So many people ask me how they can help animals in need. Many are not in a position to adopt or foster a pet but, as I tell them, there are many other ways to get involved and make a difference.
Which leads to our spotlight organization, K9 Safe at Home, a Connecticut group of volunteers that runs programs aimed at keeping pets with their families and out of our shelters.
Today we have Julie Stevens, the President of K9 Safe at Home who will answer a few questions about the organization and how people can help.
Without further ado, here’s Julie!
Q. Welcome Julie! Please tell us a little bit about your organization and how you got started.
A. We are a small group. All of us have done rescue work, some of us for years. We were getting tired of constantly looking for foster homes and started to see the need for a program to help people keep their pets in their homes in tough times. We discovered, based on some of the phone calls coming in to us that a lot families just needed some support with food to take the pressure off for a while. With our help they were able to keep their pets until they were able to get back on their feet! Now, anyone who needs our help is welcome to apply.
While all of this was falling into place, we found that we also had families calling for help that needed to place their pets but were happy to keep them until the right home was found! Wow! Imagine that--- a home that cares so much that the owners were reaching out for help in finding their pets the perfect home. We help these families by posting and sharing on our page. We have an application for that also. We have a policy that the owners, with our help, check out references and do home checks. We do everything we can to point the owners in the right direction and get their pets into homes for the rest of their lives.
A. We are a small group. All of us have done rescue work, some of us for years. We were getting tired of constantly looking for foster homes and started to see the need for a program to help people keep their pets in their homes in tough times. We discovered, based on some of the phone calls coming in to us that a lot families just needed some support with food to take the pressure off for a while. With our help they were able to keep their pets until they were able to get back on their feet! Now, anyone who needs our help is welcome to apply.
While all of this was falling into place, we found that we also had families calling for help that needed to place their pets but were happy to keep them until the right home was found! Wow! Imagine that--- a home that cares so much that the owners were reaching out for help in finding their pets the perfect home. We help these families by posting and sharing on our page. We have an application for that also. We have a policy that the owners, with our help, check out references and do home checks. We do everything we can to point the owners in the right direction and get their pets into homes for the rest of their lives.
When we began, we put all of this on paper to see if it would work and it did! We are looking to fill a need that is different from most rescues. I would like everyone to know, however, that we focus on the pets here in Connecticut. We believe the pets in our state need a team to help just them, which in turn helps the shelters and rescues to be able to do what they do. We feel the pets in Connecticut are often overlooked and turned away because rescues and shelters are full of pets from other states.
Our Pet Food Pantry was started to help Connecticut pets during tough times or at any time during their placement.
So, to summarize, with our rehoming assistance program we network your pet to help find a good home. We also have a referral network and can give people phone numbers or names of organizations that can help them. We even try to help people with wildlife questions or tell them who to call for help.
We also have a pantry for pets. We are blessed to have a couple big pet food stores that help us to do what we do. We have Pet Supplies Plus and PetValu in West Hartford that are fantastic in what they do for us. They truly care about helping the pets in need.
Q. How would people go about requesting help?
A, You can find us on Facebook - K9 Safe At Home. We also have our web page where you can request help it is k9safeathome.weebly.com/ where you will also find our email address and a phone number where you can reach us.
Our Pet Food Pantry was started to help Connecticut pets during tough times or at any time during their placement.
So, to summarize, with our rehoming assistance program we network your pet to help find a good home. We also have a referral network and can give people phone numbers or names of organizations that can help them. We even try to help people with wildlife questions or tell them who to call for help.
We also have a pantry for pets. We are blessed to have a couple big pet food stores that help us to do what we do. We have Pet Supplies Plus and PetValu in West Hartford that are fantastic in what they do for us. They truly care about helping the pets in need.
Q. How would people go about requesting help?
A, You can find us on Facebook - K9 Safe At Home. We also have our web page where you can request help it is k9safeathome.weebly.com/ where you will also find our email address and a phone number where you can reach us.
Q. What types of donations are you looking for?
A. We are always in need of, but are but not limited to, dog and cat food. People donate dog food so much more than cat food, although I am not sure why. Maybe it is the K9 part of our name? We support a number of feral cat rescues. In the wintertime wet cat food is especially needed because it helps the cats generate more body heat to stay warm.
We accept dog houses in good condition and they need to be brought to us. We need toys, medicine and lots of cat litter. We will take just about anything to do with animals, (farm animals too) including gates , chain link fencing, hay, straw, bunny food, guinea pig food, bird food, rabbit houses and pet safe ice-melt. We strive to help all animals!
Q. How many families do you serve?
A. We serve many food shelves in Connecticut. These food shelves support people in need and a large number of those people have pets. That is where we come in and donate to the food banks to help out. We help the Enfield Soup Kitchen and just had the honor to be able to help a new program that is being started by Meals on Wheels by providing food for their clients with pets.
We help rescues, animal shelters and animal control centers all over the state of Connecticut. We help private families that contact us for approximately 90 days so they can keep their pets and get back on their feet. We serve about 400 families a month and growing!
A. We are always in need of, but are but not limited to, dog and cat food. People donate dog food so much more than cat food, although I am not sure why. Maybe it is the K9 part of our name? We support a number of feral cat rescues. In the wintertime wet cat food is especially needed because it helps the cats generate more body heat to stay warm.
We accept dog houses in good condition and they need to be brought to us. We need toys, medicine and lots of cat litter. We will take just about anything to do with animals, (farm animals too) including gates , chain link fencing, hay, straw, bunny food, guinea pig food, bird food, rabbit houses and pet safe ice-melt. We strive to help all animals!
Q. How many families do you serve?
A. We serve many food shelves in Connecticut. These food shelves support people in need and a large number of those people have pets. That is where we come in and donate to the food banks to help out. We help the Enfield Soup Kitchen and just had the honor to be able to help a new program that is being started by Meals on Wheels by providing food for their clients with pets.
We help rescues, animal shelters and animal control centers all over the state of Connecticut. We help private families that contact us for approximately 90 days so they can keep their pets and get back on their feet. We serve about 400 families a month and growing!
Q. What else would you like people to know about K9 Safe at Home?
A. We are growing every day. We need a place to call home to store our donations. We never imagined that there was such a need and we need space to be able to organize our donated items. We are a small team of great people that have many helpful skills. I am a former Animal Control Officer and State Humane Agent. We also have a college graduate with a degree in the animal field, a former pet supply store owner and people that are active in rescue work. We also have a wonderful groomer on board and more. We know what we are doing but couldn't do it without all of our wonderful supporters.
We are hoping to add a few more programs but for now we have to focus on getting a "place to call home" and then finding help to become non profit. We will be looking for lots of help on that for sure!!
A. We are growing every day. We need a place to call home to store our donations. We never imagined that there was such a need and we need space to be able to organize our donated items. We are a small team of great people that have many helpful skills. I am a former Animal Control Officer and State Humane Agent. We also have a college graduate with a degree in the animal field, a former pet supply store owner and people that are active in rescue work. We also have a wonderful groomer on board and more. We know what we are doing but couldn't do it without all of our wonderful supporters.
We are hoping to add a few more programs but for now we have to focus on getting a "place to call home" and then finding help to become non profit. We will be looking for lots of help on that for sure!!
Right now, in addition to donations, K9 Safe at Home is in need of storage space in the greater Hartford area.
If you can help please call or text (860) 324-3292 or email k9safeathome44@gmail.com.
Thank you Julie for taking the time to tell us about your wonderful organization and thank you to all the volunteers of K9 Safe at Home for helping to keep pets out of shelters and keeping families together.
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