While COVID-19 turns our world upside down, local pet rescue organizations are feeling the strain, too. Their animals still need food, veterinary care and stable, loving homes, while contributions are shrinking in response to economic uncertainty.
The animals at the Humane Society for Southwest Washington are doing just fine, but the organization has suspended adoptions, canceled its biggest fundraiser and restructured its operations. Smaller nonprofits, however, can’t rely on a high profile or a large donor base. They’ve got to be resourceful to keep things purring along.
The West Columbia Gorge Humane Society, which has temporarily closed its shelter and placed its animals in foster care, is using inventive strategies to stay top-of-mind. It is offering “Friday Pet Tips” on its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/wcghs/, featuring short videos on topics like how to take great pet photos with your cellphone or how to properly trim your cat’s or dog’s claws.
“We’re still brainstorming on other subjects,” said social media coordinator Heather Finley. She said she welcomes suggestions for upcoming videos.
The society has also launched a photography contest: Anyone who’s adopted a pet there can submit fetching photos of their furry companions to heatherf@wcghs.org. One winning dog owner and one winning cat owner will get gift certificates for take-out from 2 Rivers Bar & Grill and 54?40′ Brewing.
“Everyone loves a good alumni story, so we decided to make it a contest that would also help local businesses,” Finley said.
These cheerful online interactions help raise awareness for volunteer work that COVID-19 has rendered more necessary than ever.
“We’re really trying to help our community,” Finley said. “Our shelter worker literally delivered cat food to an older person this week who couldn’t get out and get cat food. We have a cat that needed a lot of medical care recently. Animals that need their medicine, we need to make sure that we have funds to cover them while they’re in foster care.”
Those who can’t contribute financially can donate pet food or sign up to foster an animal at wcghs.org. The shelter is not accepting surrenders, but is offering cat adoptions through PetSmart on 192nd Avenue in east Vancouver.
Courtney Givens, president of the board of Must Love Dogs NW, is also thinking creatively about how to keep the nonprofit organization afloat without the usual fundraising activities.
“We had our largest fundraiser — our only fundraiser for the year — scheduled for March 21,” Givens said. It’s been rescheduled for Aug. 8. “We don’t know, come August, if that’s going to happen.”
The organization has already hosted its first virtual fundraiser and is considering other ways to raise money while keeping donors safe.
“We’d like to do a peer-to-peer fundraiser with prizes. Like, ‘Will you sponsor me walking a mile with my dog?’ And people can post photos on Facebook,” Givens said. “Those are the kinds of things that we’re looking at, moving forward, to keep people engaged.”
Must Love Dogs NW has suspended intake for now, but Givens is encouraged by the increased number of foster applicants. Learn more at mustlovedogsnw.org.
“We’re a foster-based organization, so we can only take in as many animals as we have fosters for,” Givens said. “Our foster coordinator has been reaching out to those people to see if they’re a good fit, so that might be a really amazing, positive outcome from this.”
She’s still concerned about Must Love Dogs NW’s other services, including compassion grants, which provides up to $500 for veterinary care or medicine; a free or minimal cost spay and neuter program; and a professional training program, which provides up to three one-on-one sessions for dogs with behavioral issues.
“There’s been a huge influx of people in need during this economic downturn, so we’re looking at our budget and restructuring to see if we can find more money,” Givens said.
She sees firsthand how these services can mean the difference between a dog staying with a caring family or being surrendered back into the shelter system.
“That’s really what were about,” Givens said. “That’s our mission.”
Furry Friends, a no-kill cat rescue organization, is seeing a definite uptick in adoption interest.
“Our healthy cats are being adopted out, left and right,” said Furry Friends board member Diane Stevens. That’s good news, but COVID-19 still presents daily challenges.
“I post a lot of stuff every day on Facebook, and I write two newsletters — one to our volunteers and one to our public — to try to keep them informed on what we’re doing,” Stevens said.
She’s appealing for donations, but that’s not all.
“I’m also trying to balance it with a lot of happy stories,” Stevens said. “We’ve been writing some specific COVID-19 stories on the blog and also on our Facebook page and in our newsletter.”
Read these stories at furryfriendswa.org/blog or visit www.facebook.com/furryfriendswa.
Stevens hopes that some of Furry Friends’ special-needs cats can become success stories, too.
“My next focus is to get a campaign in place for the those hard-to-place cats,” she said.
Donations are accepted at furryfriendswa.org, but folks can also contribute food and other items. (See a “wish list” at furryfriendswa.org/donate.)
“One of our drop-off points is Pampered Paws in Salmon Creek,” said Stevens. “Give them a call and they’ll come out (to your car) and get stuff. Cat food is always good!”
Finally, Stevens urges people to remember Furry Friends on Giving Tuesday, www.givingtuesday.org, May 5.
