Why Spokane?

Spokane, the second largest city in Washington, serves as the business, transportation, medical, industrial and cultural hub of the inland Northwest, encompassing two million people in a 36-county area. Spokane County, the focus area for ASPCA^® Mission: Orange™, is the fourth largest county in Washington with 436,000 residents.

The animal welfare community in Spokane has made noticeable progress over the past several years with, among other things, the formation of Friends of Pets, a local animal welfare coalition founded five years ago to help unite local shelters and rescue groups in their shared goal to seek short- and long-term solutions to end the pet overpopulation problem. These collaborative partners include all of the local stakeholders: two non-profit animal shelters, animal control, local rescue groups and other local professionals such as veterinarians and trainers.

The companion animal demographics of this mid-size city are representative of much of the country. With an estimated population of over 90,000 dogs and 85,000 cats, Spokane struggles with many of the same issues surrounding homeless pets that face other communities. The local animal welfare groups’ ability to collaborate has served Spokane’s animals well. With the resources of the ASPCA added to this effort, Spokane looks forward to making an adoption guarantee for every at-risk animal not only attainable, but sustainable.

Below are 2006 statistics for three of the ASPCA’s shelter partners: Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Services (SCRAPS), SpokAnimal C.A.R.E. and Spokane Humane Society.

Spokane is clearly focused on meeting the two stated goals of ASPCA Mission: Orange: to increase adoptions by 10 percent in the first year, and to reach a 75 percent live release rate over the course of the three-year campaign.

ASPCA’s four partnering agencies for ASPCA Mission: Orange in Spokane are:

Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Services (SCRAPS)
2521 N. Flora 2521, Spokane, WA 99216; (509) 477-2532
http://www.spokanecounty.org/animal

Mission: Protect public safety and ensure animal welfare through compassionate, responsive, professional enforcement of laws and public policy.

SCRAPS provides the residents of the unincorporated areas of Spokane County, the City of Spokane Valley, the Town of Millwood, the City of Cheney and Fairchild Air Force Base with animal control services including, but not limited to: responding to injured/sick dogs or cats; vicious animals; dog bites; and cruelty complaints. SCRAPS recently completed Spokane County’s first off-leash dog park located at Spokane County’s new Gateway Park and launched its Federal Inmate Dog Opportunities (FIDO) Program. FIDO places homeless SCRAPS shelter dogs with carefully selected inmates at Geiger Corrections Center who train the dogs and prepare them for adoption. This mutually beneficial program saves the lives of homeless dogs by improving their adoptability through training while inmates learn about animal behavior and dog training skills from a professional animal behaviorist and volunteer dog trainers.  

SpokAnimal C.A.R.E.
710 N. Napa St., Spokane, WA 99202; (509) 534-8133
http://www.spokanimal.org/

Mission: Dedicated to ensuring proper care, safety and protection of animals; reducing pet overpopulation through sterilization programs; establishing a shelter that meets national standards; promoting legislation for improvement of animal care; and educating the public for the safety and care of animals.

SpokAnimal C.A.R.E. is a non-profit organization, incorporated in 1983. Since their founding they have operated an adoption center and contracted for Animal Control for the City of Spokane, providing field services, investigating reports of cruelty and neglect, and sheltering stray animals. Through donations and grants, SpokAnimal C.A.R.E. provides many programs and services to the community including: a low cost spay/neuter clinic; humane education programs teaching kindness and empathy for the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center; active participation in regional disaster response efforts; and working with the local domestic violence agencies to provide foster care for animals belonging to people seeking refuge from an intimate partner violence situation.

Recently SpokAnimal staff and board members attended the ASPCA Mission: Orange Austin community summit to explore and plan how they can work toward their goals for the future as they transition from providing animal control services to focusing on their core mission efforts.

Spokane Humane Society
6607 North Havana Street, Spokane, WA 99217; (509) 467-5235
http://www.spokanehumanesociety.org/

Mission: To relieve the suffering and abuse of all animals and to foster an awareness of their importance in our lives through leadership in compassionate care and placement, public education and humane services.”

Spokane Humane Society was founded in 1897, just four days after Washington became a state. At that time the founder’s primary focus was to look after the draft horses used to carry loads up Spokane’s South Hill. Today, this non-profit organization works to protect the community’s pets through an adoption center which houses and adopts dogs and cats in need of compassionate care; educational, and community outreach programs; and the Beulah Morgan Spay/Neuter Clinic, which offers spay/neuter services for the pets of low-income families.

As an organization funded only by private donations, Spokane Humane Society transitioned two years ago to a limited admission policy, committing to take in only those animals they have the resources to provide for. As they continue to expand this vision and meet their goal to provide refuge and re-homing of more needy animals, they are undertaking a phased remodeling plan to update the current facility.

Pet Savers Low-Cost Spay and Neuter Clinic
7525 E. Trent Ave., Spokane, WA 99212; (509) 924-7826
http://petsavers-spokane.org

Mission: To end homelessness of all healthy companion animals within the regional community by offering affordable population control, adoption and veterinary services.

Pet Savers, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c (3) and an active supporter of the no-kill movement for companion animals in the United States. The organization aims to change community attitudes toward companion animals through education and outreach. Its nonprofit veterinary clinic offers animal care services to all community members regardless of economic status. Pet Savers makes efforts to promote a positive corporate environment for employees and volunteers within the organization and also to collaborate with regional animal welfare groups to encourage sterilization, pet identification and permanent adoption of homeless and neglected animals.

Recently Pet Savers was voted Comcast’s charity of choice for Comcast Cares Day. This national honor, for which the cable and Internet company’s employees and family spend one day volunteering for selected charities across the country, resulted in a remodeled reception area, an enlarged outdoor feline adoption center, a garage refurbished to accommodate two dog runs and an all-grounds cleanup.

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