Pawdcast Episode One - July, 2007
Welcome to Episode One of the
Community Animal Rescue Effort Pawdcast!
Your source for all that wags, sniffs, barks and meows at the
Evanston Animal Shelter.
In this episode we'll give you a short history of the shelter, give
you some great information on a special animal looking for a special
home, spotlight one of our many volunteers, and share some tips on
animal care. Feel free to send along comments about our podcast to
pawdcast@care-evanston.org. Alright - let's get barkin'!
Click Here to listen to the Pawdcast
A Brief History of C.A.R.E.
Originally organized under the name "Friends of the Evanston Animal
Shelter", volunteers have been working in partnership with the City of
Evanston's Animal Control Strategic Services Division of the Police
Department at the Evanston Animal Shelter for several decades. In
1987, under the leadership of Edwina Cowell, then President of the
organization, The Community Animal Rescue Effort (C.A.R.E.) was
officially incorporated by the State of Illinois.
On a day-to-day basis, C.A.R.E. volunteers' primary responsibilities
were to conduct adoptions, assist the animal wardens with the care of
the animals and the operation of the facility. The volunteers are
credited with increasing the adoptions of animals from 56 during the
first six months of 1987 to 166 during the second six months. Prior to
that time, most of the animals brought to the Evanston Animal Shelter
that were not returned to their owners were euthanized.
In 1992, C.A.R.E. came under the direction of Linda J. Gelb, who
remains C.A.R.E.'s President to date. At that time, there were
approximately 40 in-shelter volunteers who were making important
strides in placing shelter animals into homes. Nonetheless, there
remained a high euthanasia rate. Consequently, Ms. Gelb and other
C.A.R.E. board members recognized that a state-of-the-art adoption
program would require additional, well-trained volunteers, greater
local recognition and enhanced fund-raising. C.A.R.E. became
recognized as a 501(c)(3) charitable humane organization in 1993.
Today there are nearly 150 in-shelter volunteers, and C.A.R.E has very
active fundraising and community awareness and outreach programs.
In fact, C.A.R.E. is recognized as a leading humane organization in
the Northern Chicagoland area. Over the past 15 years C.A.R.E. has
been responsible for the adoption of thousands of dogs and cats that
would have otherwise been euthanized.
Upcoming Pawdcasts will include information on C.A.R.E.'s volunteer
Medical Director, the volunteer fostering program, behavior
evaluations, adoption and post-adoption counseling, obedience
training, school outreach programs, and more!
A Special Pet Looking for a Special Home
Burley
UPDATE 7/18/07: Burley was adopted just prior to going to "print" -
please check out the shelter or www.care-evanston.org for more special
animals looking for special homes
This month's special needs animal is a calm, collected and cool cat,
aptly named Burley - he's big and he knows it! At the shelter, Burley
showed himself to be a friendly, couch-potato sort of guy. Burley was
originally adopted from CARE in the summer of 2006 to an older woman
who spends most of her time at home. She was looking for a cat that
would be a nice companion and wanted lots of attention, and with what
was seen in Burley's temperament, C.A.R.E thought this was a match
made in heaven!
Once he was in his new home, Burley wanted to be alone and let his
caregiver know it! After working with the CARE adoption counselor for
several months, the owner made the tough decision to bring Burley back
in exchange for a more suitable cat.
Burley will be a great cat for the right kind of home. His ideal
placement would be in adult male home with a single guy or a couple of
roommates. Burley prefers hanging out with men and he would be
purrfectly happy to kick back on the couch, watch ESPN and crack open
a couple of beers.
Burley is a four year old neutered male with striking brown tabby
markings. If you're looking for a curious cat who will hang around and
`be your pal,' please come visit him at CARE.
Volunteer Spotlight: Joyce
Volunteers are the backbone of the C.A..R.E organization. Without
them, there would be no C.A.R.E. Each month, the C.A.R.E Pawdcast will
focus it's attention on one special volunteer. This month, it's Joyce.
Joyce started volunteering with the Evanston Animal Shelter in 1986,
before C.A.R.E even existed.
Joyce: "We wanted to help animals."
The warden at the time did let them help by allowing Joyce and another
woman to walk dogs and clean the cages twice a week. At that time, the
shelter euthanized unwanted animals every seven days. It got to be too
much for Joyce, and after about six months, she left. She returned in
1987, after Edwina Cowell began Friends of the Evanston Animal
Shelter. She has volunteered for C.A.R.E. ever since.
Joyce: "To see what this organization has achieved from two little
ladies that didn't know anything. I mean, we didn't know what a pooper
scooper was hardly..."
Joyce is a tried and true animal lover. In fact, she loves animals so
much, she's even adopted a cow as part of an Adopt-a-Farm Animal
Project run by Farm Sanctuary, a farm animal protection organization
that has rescued thousands of farm animals in the past two decades.
Joyce: "We're a discriminating society... we love our cat, but we eat
our chickens."
Joyce has seen, first hand, how volunteering at C.A.R.E. can affect a
person's life. She and another woman used to bring their son's in to
help them, from time to time. Joyce's son has grown up to become a
medical doctor. The other woman's son became a veterinarian.
Joyce: "As a matter of fact when he was in vet training he would come
and work with the cats."
Joyce absolutely lit up when talking about some of her favorite
adoption stories, and found it hard to narrow it down to just one.
Every successful adoption is a celebration in and of itself. But, two,
in particular touched Joyce's heart.
She recalled one day a woman and her adult daughter came to adopt a
cat. They selected a 13-year-old cat with feline leukemia to take into
the viewing room. Joyce wasn't sure who would ever adopt this cat, due
to it's advanced age and illness. The woman walked out of the room,
beaming. They had decided to take the cat.
Joyce: "This girl had had leukemia when she was a child and had nearly
died and she wanted to give the cat a chance."
Another success involved a much more difficult cat, who would fight
and scratch and claw every time you tried to get him into the cage.
Joyce: "This cat that we had was a monster"
Even he found a home. Of all people, a nun adopted him. She was
looking for a cat to keep her company while she worked on files in the
basement of the nunnery, and to catch mice. Apparently, he was perfect
at both jobs.
In her heart, Joyce knows that almost every animal can find the right
home, and even the most difficult of pets can be rehabilitated.
Joyce: "People really love animals. We are not better or worse, they
are separate beings in the same universe."
With joy in her heart, Joyce continues to volunteer at C.A.R.E Maybe,
you can be her next success story.
Pet Tip: Leptospirosis
This month's Pet Tip comes to us from the Centers for Disease Control
and the Cornell Veterinary School.
If you find your dog on the couch with an ice pack on his head and a
thermometer in his mouth, he may be telling you that he wants to be a
dramatic actor in a soap opera... OR, more likely, he may be telling
you that he's suffering from Leptospirosis.
Leptospirosis is a disease is caused by spiral shaped bacteria called
leptospires. It occurs worldwide and can affect humans as well as many
wild and domestic animals, mainly dogs. In general, the disease
resembles the flu with fever, headache, chills and muscle pain. Dog
owners may notice vomiting, lethargy, depression, muscle pain and
sometimes diarrhea or bloody urine. The disease damages the liver and
kidneys and, if untreated, may cause death.
Since the bacteria are spread through the urine of infected animals,
which can get into water or soil and can survive there for weeks to
months, the best way to avoid Leptospirosis is to prevent your dog
from drinking standing water in puddles on the street, at dog parks or
from ponds. Humans and animals can become infected through contact
with contaminated urine, water, or soil.
Antibiotics and intravenous fluids are the typical treatment for a dog
with Leptospirosis.
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