The "Portland P.A.P.A. Posse" ... Bound for Oregon!

Tracy at Peppy Foundation has agreed to spearhead some ground transport opportunities for our Camarillo Shelter dogs starting with a team of 8 who will head out for Portland next week...these will cost much less to ship than the "flying chihuahuas"...so it is a wonderful alternative and will help keep dogs moving out of the overcrowded shelter here. We have been able to identify several wonderful destinations and will move as many dogs as we can, as regularly as we are able, taking advantage of any opportunity that presents itself. Donations for these transports can be made at the Peppyfoundation site or by check payable to Peppy, mailed to P.A.P.A..

In the meantime we are busy creating a band of volunteer groomers who will try to get the shelter dogs looking their very best and also more comfortable as the hot weather approaches. Tammy at saveashelterdog, intends to coordinate this effort and train the volunteers as necessary.

Next on the agenda,  we'll tackle an increased awareness and access to spay/neuter services with an emphasis on the pit bulls. Several local spay/neuter organizations are on board...details to follow...

Please check back here often and also keep an eye on the VCAR Rescue Blog where we keep track of the dogs with the oldest impound dates and those at risk for any other reason.

Until we can DECREASE the number of dogs and cats coming in...we have to find ways to INCREASE the number moving on to safety. Holler if you can help!

Rescuers to the Rescue!!!! 49 more dogs moved to safe shelter...

On Tuesday, while P.A.P.A. volunteers were retrieving 8 small dogs from the shelter for their escape to New Hampshire by plane, Sharon Gold from  "HopeForPaws" was walking the kennel with Denise Callaway, the kennel supervisor, carrying a clipboard. They identified 41 dogs who Sharon chose for her "road trip" to Montana on May 23rd. Local rescuers had been in discussions with Sharon to coordinate a mass transport, and Sharon took the ball and ran with it. Due to her efforts, 41 dogs were pulled out of the shelter on May 22 and are now on the road to safety.

Unfortunately, even with 8 dogs leaving together on May 18 and a list of 41 more who would be leaving on May 22, the shelter elected to euthanize more dogs for space on May 18 and May 19. The list of dogs that were killed included a 3 month old pit bull puppy named "Honey" who had a new safe no-kill shelter and arranged transport waiting for her...and "probably" an Interested Party Hold. When asked to identify all the dogs euthanized on those two dates, the shelter was silent, so P.A.P.A. has issued a request under the California Public Records Act.

As a public facility staffed by public employees, the shelter is supposed to operate with complete transparency. The animals in the shelter's care are OUR animals and WE are responsible to see that they are treated with care and compassion and given every opportunity to find new forever homes. The only way for us to know how well we are meeting their needs is with the information being sought. Good, bad, or ugly, there should have been nothing threatening about providing data if we ALL share the same vision.

The animals need and deserve our best efforts. We will review the records and then create a "report card"...identifying the areas of strength and where, as a community of animal advocates, we can make improvements. Stay tuned for updates...

Euthanized for unknown reasons

"Honey"....had a new home in Phoenix and a ride to get there. Two different rescue organizations notified the shelter on May 16 when this video was taken, and again by e-mail on May 18 that she was "spoken for".....

Honey breathed her last breath on the afternoon of May 19. 2010 - euthanized for unknown reasons.

8 Little Flyers Depart for Boston!

We rescued 8 more small dogs from the Camarillo shelter this morning and they are now on their way to a safe, no kill shelter near Boston where their forever homes await them (6 chihuahuas, a pom and a Scottie).

Thanks to generous donors, Tiny Loving Canines, the Peppy Foundation, and with the help of Kinder4Rescue, small dogs at the shelter have now received a "reprieve" from the euthanasia lists made necessary by the chronic overpopulation at the shelter. 

Working together, we were able to demonstrate a commitment to these little ones and, seeing that, the shelter agreed to hold small dogs off their euth. lists...hoping we can keep up the good work. The "team" has been able to do what none of us alone could have...and if there were more hands on deck, we could save even more dogs and cats.

But, it's a start...a good start...and it shows how a "coalition" of animal rescuers can achieve great things, without taking away from their individual identity and purpose. Won't YOU... "Come to P.A.P.A."...and lend your support and resources for "the greater good"?...

Stay tuned as new and exciting transport options come on line, as well as the programs designed for longer term results. If we do not work toward a no kill shelter now, exactly when will a better time come? And if those reading this blog are not on board, who can be expected to step up?  

Now is the time, and we are the people.

NINE MORE SMALL DOGS FLOWN TO SAFETY ON MAY 12....

On May 12, 9 more small dogs from the Camarillo Shelter were flown to safety...unfortunately, the mercy flight was too little, too late for "Fat Girl", a 10-month Terrier/Heeler mix who was euthanized by the shelter the same day.

It is a sobering reminder of the losses we will continue to sustain while the shelter population remains so high. Programs to decrease the number of dogs and cats that enter the shelter take time to build...and in the meantime, we are still losing wonderful companion animals at an alarming rate.

Mass transports provide immediate, though expensive, relief ...so we will continue to explore these avenues to save as many dogs as we are able in the short term.

Generous donors have provided enough money to fly about 10 more dogs to safety and Tiny Loving Canines has selected the next squadron and placed an "IP" (interested party) hold on them on behalf of P.A.P.A.....We are looking for just the right shelter for them as Boston and their volunteer vet staff have been delayed in their intake processing and are unable to accept any dogs this week.

Hopefully, these IP holds will keep this set of little ones safe and they will not suffer the same fate as the puppy, "Fat Girl"...who also had an IP hold when she was killed.

Ten more little P.A.P.A. pilots getting ready for take off....but no more...???

Through the efforts of Tiny Loving Canines, Inc, 9 more small dogs have been pulled and are awaiting their spay/neuter appointments at the Camarillo shelter on Sunday. (Flight crew for 5/11 - photos!).  Along with a senior chihuahua who missed her flight last week, they are scheduled to be picked up the morning of May 11, transported to the volunteer vet and then to the airport for their red-eye to Boston that night.

These 10 dogs will be joined by two other small dogs who needed IMMEDIATE rescue from LA shelters. Kinder4rescue has been handling these emergency flights because they have the contacts to make them happen almost immediately.

Once this second squadron takes off, we will not have enough money to send any more dogs to safety without additional donations of cash and crates. It is a simple formula. $125 per dog plus the $50 the Camarillo shelter charges a rescue to pull a dog.  Tax deductible donations can be made at the Tiny Loving Canines website...

We will ship as many as we can afford to ship, no more... BUT...no less. We know these flights are just an interim solution...but it is all we can do for these tykes in the little time they have left. Track our progress here.....

We have touchdown!

By all reports our six little fliers landed safe and sound in Boston this morning. The shelter volunteers who retrieved them at the airport loved each and every one. They said one small traveler was so affectionate that he rode home tucked inside a worker's sweater he was so "snuggly".

With the first squadron safely "home" we have to turn our sights on # 2 and # 3. We need crates by Monday afternoon  and then we need  $$$ to pay the airfare for the final 12 scheduled to fly out later in the month. At the end of these three scheduled flights we will have saved 30 little ones who had been nearing their final days at Camarillo shelter. I call that a good start! Thank you to everyone who helped.

With the shelter population on the rise again, we may have to make mass "transports" a regular event until we can get programs in place that address ALL aspects of the problem from spay/neuter to adoptions and everything in between. Moving these chihuahuas is just one part of the equation...but it is what we need to do NOW. Stay tuned...

First Squadron takes off.....

Well, it was a long day but the first 6 members of PAPA's Flying Chihuahua Squadron were pulled from the shelter in Camarillo and readied for takeoff...

One of the little ones went 'incognito' as a Chihuahua for as dog whose time was up at the shelter but by breed is a Scottie... We promised he needed to be a Chi only for this flight though!

Here is one of our tiny little ones - he could have been our pilot for as well mannered as he was throughout this entire process!

After I delivered these little ones to Laurel in Sherman Oaks, she and her four volunteers worked all day to get them bathed, vet checked , crated and ready for their red-eye to Boston. 

I was with them until the final leg and was impressed by the attention paid to them by all of the volunteers. These little ones were walked, cleaned, fed, watered, and loved the entire time. 

6 down, 24 to go...stay tuned!

The first flight of P.A.P.A.'s Flying Squadron prepares for launch....

Well, I had not intended to do this much this fast...but when the population of the Camarillo shelter topped 180 last week, over 50 of them little chihuahuas, we had to roll up our sleeves and get to work. We needed lots of dogs out fast....so we turned to a well established "pipe-line"...Kinder4rescue's mercy flights that take chihuahuas out of state. The first 7 chihuahuas will leave the Camarillo shelter tomorrow morning for a flight tomorrow night, May 4. Then we have to turn out sights on the getting the next squadron ready. It is scheduled for take off on May 11. A third squadron can go on May 22...but we do not have the funds in hand for the third group yet. Several very generous dog-lovers made immediate donations sufficient to fund the first and most of the second flights....hopefully the success of the first group and the continued dire need at the shelter will motivate more people to donate. As recently as last Thursday they had to put some dogs down there....so we have to work even harder and faster to stay ahead of the needle. So, as grateful and encouraged as I am by the early and generous support, we have to step up our game...we have space for 24 more dogs and money for 12. Stay tuned...