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Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Silicon Valley Pet Project: Winter/Spring 2017 Newsletter
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Fostering and Caring for a Family of Cats
Why did I originally decide to foster a litter of kittens and their mom? It’s because I wanted to adopt cats of my own.
Why do I continue to foster cats? I love helping cats find their forever homes while connecting with other people who love animals as much as I do!
My name is Elysse, and I’ve always been an animal lover. I really wanted to get kittens of my own (a fun fact: kittens do better in pairs!). My fiance on the other hand wasn’t sure if he was “a cat person.” I had an interest in fostering because of my love for animals and thought it would be a perfect trial run. If we decided cats weren’t for us, then we would still be helping them find their forever home and would get to take care of cute kittens for awhile.
I found out about Silicon Valley Pet Project through Facebook, and when I saw a picture of Lulu and her three kittens, Snap, Crackle, and Pop, who needed a foster home, I reached out to SVPP and filled out a foster application.
Our first fosters (if you look closely there are three kittens in this picture!)
You might be wondering what it takes to be a foster cat parent. Overall it’s pretty simple – socialize and provide them with a safe and loving home until they find their forever home.
SVPP gives you food, toys and all the info you need to foster. You are also responsible for taking them to medical appointments and adoption events. The last part of fostering is helping select their forever homes.
We realized right away that my fiance and I wanted to adopt two of the kittens. A friend of ours came over to our apartment when he found out we were fostering cats and fell in love with Crackle. I still get to see Crackle (now named Shelby) and it’s awesome to see how she is as an adult cat. Lulu also got adopted from a family when she was at The Dancing Cat.
(top) Shelby the day she went to her forever family (bottom) Me visiting Shelby all grown up in her home!
Since our first fosters we have fostered another litter of five kittens as well an adult cat for a short time. I still keep in contact with most of my past foster cat families. For me it’s so rewarding seeing animals thriving in their forever homes and knowing that I helped give them their start to a happy life.
Silicon Valley Pet Project is always in need of fosters, especially with kitten season around the corner. If you are interested in fostering or have more questions about what it takes to be a foster parent please reach out to info@svpetproject.org.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Happy New Year!
It's 2017, and we are all in the mindset of making resolutions, starting fresh, and setting goals for ourselves and the causes we care about.
For a startup nonprofit organization like SVPP, starting our third year is very exciting and we're optimistic about the future! We are incredibly grateful for every person who contributed to our success in 2016. To every volunteer, donor, and compassionate citizen who joined us in helping homeless pets, we thank you!
One of our main goals in 2017 is to locate a larger space in the San Jose area for The Dancing Cat. The Dancing Cat has been highly successful in adopting out many adult cats and engaging with the community in new and creative ways.
SVPP's future is bright! Thanks to your support, we will continue our life saving efforts in 2017.
Happy New Year,
Melissa Lisbon
President & Co-Founder
Monday, November 7, 2016
Oscar, the Rescuer
Editor's Comment: This is the first in our series of SVPP Adopter's Stories about how their adopted pet came into their family and changed their lives. We encourage all of our adopters to share their stories with us by contacting us at info@svpetproject.org.
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| Oscar and Family |
Oscar, the Rescuer
By: Ann Fitzgerald
I saw a picture of Oscar on our neighborhood website and thought, he will be adopted quickly. After losing our beloved Doberman to cardiomyopathy, I didn’t feel ready to open up my heart. I kept seeing posts for Oscar and my heart lurched and my interest piqued, but the timing didn’t feel right. One morning I saw the post: "Oscar Needs a Home ASAP!" There was an adorable picture of Oscar smiling and my heart burst open. I thought, I have to meet this dog!
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| Oscar's smile |
After having breakfast with a friend who had met Oscar, my feelings were confirmed. She had wanted to adopt him, but her dog wouldn’t accept him. This was Oscar’s story time after time. After falling in love, families couldn't adopt due to moving or other animals' issues. Oscar was found as a stray over a year ago and brought to a shelter. Although he was a favorite of the shelter staff and volunteers, he became kennel-stressed and was at risk to be euthanized.
The amazing volunteers at Silicon Valley Pet Project got him into foster care. Noticing his knee was giving him trouble, they got him the surgery he needed and nursed him back to health. Oscar remained sweet and lovable, charming all who crossed his path. He had several foster homes and each one wanted to adopt him. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for him. This was hard on Oscar, but volunteers continued to work tirelessly to find him a forever home. Canine Specialties even helped out. While not a permanent place, the staff there became part of the growing Oscar Fan Club.
Filling out an application to meet Oscar, I texted my husband, “Stop me if you think I’m crazy.” He replied, “Go for it!” We met Oscar the next day. He was so sweet and gentle– I dubbed him “Zen Dog”. We were so touched by his story and how through years of adversity he remained loving and oh so sweet. We decided to have him meet our daughter the next day. We showed her a picture of Oscar and told her his situation. She took one look at that face and exclaimed, “He’s adorable!”
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| Oscar with Ann's daughter, Jakobe
Oscar watches Jakobe as she sings (click image for video)
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Oscar came the next day, and never left! The joy I see in my husband and daughter’s faces is the best gift ever. This last year has been too quiet and with busy schedules can be hard to get family time. Oscar knew how to work his magic: coming into our lives, helping us to open up to the love only a four-legged furry friend can provide, and to reconnect us as a family. We couldn’t have found a better match for our family! Our pack will be complete when our son comes home from college for the holidays.
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| Oscar and Ann |
Oscar has personally helped me too. I’ve been battling high blood pressure since our Doberman
became sick. In the short time Oscar has been with us, my pressure has lowered significantly.
Maybe it’s the walks? But I was walking before– who rescued who? It’s all in your perspective.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Animal Rescue Needs a Reboot
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| Dudley, Former Foster Dog
Most people typically don't understand much about the world of animal rescue. Most know that there are animal shelters in their communities, but few have ever given much thought to their inner workings, nor those of animal rescue organizations. Much like questioning where your food comes from, most people don't really want to know too many details.
In San Jose, the capital of Silicon Valley, we have a municipally-run animal shelter, the San Jose Animal Care Center, which is one of the largest on the West Coast. In 2015, this shelter took in over 14,000 scared, lost, injured and sick animals from its jurisdiction of San Jose, Milpitas, Saratoga, Cupertino and Los Gatos — an area representing over 1.2 million people. Many of these animals don't qualify to go up for adoption at the shelter due to illness, age, fear, or behavioral issues. Sadly, these animals face the risk of euthanasia because the shelter has neither the space nor the resources to care for them. It falls to the community’s animal rescue organizations to "rescue" these pets, provide them with the care they need, and find them permanent homes.
This situation is altogether too common across the country. San Jose’s shelter is well-run and operated by dedicated, hard-working people who save thousands of animals each year. But the reality is that there are just too many animals in need. As more and more communities strive to become “No Kill,” rescue organizations are becoming even more critical to the “business” of saving lives.
But the status quo is that many rescue organizations are struggling to accomplish their life-saving mission in the face of major challenges: all-volunteer workforces, extreme shortages of foster homes, extraordinary vet expenses, and lack of infrastructure, just to name a few. Despite the fact that U.S. consumers spend over $62 million each year on pet products and supplies, most rescue organizations are chronically under-funded. All of this takes a tremendous toll on well-intentioned volunteers who can easily fall victim to compassion fatigue and burnout. The result is that many of these organizations gradually erode or outright collapse as volunteers leave and finances dwindle.
Local shelters cannot succeed without partnering with effective animal rescue organizations, and yet these organizations are themselves often not empowered to succeed. Animal rescue needs a reboot — a fundamental reinvention for a new century.
What does this mean? It means that animal rescue should no longer be viewed as a hobby, but rather as a challenging business that is critical to the animal welfare landscape, and an important indicator of how a community values their pets.
There is and will always be a gap between what our local shelters can do with the resources they have, and what is needed to help the pets who need us the most. This gap can no longer be adequately filled by only well-meaning volunteers. We need to establish a viable business model for animal rescue that is creative, sustainable, and attracts talented professionals to help solve this problem.
Rebooting animal rescue means:
1 - A fundamental shift in viewing the cause of saving lives as a business that brings tremendous value and heart to a community;
2 - Hiring and paying professionals (in all areas of the business) who dedicate their time and talent in this pursuit, and paying them a living wage;
3 - Investing in infrastructure such as technology to make the business run efficiently and scale;
4 - Seeking out partnerships with other nonprofits (animal welfare, community, and education), community businesses, and corporations who support the business of saving lives;
5 - Transforming the dialog and the experience from one of sadness to a celebration of a pet's life by creating positive, engaging, and unique community centers for pet lovers that draw people in so they can learn, mingle and enjoy a pet’s company.
I remain optimistic about the future of animal welfare, especially in our community, if we can harness the entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley and disrupt the status quo. After all, what better business to be in than the business of unconditional love?
Pictured above is my beloved foster dog Dudley. He was picked up by Animal Control in January 2016 in East San Jose, emaciated and very sick. This young dog needed extensive medical diagnostics and treatment that the shelter could not provide. My organization, Silicon Valley Pet Project (SVPP), rescued and rehabilitated this special dog. SVPP is an all volunteer 501c3 nonprofit organization with the mission of saving local at-risk shelter pets through rescue, community involvement and education. We are actively working to apply the principles outlined above.
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Tuesday, May 17, 2016
The Dancing Cat™ Pops Up Again
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Contacts
Melissa Lisbon, President, Silicon Valley Pet Project
Ann Chasson, Co-Founder, The Dancing Cat
Mary Rubin, Co-Founder, The Dancing Cat
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The Dancing Cat™ Pops Up Again
Announcing the Return of San Jose’s Creative Community Space
for Felines and Those who Love Them
SAN JOSE, CA - May 28, 2016 Silicon Valley’s first cat adoption lounge, The Dancing Cat, is back better than ever with the announcement of its re-opening in its original location of 702 E. Julian, San Jose. From May 29 through the fall of 2016, Silicon Valley will have a fun venue for the community in which to relax, meet, and mingle while enjoying the company of adoptable feline friends.
The Dancing Cat is the perfect place for cat lovers and potential adopters who are looking for a place to socialize with friends, or just a respite from a hectic day. Visitors can have fun with other guests, read, study or just lounge with adoptable cats in a comfortable, open room. Guests are invited to bring their own food and beverage. A small selection of drinks and cookies from local bakeries is available for purchase. Wi-Fi and catnip are on the house.
Building on the organization’s success, The Dancing Cat's founders Mary Rubin and Ann Chasson have joined with Silicon Valley Pet Project to establish a permanent space for The Dancing Cat. This initiative expands Silicon Valley Pet Project’s mission to save at-risk shelter pets through rescue, community involvement and education. The Dancing Cat will showcase adult cats who are looking for loving forever homes in order to reduce the number of cats euthanized in the South Bay. Additionally, this initiative seeks to present a unique venue for cat-centered social and educational events in the community.
“The Julian-Saint James neighborhood is thrilled to have The Dancing Cat back for a few more months” said Robert Wright, local resident, cat lover and member of the 13th Street Neighborhood Association. “I love the idea of stopping in, relaxing and hanging out with friendly cats.”
Even The Dancing Cat needs a forever home. While The Dancing Cat will return to the East Julian location through November, Silicon Valley Pet Project is currently searching for a suitable permanent location for the lounge in the San Jose area. A larger space will allow for the expansion of Silicon Valley Pet Project's mission and programs. Anyone with information about a possible available location can contact thedancingcat@svpetproject.org. Financial donations are being accepted on The Dancing Cat’s website.
“It was exciting to see how welcoming the neighborhood and the surrounding cities were to us last year. Cat lovers from all around the Bay Area visited us and were inspired. We had many wonderful cats adopted, and we are eager to showcase even more this year.” Chasson said. “We look forward to continuing The Dancing Cat with Silicon Valley Pet Project's contributions of both talent and support.”
About
The Dancing Cat is a passion project developed by a small group of cat lovers and creatives who work to improve the quality of life for the cats in Silicon Valley. We are dedicated to connecting these valuable members of our community with their forever homes in a responsible way. Recognizing that there are many cat lovers among us, we also hope The Dancing Cat will provide opportunities for new partnerships among people who are contributing to the vibrancy and creativity of our community. www.thedancingcat.org
Silicon Valley Pet Project (SVPP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of volunteers committed to saving local at-risk shelter pets through rescue, community involvement and education. www.svpetproject.org
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Thursday, April 7, 2016
The Dancing Cat Partners with Silicon Valley Pet Project to Bring Back The Dancing Cat
Press Release: For Immediate Release
Contacts
Melissa Lisbon, President, Silicon Valley Pet Project
(408) 637-1282; melissa@svpetproject.org
Ann Chasson, Co-Founder, The Dancing Cat
Mary Rubin, Co-Founder, The Dancing Cat
The Dancing Cat Partners with Silicon Valley Pet Project
Seeking location to re-open in San Jose
SAN JOSE, CA - April 7, 2016—Silicon Valley’s first cat adoption lounge, The Dancing Cat, is back better than ever with the announcement of a new partnership with Silicon Valley Pet Project (SVPP). SVPP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit animal rescue organization that rescues at-risk cats and dogs from the San Jose Animal Care Center, Silicon Valley’s largest municipal animal shelter.
The Dancing Cat was originally conceived as a four-week pop-up lounge in downtown San Jose in May, 2015, designed to help potential adopters meet and become acquainted with adoptable pets. The Dancing Cat was so embraced by the community, that it remained active and of service to the public for six months. More than 50 adult cats were adopted, 12 community events were held in the space, and over 2,000 visitors passed through the doors.
Building on the organization’s success, The Dancing Cat's founders Mary Rubin and Ann Chasson are joining with Silicon Valley Pet Project to create a permanent space for people to meet, mingle and spend time with adoptable cats. The main goal of the partnership is to find loving forever homes for adult cats who are at risk in the shelter by providing a free-roaming, comfortable and safe space for these cats to be showcased. Additionally, the project seeks to present a unique venue for social and educational events in the community.
To date, SVPP has primarily focused on foster parents and local adoption events to rehome rescued animals, but that strategy is expanding.
To date, SVPP has primarily focused on foster parents and local adoption events to rehome rescued animals, but that strategy is expanding.
“We were incredibly inspired by Ann’s and Mary’s commitment and passion to feature adoptable adult cats in such a creative way,” said Melissa Lisbon, President of Silicon Valley Pet Project. “The adult cats SVPP selected to be featured at The Dancing Cat were quickly adopted by wonderful families. We are excited to join forces in our common mission to save more lives in our community through innovative initiatives. The Dancing Cat represents the Silicon Valley spirit by addressing a challenge with a fresh perspective: the animal welfare challenge of the overpopulation of adult cats in our local shelters.”
The Dancing Cat team is currently searching for a suitable permanent location in the San Jose area. Anyone with information about a possible available location can contact thedancingcat@svpetproject.org“It was exciting to see how enthusiastically the space was embraced, resulting in so many successful adoptions,” Rubin said. “We in the volunteer and nonprofit arenas can make a bigger impact on a problem like homeless pets when we work together, leverage our passion and learnings. We look forward to continuing The Dancing Cat with SVPP's contributions of both talent and support.”
About
The Dancing Cat is a passion project developed by a small group of cat lovers and creatives who work to improve the quality of life for the cats in Silicon Valley. We are dedicated to connecting these valuable members of our community with their forever homes in a responsible way. Recognizing that there are many cat lovers amongst us, we also hope The Dancing Cat will provide opportunities for new partnerships among people who are contributing to the vibrancy and creativity of our community. www.thedancingcat.org
Silicon Valley Pet Project (SVPP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of volunteers committed to saving local at-risk shelter pets through rescue, community involvement and education. www.svpetproject.org
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