Hi,My sister Rosie said I could introduce this month's Greet N' Sniff a Do-Gooder interview. I'm very excited to tell you that it's Animal Advocates Alliance!
Why am I so excited? Because these are the people that saved my life.
Ten months ago (that's how many months I am), the nice people from Animal Advocates Alliance found me along with my step-mom, step-brothers and sisters. See, my mom had been hit by a car when I was a baby and a near by mama took me in. Unfortunately, we all had parvo. However, thanks to AAA, we survived! It was a tough way to start out in this world but I guess it was the path I was supposed to take so I could find my forever family.
Now I have a great life. I love my forever family, they take me on fun adventures and feed me yummy treats. I will never repay the people of Animal Advocates Alliance for all their hard work, but I will always be grateful for what they did for me.
This month my big sister is supporting Animal Advocates Alliance through the sales on their website and at any event they do. Go to: rosiesbarkery.com or at the Montrose Farmer's Market on Sunday mornings to get some delicious treats and to support this amazing group of folks. Help them help more dog and cat friends!
And now read about them in this month's "Sniff N Greet An Animal Do-Gooder".
What areas of Los Angeles are you a helper to?
Animal Advocates Alliance is a Los Angeles based animal rescue & animal welfare organization. While we try to help as many animals as possible, we focus a lot of our efforts in the Baldwin Park area of Los Angeles County. We work closely with the Baldwin Park animal shelter to help the homeless animals in their care and we host a free training/education and spay/neuter program for residents of the Baldwin Park area.
How did Animal Advocates Alliance get started?
Animal Advocates Alliance was founded in 2008. Each of the original founding board members had been independently rescuing animals for several years prior to forming the organization. This small group of animal lovers decided that they could have a much bigger impact on animal welfare if they banded together to formally organize a non-profit. Describe a typical day at work saving lives for you?
Every day is different! A lot of planning and coordination goes into saving just one life- transportation arrangements, veterinary evaluation and treatment, finding a foster home or a place for the animal to stay and, of course, finding a “forever home” for each animal! Rescuing and caring for an animal until he/she gets adopted is very expensive, so we also spend a lot of time fundraising! A typical day for us involves lots of running around with and without animals, answering emails and phone calls, planning fundraisers, adoption events and home checks. Luckily, during all of this scrambling and commotion, we get puppy kisses and kitty snuggles!
These are hard times for animal friends and human friends, what are some of the challenges facing your organization today?
The biggest challenge we face is financial limitations. It is extremely expensive to rescue and care for animals. We save a lot of sick and broken animals that require expensive veterinary treatment and surgery. In these tough economic times we’ve seen a decrease in donations and an increase in the number of homeless animals entering the shelter or simply wandering the streets. We want to rescue more animals but without a steady flow of financial support we are limited in the number of animals that we can responsibly rescue.
I like happy tails, do you have a favorite success story?
We have so many adoption success stories! One very special success is a Chihuahua mix named Agnes. AAA was doing volunteer work at the Baldwin Park shelter a couple of years ago when Agnes arrived. Her owners dumped her at the shelter because she was old and because she was blind and diabetic! We couldn’t leave Agnes at the shelter knowing how scared she must be and how very unlikely it would be for her to get adopted. AAA was prepared to care for this elderly special needs dog for the rest of her life…. But then something incredible happened! Along came an amazing couple who wanted to adopt Agnes! They were lovely and their other little dog welcomed Agnes into the home too! Now nearly15 years old, Agnes is doing well and living happily with her family! Adopting a senior and/or special needs dog is such an incredible, kind thing to do! Do you serve treats at your dogs and if so, what flavors? I like peanut butter but I know there are other flavors out there.
What animal doesn’t like treats?! Our supporters like to donate treats to our rescued animals so we always have a different selection of treats for the dogs and cats! We think the dogs especially like beef, liver and peanut butter flavored treats!
Do you have any fun events coming up for party animals feeling festive? On Saturday 1/21/2012 we are having a super YUMMY fundraiser event at the Farmer’s Market “Veggie Grill” located at 110 S. Fairfax Ave. Los Angeles 90036.
Simply have a meal between 5pm-10pm on January 21st at the Veggie Grill and mention this fundraiser and 50% of your purchase will be donated to AAA! Gather your friends and family and enjoy some of the best food in LA while raising money for AAA!
What are the best ways humans can help their animal friends be safe and happy?
The kindest thing that any pet owner can do is spay or neuter their pets. Preventing unwanted/unexpected litters of puppies and kittens will help the pet overpopulation problem. Additionally, spaying and neutering is healthier for your pets as they are less likely to develop certain life threatening illnesses if they are “fixed!”
Be considerate and always choose safety first! When walking a dog please always use a leash. Even if you think your dog is perfectly trained not to run off, it only takes one mistake for a dog to be hit by a car, get into a fight with another dog, knock over a senior citizen or a small child. For off leash time please visit a dog park or toss a ball in an enclosed back yard!
Snuggle them often, kiss them frequently and always tell them how much you love them! J
How can human friends contact you if they want to volunteer, donate or adopt an amazing animal friend that will change their lives with an increase in love?
The best way to reach us at AAA is by email: info@animaladvocatesalliance.org
To see our available animals, to make a donation or to read about our volunteer opportunities please visit our website at www.animaladvocatesalliance.org
Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to answer some questions for our human friends.
And thanks for sitting, staying and reading, good humans!
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