| TEAM
has been “Teaching Everyone Animals Matter” for more
than a decade. Ten years have passed since a handful of people,
inspired by a good idea and the potential to help needy animals,
opened up their personal checkbooks and initiated the official start
of the county animal shelter’s first-ever support group.
From the beginning, TEAM’s all-volunteer
board of directors and corps of volunteers have worked hard to improve
the health, well-being and adoption prospects of the animals at
the shelter in two primary ways: by underwriting a level of veterinary
care for them that might otherwise not be possible, and by supporting
those who work tirelessly to give them second chances through foster
care, sponsorships and adoption.
The cornerstone of TEAM’s work is its Special
Medical Needs Program, begun in response to an outpouring of
support for a dog who had been severely burned in a drug-related
house fire. Although that unfortunate dog didn’t survive those
injuries, the program lives on, funding specialized veterinary care
and treatment for other injured and neglected animals coming into
the Sacramento County shelter. Program funds also provided medical
equipment and supplies for the shelter’s small on-site medical
trailer. TEAM continues to underwrite spay/neuter services for the
FUR (Friends of
Unwanted Rabbits) program, which houses and re-homes shelter
rabbits, and regularly contributes to various adoption activities,
including the LAPCATS program. TEAM also
helped launch the shelter’s new “Spay/Neuter
Commuter” van.
TEAM has made public education about animal issues---particularly
the public’s responsibility to companion animals---a top priority.
Urging the public to “Always spay, always neuter, always ID,
always adopt a shelter pet,” this message remains at the heart
of TEAM’s work. TEAM is a proud and consistent supporter of
the community’s annual “Spay
Day” event and the SAAC
Spay/Neuter Voucher Program, and has taken the spay/neuter/ID/adopt
message to countless venues and media outlets large and small.
There’s not enough space to thank all those
who have helped make TEAM a success over the years, but there are
three people whose guidance and support were invaluable from the
start: Dan Lawer, DVM, whose expertise and hands-on help with TEAM’s
bylaws made the vision a reality; former county executive Bob Thomas,
who first mentioned the idea of a nonprofit shelter “friends”
group and lent his support along the way; and the late Pat Wright,
an original board member whose goodwill, generosity, upbeat personality
and genuine love of animals embodied the enthusiasm for the TEAM
endeavor.
We’ve seen many positive changes evolve at the county shelter
over the last 10 years, though the number of animals relinquished
and euthanized there is still too high. For some of us, progress
will always move too slowly, but it is nonetheless all around and
gaining momentum.
And our work for shelter animals goes on. |
