk-in cat room, which can house up to six cuddly cats and kittens. You can also shop for “paws and cause” and find the trendiest clothes and accessories for you and your pet. Come down and find your next furry friend or favorite shirt at Petique at The Shops at Norterra!

costs down, we are also scaling down each publication from 16 to eight pages. We’d love to hear what you think about the new Paw Prints. Email your feedback or any general questions to moverton@azhumane.org.

Emergency Ambulance EAMT™ Service SICK & INJURED RESCUES REPORT ANIMAL CRUELTY

Daily 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. · 365 days a year 602.997.7585 Ext. 2073

Locations | Services NINA MASON PULLIAM CAMPUS FOR COMPASSION

TEMPE THRIFT STORE

Stay Connected – Visit Us Online!

SUNNYSLOPE CAMPUS

PETIQUE AT BILTMORE FASHION PARK

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Adoptions · Public Clinic · Pet Emporium 1521 W. Dobbins Rd. Phoenix, AZ 85041 602.997.7585 Admissions · Adoptions Public Clinic Thrift Store · Second Chance Animal Hospital™ · EAMT™ 9226 N. 13th Avenue/ 1311 W. Hatcher Road Phoenix, AZ 85021 602.997.7585

CAMELBACK THRIFT STORE Shop · Donate 4240 W. Camelback Road Phoenix, AZ 85019 602.242.3180

Shop · Donate 755 W. Baseline Road Tempe, AZ 85283 480.366.4617

Adoptions · Retail 2502 E. Camelback Road, Ste. 167 Phoenix, AZ 85016 602.957.3113

PETIQUE AT THE SHOPS AT NORTERRA Adoptions · Retail 2460 W. Happy Valley Road, St. 1149 Phoenix, AZ 85085 623.582.2513