Hi all! Faith Wright, here. I’m the staffer at PVAC (thanks to a grant from Best Friends Animal Society to help fund this on-the-ground initiative), helping them work through incredible changes that have already affected so much lifesaving at this shelter. A lot has happened down in Palm Valley since the saga with Charly, the Japanese Macaque primate who survived thanks to the incredibly rallying power of this community! While Austin Pets Alive!, as a shelter, exclusively focuses on cat and dog lifesaving, Palm Valley Animal Center receives many non-companion animals each week. So, our Maddie’s Lifesaving Academy staff who have been actively helping PVAC move the needle forward have helped them save donkeys, monkeys, possums, chickens, coyotes, foxes and more. All these lives matter, and every animal deserves a legitimate chance at life.
Kitten season has officially taken off – exploded! – at PVAC. A great deal of time this week was spent getting PSAs out to the community through avenues like interviews with media, newspaper coverage, and Facebook to educate the public on what to do if they find young kittens (and to encourage fostering, adoption and rescues). In just two days, we sent over 50 animals to foster – mostly mamas and their kittens, or unweaned kittens that had been orphaned.
At the beginning of this month, the first 19 kittens flew to Beatrice Humane Society in Nebraska. These little guys flew into Omaha, where they were met by the Humane Society and driven to Beatrice. This was incredibly exciting and we were thankful for everyone involved in this transport, including longtime APA! volunteer and supporter Brad Beam!
Then, late Friday a couple of weeks ago, all of the barn cats at PVAC were adopted in one fell swoop! Skipper Ranch out of Encino, TX pulled up to adopt all 30 barn cats! The enclosures were emptied, allowing us to disinfect and start over. For those interested in learning more about Barn Cat Programs and why they’re important, click here.
We have now been in contact with Twice Purrfect Feline and Soul Dog Rescue out of Denver and they are both willing to also take 20 kittens and adult cats if we can work out flights for them, too. There is also interest from groups in North and South Dakota for cats, so we’re trying to make as many things come together as possible to arrange these transports.
Due to the young age of the kittens and the shelter’s new mission to save them, PVAC is now approved to make a new hire for a 9pm to 1am shift. For anyone who has cared for kittens before, the importance of this cannot be overstated. This new team member will allow us to intake, assess and properly house any animals that Animal Control picks up after closing time of 7pm. This person will also be able to feed the young kitties at night, lessening risks and allowing them to be monitored more closely.
Finally, we continue to need more dog and cat rescues. We were able to save a hospice dog this week thanks to an influx of pain medications, in addition to an active social media presence that draws attention to urgent animal cases at the shelter.
On the heels of rescuing Charly’s life and moving him to the Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation, Inc. grounds in Kendalia, Texas, we also were able to release a fox and a coyote onto a nature preserve this week.
This continues to be a true group effort, with people from around Edinburg, Austin, Texas and the rest of the country coming together to make this amazing transition happen and save more lives than ever before. Thank you, deeply – and hang with us, because these animals need us all.
