"Paws applause" to this hard-working rescue organization
By Karen WrightPaws applause is what Churchill Animal Protection Society (CAPS) gives to those folks who so generously help them save critters. We think they should get plenty of their own.
Teresa Summers is the Director of CAPS, a non-profit, no-kill animal shelter located in Fallon, Nevada. They have six part-time paid staff, six volunteers on the Board of Directors, and two dedicated volunteers who show up almost daily to walk the pooches.
Partnering with the Navy Originally, in 1985, a group of concerned citizens started CAPS as a fostering operation. They soon realized that they needed a facility and asked the Navy to help them out. The Navy base agreed to give them some room if CAPS would take in the abandoned and stray animals on the naval base.
“In 2003,” Teresa says enthusiastically, “we finally moved into a brand new facility on 10 acres. It has 10 cat condos, 18 dog runs inside and out, and 2 quarantine rooms. “Not to brag,” she adds, “but we are just about to get real nice, new computers that will help us a lot.”
How do they advertise their lost pets? “We have pictures of the animals in both local newspapers every week and the Board President has a weekly news column called ‘CAPS Corner’ in the Lahontan Valley News.
Teresa noted that they no longer do fostering. The organization doesn’t have the resources and person power to check and make sure people are providing adequate care and a clean environment for the pets.
Referral NetworkHowever, they do have a log book of dogs and cats, lost and found, to which they can refer if someone calls or comes in looking for a particular animal, as well as a list of local animal rescue services. To date, CAPS has adopted out 2,077 dogs and 2,081 cats.
CAPS sponsors a low-income spay and neuter program called SNAP and has spayed or neutered 595 animals.
Fundraising initiatives include T-shirts and caps for sale, and the annual “Happy Endings” calendar, featuring pictures of pets and families who have found each other and are living happily ever after.
This year CAPS is organizing the 2nd Annual Bark in the Park and Strut Your Mutt 5K Relay Run at the Churchill County Fairgrounds on May 31. In October every year, they hold an art auction to benefit CAPS with donated art from all over the world.
Purina Rallies to the RescueAnother CAPS program is Rally to the Rescue, sponsored by Purina Pro Plan Pet Food to help rescue organizations across the country give rescued pets the nutrition and care they need and the loving homes they deserve.
Rally to the Rescue focuses on the support of smaller pet rescue organizations like CAPS that may often be overlooked by potential donors and adopters due to more limited fund raising and marketing capabilities. CAPS will host and document events promoting the program and sent back to Pro Plan.
Paws applause to CAPS, one of the many rescue organizations that will offer pets for adoption during the Reno-Sparks Super Adoption, Saturday, April 12, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., at the Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center Exhibit Hall. The event is a highlight of the 1st Annual Nevada Week for Animals, April 5-14, 2008, a statewide celebration to build awareness and mobilize action on behalf of all animals in the Silver State and Lake Tahoe area.
What You Can DoCome to the Super Adoption and meet the animals from CAPS. Or visit the organization's
website to find out how you can help.
Posted by Julie Snyder, Best Friends NetworkPhoto of adorable, adoptable Julio courtesy of CAPS