Looking for a present for the person who has everything?
Matt DeAngelis suggests the gift of life.
DeAngelis is executive co-director of Pets Alive, a no-kill animal sanctuary in Wallkill that is offering the opportunity to save an animal from a high-kill shelter.
“These are the kinds of pets you don”™t have to feed, walk or clean up after,” said Kerry Clair, executive co-director. “You can gift a rescued pet and the recipient can track the animal”™s progress from being rescued from a high kill shelter through a network of volunteers till they arrive at Pets Alive. When they get to our sanctuary, they are assessed for medical or behavioral problems, receive veterinary care and, if necessary, re-trained to become socialized and ready for adoption. The recipient gets weekly emails updating them on their pet”™s progress, along with pictures, right up to adoption.”
Pets Alive was founded in 1972 by Sara Whalen, who began to rescue dogs and cats at her home in Wallkill, now used for Pets Alive”™s cat sanctuary and offices for the staff. When Whalen developed brain cancer and could not handle the daily functions of Pets Alive, the sanctuary needed help. Clair and DeAngelis had a working relationship as well as a friendship with Whalen dating back several years when Best Friends Animal Society in Utah was asked to step in to keep Pets Alive open.
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Over time, Best Friends bought up additional land around Whalen”™s original property, growing it to 80 acres. Clair and DeAngelis were asked to stay on and become executive co-directors in 2007.
Today, Pets Alive is home to about 60 dogs, 70 cats, six horses and two goats.
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“We are not a ”˜drop off”™ like a local shelter,” Clair stressed. “If someone has an animal they need to give up because they are being foreclosed on or going into a rental that doesn”™t permit pets, we try to get them in if we have room. It”™s a shame more rental apartments don”™t allow pets. I think people have a tendency to be better renters and stay put longer.”
Pets Alive”™s main mission is rescuing animals from high-kill shelters across the country. “They”™re just a few days away from being euthanized. We have scores of volunteers across the country that literally become a sort of underground railroad for pets, transporting them from one state to the next until they arrive. Once they get here, they are checked out by our vet and then assessed for their adoptability,” Clair said.
“About one-quarter of our pets have behavioral issues. We have volunteers who come on a daily basis to socialize them. They”™ll go home with the volunteer for an overnight stay to see how they adjust. We discern their temperament: are they good with children; other dogs and cats?” Pets Alive offers a guarantee that if one of our adopted pets cannot be kept, it will be taken back, no waiting and no questions asked.”
Rob Thomas, former lead singer of Matchbox Twenty, recently gave a $100,000 donation to the shelter. “Our operating expenses are approximately $400,000 a year,” DeAngelis said. While a gift like the one the Thomas family gave is more than welcome relief, “it represents about three months of operating costs,” Clair said. “Its sounds like a lot of money and we”™re thrilled to receive it,” she said. “Rob and his wife, Marisol, have been great supporters.” The Westchester County couple has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Pets Alive through their Sidewalk Angels Foundation. Thomas adopted his first dog from Pets Alive and have been supporters ever since.
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“We”™ve seen a lot of shelters going under ”“ we have not been hit that badly, but then again, we are experts at struggling, so we don”™t know the difference between a ”˜good time”™ and the recession; but donations are dwindling down. Rob”™s and Marisol”™s donation has helped us keep going for the next three months.”
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Since both Clair and DeAngelis have technological expertise, they are putting it to work to get more pets adopted. “We are one of the few places that will take an application electronically,” DeAngelis said. “We also have daily postings and offer several blogs and postings so people can keep track of what we are doing.”
To help stay financially viable, the nonprofit offers sponsorships for its four-legged lodgers. “Thirty-five dollars a month will feed and care for a dog, twenty-five dollars for a cat. It”™s really helped keep the sanctuary going, in addition to some generous donations from Purina, Petco and PetSmart,” DeAngelis said.
Pets Alive also welcomes children (with parents) to volunteer at the shelter. “It”™s a great experience for them,” Clair said. “It teaches responsibility and empathy ”“ it”™s a great outlet for them and gets them to think about something outside themselves.”
Yet, it”™s the little things that keep Clair and DeAngelis pumped and ready to take on the daily challenges, especially if the work week ”“ which is seven days ”“ seems a struggle. “One woman sent us two one-dollar bills,” Clair said. “She said she didn”™t have more to give, but she hoped it would help. It really made our day..”
The two executive co-directors are also supporters of a bill introduced in the state Legislature called Oreo”™s Law. “Oreo was an abused dog whose owner threw it off a six-story building,” Clair said. “The ASPCA took it in, mended its broken bones and then euthanized it. The law would allow no-kill shelters like ours to take a dog like Oreo without having to wait. After all he went through, he deserved to have a second chance.” Both are hoping the bill, introduced by state Sen. Thomas Duane and Assemblyman Micah Kellner, will become law in the state.
