Palo Alto Humane Society

News

PAHS Presentation at the Girls' Middle School, Palo Alto

Palo Alto Humane Society joined Palo Alto Animal Services and Homeless Cat Network in a workshop held from December 12 to 16, 2011, called "Improving the Lives of Pets in Need" at The Girls' Middle School. The speaker representing PAHS focused on the plight of homeless animals—why there are so many homeless animals, where they are found, and what the community can do to help them. Student participants worked toward designing solutions for the problems and situations described by the speakers from all three organizations, and these solutions were then reviewed by the speakers at the last formal session of the workshop.

PAHS HOLIDAY GALA at the Aquarius Theatre, downtown Palo Alto

Palo Alto Humane Society's "Oh! For the Love of Critters!" came once again to the Aquarius Theatre, on Thursday, December 1. That night, a nearly packed audience watched the 1961 classic feature film Greyfriars Bobby, a true tale set in mid-nineteenth century Edinburgh, Scotland, about a little Skye terrier whose story of faithful devotion transcends time. Emmy-nominated Hollywood producer Phil Giffin hosted the event, with the participation of local actor Marilyn Kanes. Live bagpipe music and actors in costume greeted movie-goers as they lined up for their tickets. This holiday party, now an annual Palo Alto and Peninsula tradition, was a huge success!

TAKASHI HIDAI FLUTE RECITAL at Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

On Saturday, October 22, a crowd of music aficionados enjoyed a lovely late afternoon recital by flutist Takashi Hidai accompanied by pianist Hiroko Mizuno, including works by Bach, Noblot, Genzmer, Gaubert, Faure, and Hayashi. All proceeds from the recital have gone to the humane programs of the Palo Alto Humane Society to make sure that animals are spayed or neutered and well cared for!

OPEN HOUSE at the Pet Club, Menlo Park, CA

PAHS joined the Pet Club in Menlo Park for their open house on Saturday, October 22. Staff and volunteers for PAHS met with interested passersby and answered questions about our programs, showed some of our items for sale from our shop and gallery, and just joined in the fun and spontaneity of the day.

CATWORKS 2011 Volunteer Recognition and Celebration

In conjunction with National Feral Cat Day (October 16), Palo Alto Humane Society celebrated the efforts of our CatWorks volunteers, the people who help our community (feral, stray, and abandoned) cats through fostering and adopting out cats and kittens as well as trapping, spaying and neutering, and feeding and otherwise maintaining healthy controlled colonies. Our volunteers joined us for refreshments and festivities in the lovely surroundings of Sally's Garden at Roger Reynolds Nursery in Menlo Park. Thank you to Roger Reynolds for the perfect venue and to all our volunteers for all their hard work—and the cats thank them too!

EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATION at Club J
Oshman Family JCC, Palo Alto, CA

Jo Hamilton from Companions in Waiting, a local rescue group, and Leonor Delgado from PAHS met on October 13 with two eager groups of kindergartners at the Oshman Family JCC's Club J, an afterschool program for children through grade 5. The children were fascinated by Jo's stories about cat and dog rescue and learned the basics about caring for pets at home. The high point of the presentation was meeting and greeting Hope and Iris, two rescued kittens, and Cookie, a rescued dog.

National Feral Cat Day FOOD DRIVE

Success! The cat food drive to celebrate National Feral Cat Day (October 16) was quite successful. Many people stopped by our table to learn about the work PAHS is doing, and their support, both with food items and monetary donations, was inspiring. Thank you!

BAKE SALE at Kepler's Books

The bake sale in conjunction with World Animal Day was a splendid success. Baked goods included vegan and vegetarian desserts such as chocolate chip cookies, apple crisp, snickerdoodles, lemon cupcakes, frosted fall-themed cupcakes, banana bread, rhubarb pie, and peach chutney turnovers. YUM! Proceeds of $375 will go toward funding the PAHS spay and neuter program.

World Animal Day (international/UK) provides a detailed report about our event.

Thank You, Yelp!

Yelp's "Night of Summertime Fun" MAGIC 8 BALL held at the Garden Court Hotel in downtown Palo Alto the evening of Thursday, August 25, 2011, was a smashing success, with more than 200 enthusiastic attendees and proceeds exceeding $1700. Thank you, Yelp, for helping PAHS continue to help the animals through such programs as spay and neuter vouchers for cats, dogs, and rabbits, and our community outreach and educational efforts.

Help needed: Request to Protest Cuts to Santa Clara County Spay/Neuter Budget

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors is considering an almost 20% cut in the already inadequate budget for spay/neuter services starting July 1, 2011. For the past several years, funding was maintained at around $111,000 and funds always ran out part way through the year. The new budget proposal calls for only $90,000 for fiscal 2011-2012. Please contact your Supervisor (see website link and list below) and urge him/her to maintain funding for spay/neuter at current levels. In your own words, use the points below to bolster your plea: 1. This is going to mean drastically reduced access to low cost spay/neuter services, especially for stray and feral cats. 2. It is counter-productive, because sheltering costs will increase, as will expensive euthanasia costs. It is far more cost-effective to spay/neuter than to euthanize, not to mention the humane considerations…
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A Special Spay/Neuter Partner

PAHS was delighted to present a Certificate of Appreciation to For Paws Spay & Neuter Clinic, one of our voucher program partners. For Paws is one of seven Bay Area animal clinics that have partnered with PAHS to discount their rates and accept our spay/neuter vouchers. The wonderful staff of this low cost Fremont-based clinic go above and beyond the call of duty to help alter feral cats and companion animals from low-income homes. We are so grateful for their dedication to bettering the lives of all animals. More about our spay and neuter underwriting programs can be seen here.

2010 in 2010!

With generous donations from people like you, PAHS paid for the spaying and neutering of 2010 animals in 2010. What a number! After many years, this critical financial intervention work of the Palo Alto Humane Society continues to keep countless puppies, kittens, and bunnies safe from a life on the streets or in the shelters.

ARCH - Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti

A year after Haiti's big earthquake, animal welfare continues alongside (and to mutually benefit) the human welfare work still underway. ARCH (the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti) was founded by WSPA and IFAW immediately after the disaster and was quickly joined by international animal welfare partners - including PAHS. See a short film about ARCH here.

“Oh! For the Love of Critters!” – Yes, it was definitely a wee extravaganza!

Reprised by popular demand, Oh! For the Love of Critters! came back in 2010, this time featuring Walt Disney's 1964 classic “The Three Lives of Thomasina” alongside the winner of our 2010 Humane Planet Film Contest. Picking up on ‘Thomasina's’ Scottish location, kilts and bagpipes were part of the red carpet fun which included searchlights and our friends from A Mystery By Design. Emceed by Hollywood producer and Emmy-nominated film composer Phil Giffin and actor-comedienne Marilyn Kanes, the evening was a hit.
Photos and Event Details Here!

In Loving Memory

We lost two fearless and dedicated animal advocates this year with the passing of Odette Moren and Sylvia Bancroft. Odette had over her 40 years in animal rescue, and there was no situation in which Odette would hesitate to speak up and negotiate for the welfare of animals in the community. The entire animal world also lost a dedicated and passionate warrior with the passing of Sylvia Bancroft, at age 93, who immersed herself in the fight for animal protection. “In our society animals have pitifully few rights," she said. "I would like to persuade our society to give them some.”
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Humane Planet Expo: Planting the seeds to grow a more compassionate world.

Community, fun, inspiration, information and solutions blossomed at our second annual Humane Planet Expo in 2010. In honor of World Animal Day and World Farm Animal Day (and ideally occurring on Mohandas Gandhi's birthday), thirty three groups, organizations, artists and individuals - all working to create a more just, sustainable, and compassionate world – joined together and created a diverse yet united presence.
Photos and Event Details Here!

Shooter sought in cat shooting case

Full story can be seen here.
Watch news report on CBS Channel 5 Local News

Pet Loss Support Groups: 1st Monday of every month.

Click here for details.
Update: The Pet Loss Support Groups are no longer active as of February 2011. You are invited to contact Tony Rousmaniere to schedule an appointment directly: (415) 401-7405

“Director of Campaigns”

The Palo Alto Humane Society is pleased to announce that it will add to its team an “Advocate,” Ben Davidow, who will strengthen PAHS' advocacy for animals through research, outreach and campaigns. Advocacy is a core component of the 100-year old PAHS mission. Ben in high school in Palo Alto was already known as
"The Activist," and he has shown a great quality and dedication in his work on behalf of animals. Ben will resign his seat on the board of directors and join the staff in October. He will work on issues affecting animals in the Peninsula and issues where PAHS can influence public policy in favor of animal welfare.

PAHS persuades Palo Alto City Council not to raise pet adoption fees.

June 28, 2010 The Palo Alto City council voted June 28, 2010, not to increase pet adoption fees at the city’s Animal Services shelter, after Carole Hyde argued that keeping fees intact would help protect animals in the care of the city’s shelter. “Increased fees will make adoption at the Palo Alto shelter more expensive“ than at many other area shelters, Hyde said. “The public has a great variety of choice in where they adopt an animal,” she pointed out. A fee increase at the city’s shelter “could put Palo Alto’s animals at risk.”
Read her full comments here.

Humane Planet Film Contest winners chosen!

After many 3’ film shorts were received and reviewed, the winning films have been chosen! Each of the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place films exhibited unique, important and skillfully executed perspectives on animal welfare issues. In addition to the work that went into making each of these innovative submissions, the winners’ creativity acted to combine skillful storytelling with a critical issue impacting animals in today’s world. You can view the winners by clicking on the links below.

• 1^st Place Winner “Time to Save the Wolves” by Melody C. Miller
• 2^nd Place Winner “At Home” by Heather Paul
• 3^rd Place Winner “Don’t make Them Suffer” by Nicole Van Cleve

Big Thanks to Girl Scout Troop 30541 and Troop Leader Cathy Petersen!

May 11, 2009Big Thanks to Girl Scout Troop 30541 and Troop Leader Cathy Petersen! THANK YOU Oak Knoll students, parents and staff for all the generous donations you brought during “Be Kind To Animals Week”. What a response! Over 700 meals for cats and 50+ meals for dogs were donated, plus a wide variety of treats, toys, and utility items. A special thanks to each of the Oak Knoll Girl Scout troops that assisted in the drive – Troops 33178, 33170, 31486, and 31959. All donations were delivered and enthusiastically accepted by the Palo Alto Humane Society, which then distributed the items to local rescuers in need. Much work remains, so thank you Girl Scouts for partnering to make a difference for animals in need within our community.

Film and Book Recommendations

March 09, 2009 PAHS has posted a list of terrific, fun, and educational media tools which teach about our animal friends and the lives we share with them. See our PAHS list of film, author, and book recommendations here!