Your news & updates from
Animal Care Sanctuary
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For the first time in ACS's five decades, we have surpassed 1,000 animal adoptions in one year!
This amazing achievement is the result of a collective, selfless effort from our awesome staff, wonderful supporters and 1,000 loving families.
We reached this record-setting mark on the same day as we cut the ribbon on our brand new kennel and clinic (more on that below!), making the moment even more special!
Each new adoption from now until the end of the year is a new record for us, and is more than we could have dreamed of!
Even though 2020 has been one that we'd all like to forget, we're so happy to be able to bring you a bit of good news with all of these animals finding happy, loving homes.
Read on for some more good news that happened at ACS in October!
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Forrest, Adoption #1,000! |
YEAR-TO-DATE
STATISTICS
As of October 31, 2020:
Adoptions: 1,081
Fosters: 245
Fosters-to-Adoptions: 103
Spay/neuter surgeries: 2,576
Clinic appointments: 2,044
Total Clinic Visits: 4,620
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Terri McKendry Takes Over ACS Reins |
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Terri with former CEO Joan Smith-Reese |
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Also on the same weekend we opened our new kennel and clinic, we introduced Terri McKendry as our new Executive Director.
Terri takes over following the resignation of Joan Smith-Reese, one of the best friends ACS has ever had and one of the leading voices who had such a huge hand in making ACS what we are today.
Terri first joined ACS in 2018 to help raise funds via grant writing and donors.
McKendry brings years of experience in nonprofit development work with a heavy focus on helping organizations find fundraising success and further their mission through comprehensive grant writing. Having worked with both small and mid-size nonprofit organizations, Terri has experience in helping build consensus, connections and shared goals between staff and board.
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Before landing in the nonprofit world, she worked in the Pharmaceutical Industry focusing on Project Management and Corporate transitions. She holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from Georgia State University and a BA from Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina.
Terri and her husband Tom live in the Philadelphia suburbs and have four children and a beloved rescue dog Casey.
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THE KENNEL AND CLINIC IS FINALLY OPEN! |
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After a decade of dedicated hard work and selfless support from our thousands of supporters, the ACS dream of a new community clinic and kennel has finally come true.
On Oct. 10, we officially unveiled this new $1.77 million facility to the public. This new facility greatly improves our quality of care and efficiency for our rescued animals.
Our original kennel was built in 1982 and at the time was considered state-of-the-art. It was long and narrow, and each dog had an indoor and outdoor run with doors that allowed it to move freely inside to outside, weather permitting. There was a wide center aisle and drainage ditches in order to clean efficiently every day. In the 30+ years since our kennel was built, we continued to see it deteriorate to the point where the dog warden deemed a portion unusable. We know now the needs of shelter dogs are much different.
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Today, the canine runs are separated by concrete walls instead of fencing, which better separates our dogs and reduces noise – leading to decreased stress and happier canines. The new kennel also features meet-and-greet rooms where individuals and their families can meet dogs privately in a home-like setting to better gauge whether the canine could be the right fit for them.
The clinic we were previously working out of was a mobile home located over 200 feet from the kennel and cattery. Our animals, even sick animals and surgical patients, needed to be transported outdoors, often in inclement weather. Add to this, that the Animal Care Sanctuary has some 200+ animals in our care at any given time, and that all of these animals get vaccinated, checked for parasites and disease, spayed or neutered, and micro-chipped for identification so that they are healthy and ready for adoption.
However, the new clinic massively improves the working conditions of our vet staff. In addition to having more space, multiple operating rooms ensure quicker, more efficient procedures and improved care for both our rescued animals and our community seeking spay/neuter surgeries, wellness exams and vaccine administration.
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No Place Like Home
Shelter life is tough on many cats and dogs. Many move constantly, and even in the exceptional living conditions at a shelter like ACS, it's still not the same as the space and love of a real home.
The felines and canines know this. Our staff give our animals as much love as they can, but it's not the same as having their own family. This sometimes leads to health issues -- a form of depression that is more common in cats, but also can affect dogs.
For cats, shelter life can be highly stressful, due to being housed with many cats and limited human contact (although we have volunteers and staff play and socialize with the cats as often as time allows). This leads to some felines becoming depressed, they voluntarily stop eating, and their physical health begins to deteriorate.
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Similarly, the typically loud conditions of the kennel leads to a high amount of stress for doggos, which can to aggressively clingy behavior with staff. This can make the dogs more difficult to adopt as they shy away more from strangers and develop a form of separation anxiety.
Ultimately, what these animals need is love. Sometimes they may need help in showing it or seeing it, but love is what turns them around to lead happy, healthy lives. So even if you can't foster or adopt from ACS, we encourage all of our supporters to do so at their local shelter. Fostering and adopting saves lives.
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Get to know ACS!
Seth Renzi - Canine Behavior Team Leader
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How long have you been a part of ACS? Why did you get involved?
“I have been at ACS for a little over six years. Honestly, when I came here, I was just looking for a job. After being hired, I began to take an extreme interest in dog body language and behavior. It is endlessly interesting to me how dogs communicate and the ways they show their frustration. I love putting the pieces of the puzzle together to figure out how to best work with the dogs and ways to modify their behavior to help them be more adoptable to the public.”
Are you a dog person or a cat person?
“I’m definitely more of a dog person, but I love all animals.”
What’s your favorite part of your job?
“There are so many great parts of working here, from seeing a dog’s behavior improve to the simple joy of taking them on a walk on a beautiful day. However, without a doubt, the best days are when a dog finds its perfect adopter, and you get to see them go to a good home where you know they’ll be happy.”
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SANCTUARY STORIES
Forrest
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In honor of our 1,000th adoption, Forrest, we decided to dedicate this Sanctuary Story to him!
Forrest is a three year old good boy who was at ACS for over two months, which is a fairly long stay for one of our canines. He's a small boy but he was also shy and heartworm positive, both of which made it harder for him to find a home.
Forrest came to ACS in August as a transport doggo from St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in New Jersey. St. Hubert's is a wonderful partner of ACS that pulls dogs from high-kill shelters from around the country and relocates them to no-kill shelters.
It was no wonder that Forrest was shy, he came all the way to East Smithfield, Pa., from a shelter in Texas! He had come quite the distance in search for his forever home!
Forrest proved himself as a good boy, and ACS staff took him to events to try to help him find his new family. We took him to our ribbon cutting ceremony at Endless Supply Company in Wysox when we announced our partnership with them to adopt out rescue dogs. After about a month at Endless Supply, Forrest FINALLY found his new dog dad, became our 1,000th adoption of 2020!
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Clark Kent is a super little guy who was nearing death when he arrived at ACS.
Clark was found badly emaciated and ill, and was also suffering from a broken leg that staff suspect was the result of being caught in a trap. His leg was in such bad shape that an amputation was considered, but he was so thin and sick that surgery could not be performed.
But Clark was a superhero in disguise. Our staff took him in, cleaned him up and fed him. They also led Clark through physical therapy to rebuild his muscle and getting him back to a healthy weight.
After a few weeks, Clark was making amazing strides in his recovery -- so much that his leg doesn't seem to bother him so much anymore, and six weeks after we took him in, Clark found his forever home! His new mom knew she wanted him before she even saw him in person, and he's since be renamed Little Man Dapper Dan and he is super happy and loved!
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Fall Photos
With Your Pooch!
We want to extend a HUGE paw of gratitude to Amber Layton, who shot photos for our Wellsboro Open House and fall photos with your pooch, as well as Sow Flora!
The event, which featured cider, soup, tours and more was a great success as many families and furry friends had lots of fun during this beautiful time of year.
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IT'S NATIONAL SHELTER APPRECIATION WEEK! |
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As a Monthly Donor, you are providing a gift that can be used for animals in their hour of need. Your donation will help ACS rescue pets from overcrowded kill shelters, inhumane conditions, hoarding situations and puppy mills. Your support will help us make more future animal rescues possible, as well as give us the resources we need to provide those animals with the attention and medical care that they need to be adopted. Monthly donations provide security to assure that ACS always has the resources needed to provide for animals at a moment’s notice. To become a monthly donor, please sign up online at www.animalcaresanctuary.org or contact Terry McKendry at [email protected].
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