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How Did We Get Here? Rescues and Shelters Everywhere Overwhelmed, Beyond Capacity

 Early on in the pandemic, circa summer 2019, an acquaintance reached out to me. "Hola Jessica.  I'm wondering if you have any dog I can foster now.  We're working from home due to the pandemic and I'm in my condo alone all the time." said pseudo-name-Sally .  "Wow, that's incredible Sally that you want to foster now?! -After all these years of me trying to get you to foster here and there, now you're able and willing?! That's great... but believe it or not, we don't have any dog to foster at this very instant.  With Covid, it's like everyone and everyone's brother needs a dog all of the sudden," I shared.  -Lastly I  added that I'd keep her in mind as a foster.  Silly Julie, she's the cutest, right?!      Within a couple of weeks of that phone call, I did find a dog for pseudo-name-Sally to foster, however, by then her boss had 'lent her' her own dog so she wouldn't be so lonely.       ( The last time I saw &#
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~A Call from a Desperate, yet Calm and Collected Dog Owner~

 "This is Jessica," I answered. "Yeah, I need help with putting my dog to sleep," he responded.  "Um, ok, that's not exactly what we do; you'd need a vet to do that, but I could perhaps console you on this process, or offer some input maybe?" I said.  "OK, or could you rescue my dog?" said the caller.  "I don't know, maybe. Tell me about the dog." I said. "OK, he's a red nosed pit bull," answered the caller. "Ok, age... neutered?" I inquired.  "He's about 4 years old and he's not neutered.  The thing is: he's become aggressive-like with my wife and our kid.  He won't listen to them and it makes them nervous. He only listens to me," said the man. "Hmm, we don't have a foster at this time..." I started... "So you can't help me.  No one can help, I've called all different rescues. I put him on Facebook, no one wants him," said the man, calmly, yet

What Collaboration Looks Like in Real Time- to Save a Dog's Life (little email chain between 3 rescue orgs):

 For any of you that are 'rescue-curious,' wondering about what inner workings go into saving a pet's life, here's a great example of how Riff, a challenging dog, is saved, thanks to the collaboration and work of many !      I was thrilled to know you were chosen for that position, and know you'll work hard to best serve the Humane Society so that it successfully continues its mission to serve and save as many pets, and people with pet-issues, as possible.      -KHS's behavior mod program, staff and building could save a LMAS dog's life right now.  This dog, Riff, is only around 9 months old, and at times he struggles with acting out rebelliously with certain people and situations.      My rescue pulled Riff and took him to a foster home last week, and unfortunately that foster had to return him to Metro ( I have my own foster right now I'm working with ).  Here's what -----------, Riff's PAFP foster, had to say about him while he was in her care

Copy of Referral Letter, per her request, for one of our fosters, Gabrielle

The Paw and Feather Plan Inc 4218 Curtis Ave Louisville, Ky. 40213 502-309-4155 EIN 36-4966263 January 19, 2023 State Bar, California 845 S. Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA. 900017 To Whom It May Concern, This letter confirms that Gabrielle Attig is an active volunteer with Paw and Feather Plan Inc., a non-profit pet rescue. Ms. Attig donates her time, energy and love to pets in need, and to this rescue, by fostering dogs in need of a place to call (temporary) home, while we find them permanent homes. To date, Gabrielle has fostered 2 dogs for the rescue. She’s graciously handled some of the transport on her own, and even though the rescue supplies fosters with food, treats, etc., Gabrielle is one of those fosters that has taken it upon herself to supply the foster dogs with whatever they need… without burdening the rescue in any way. Gabrielle is a strong and direct young woman. -A few weeks ago, I scheduled a dental for a dog in her car

Copy of e-letter sent to Gov Beshear, re: Ky New Hire Dept is a Waste of Taxpayer Money, and Should be Dissolved

 To the Office of the Governor,     Good afternoon.  I own a small nonprofit pet rescue based in Louisville, Ky.       $2300 were earned via a successful Give For Good Louisville fundraiser this past Oct. (I only fundraise twice a year by the way).  With this money, I hired the rescue's first part time, much-needed employee, Diane Dickey.     This was a moment of great pride for me and my rescue.  Diane works approximately 8 hours/week at $15/hour.  She really needed this type of job and her help has been, well, very helpful.       The process of understanding all of the rescue's requirements with municipal, state and federal government tax departments was overwhelming at first.  I invested significant time and energy in researching everything, and setting up the mandated online accounts (KY one stop, EIN verification, e-mints, etc), and thankfully had a friend of the rescue set up a pay spreadsheet for me that calculates and auto-populates deductions to be withheld from Diane&

Short Case Study: Jill, One Example of a Great Pack Leader

Jill and Todd are the PAFP adopters of  Gracie, a 1 year old Bichon Frise.  They also own a purebred 4 year old Rottweiler, George.   They adopted George from Metro Animal Services after he had been at the shelter for a month, and before that, he had been at another more rural shelter for some time as well.   When George first went home with Jill and Todd, he had some undesirable tendencies that needed to be addressed.  When I went to process the adoption for little Gracie, at Jill and Todd's home, Jill shared with me a short, great-pack-leader story.   Here it is, in Jill's (paraphrased) words:     It was probably just a few days after we adopted George, when         one day I gave him a pig ear.  He was laying on his dog bed               enjoying the treat, when I had to enter that vicinity for something.     -George growled at me, as if to say, 'don't come near me and my         treat.''        T his dog could kill me if he wanted to, crossed through my    

5 Ways PAFP Rescue Regularly and Gratuitously Helps in Our Community! #giveforgoodlou

  This document highlights some of Paw and Feather Plan's work, and how it positively impacts the lives pets and people in and around the community, and abroad (Brazil shelter once/yearly, etc.).  I do hope this list motivates individuals to donate $10< on 09/15/2022 for Give for Good Day. 😊   This is a big day not only for this rescue, but also for 500+ other nonprofits across Louisville.  There will be many random  BOOSTS to donations throughout the day via several Community Foundation Sponsors ... so please participate !  If you don't donate, there'll be nothing to boost. And if you do donate, your $10 could instantaneously become $1010!  #LiveGenerously #InstantKarma  List of 6 Ways We Help Out On the Regular: 1.) Free counseling services (typically via email or phone, these can be quite lengthy calls!) to pet owners in distress, wanting or needing to surrender pets.      -On average I assist 4 people/weekly with this gratuitous service.  I cannot help everyone