2018 Year in Review
Did you know that you can become a member of PAWS of Jackson Hole by donating just $10 monthly? Save your liver from one martini a month and put that money to work helping local pets and their people. Check out a few highlighted ways your membership gift would impact our local pets:
In 2018, PAWS provided over 1,100 spay/neuter surgery vouchers in Jackson, Teton Valley, and Star Valley. On top of that number PAWS has increased their efforts with Trap Neuter Return in the Teton Valley area and has successfully TNR’ed over 100 cats in 2018 with the help of our TNR volunteer team and some stellar feral cat advocates. Check out some of our 2018 Spay/Neuter and TNR recipients who, thanks to your support, will not be contributing to the pet overpopulation problem in our communities.
Meet Humphrey! This little guy is around 4 months and was originally abandoned along the side of a busy highway. Luckily he was found by someone who could give him the love he deserved. Humphrey was the 404th voucher we issued in Star Valley in 2018.
Twinkie, an 8 1/2 year old Min Pin, was used for breeding most of her life. Luckily for Twinkie her new mom, Bridgette, has put a stop to all of that nonsense and is giving Twinkie a new (spayed) life. Since her rescue 6 weeks ago Twinkie has lost a very needed 3lbs and is pleased with the fact that she is no longer a puppy making machine.
Did you attend our Tuxes and Tails Gala this past June? If so then you are well versed on our friend Bullet’s story and how badly he needed a chance at life. PAWS Medfund has helped over 70 people get their pets the medical treatment and care they desperately needed in 2018. Your membership gift directly impacts future animals just like Bullet.
To view Bullet’s story: https://vimeo.com/284404980
The ever so popular Mutt Mitts are still incredibly poop-ular! PAWS replaced the trashcans this year and added a couple to the managed stations roster. Our Mutt Mitt Maintenance Team services 23 stations weekly, 52 weeks a year! With the help of your membership gift PAWS distributes 150,000 FREE mutt mitts a year and pulls over 51,000 pounds of poop off our local trails!
PAWS’ Education and Outreach program has expanded in 2018. PAWS has introduced their own team of PAWS Trail Ambassadors. The Trail Ambassadors’ mission is to spread the “paws-itivity” and promote harmonious trail usage between bikers, hikers, skiers, and dog walkers. While out walking and surveying the trails, Ambassadors are ready to reward responsible pet owner behavior… and tend to reward the dogs too of course! Look for them out on the trails this summer and winter, easily spotted by their bright orange PAWS fanny packs, chock full of goodies thanks to Persephone Bakery, Snake River Brew Pub, Mars INC, Pet Place Plus, and Teton Tails!
This past fall PAWS partnered up with Rendezvous Elementary School in Driggs to introduce Humane Education to their students. PAWS and the School’s Counselor developed and presented a 4-week course of Pet and People Compassion Education for three hundred students. Pet topics such as how to meet an animal, spay and neuter, pet overpopulation and animal shelters, pet needs and safety, and breed discrimination were covered. All of these topics accompanied human compassion lessons and together they promote empathy, kindness, and responsibility for both humans and pets. PAWS plans to extend the Pet and People Compassion Education model throughout our communities in 2019.
And finally, thanks to DART (Disaster Animal Response Team) training, PAWS now has more than 40 certified volunteers ready to help if disaster strikes in both Teton County, WY and Teton County, Idaho. The DART team and countless other PAWS volunteers make all NINE PAWS programs possible. So farewell 2018, and thank you, supporters and volunteers. You are all an integral piece of the organization.
