| Christmas Newsletter |
December 2009
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Greetings!
Happy Holidays to you and yours from Sparky's Pals!
I'd like to thank all of you for supporting Sparky's Pals and our mission this year - our dedicated volunteers, our generous sponsors, our partner organizations, and all those who came by and talked to us at all of our events. This has been a very good year!
We are looking forward to an even busier 2010, as we continue working with the Girl Scouts, Animal Allies of Texas, the Frisco Humane Society and other area organizations.
I hope to see you at an event soon!
Kevin Gilhooly
President
Sparky's Pals
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| Contact Us |
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P O Box 600266
Dallas, Texas 75360-0266
214-823-7257
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Join us on Facebook and Twitter!
For Facebook users, please become our fan on: For Twitter users:
For our video channel:
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Photos and Videos
Please see our latest photo collections on our Facebook page. Also, there are some videos from our workshops and volunteer meetings available on our YouTube channel. (See the previous article for links.)
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Girl Scout Workshops
Sparky's Pals Girl Scout Pets Interest Project Workshop allows Scouts to earn their IP badge in a single day! One of the service projects during the workshop is making bandannas and blankets for rescued pets. We donated over forty bandannas and seventy pet blankets from the workshops to our friends at Frisco Humane Society. The bandannas are for pets to wear at Adopt-a-pet events, and the blankets are a gift to go home with them when adopted.
One of the educational projects is making posters on environmental hazards for pets. One of the troops displays their completed posters at the top of the newsletter.
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Out and About
Sparky's Pals volunteers hit the road a number of times a year for public events - this year, we were at Frisco Humane Society's Barktoberfest, a health fair at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, and multiple low-cost vaccination clinics with Animal Allies of Texas. We set up our tent and hand out educational brochures, have children's crafts, and answer questions on pet care.
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The Island of Misfit Pets
For those of you who grew up watching "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
each year, you will probably remember the Island of Misfit Toys. (For
those not that old, it's where the recent Verizon commercial was
derived.)
King
Moonracer ruled the Island and circled the world every night, gathering
all the unwanted toys. He would bring them back to the island, and they lived
together, without children to play with them. That is, until Rudolph asked Santa to stop there and
find them all new homes where they would be appreciated. When I was
young, I remember thinking I wasn't sure that I would want a truck with
square wheels or a boat that sunk, but I was happy all the misfit toys
found homes.
I had Rudolph running through my head this afternoon, and I realized there is also an Island of Misfit Pets.
Actually,
there isn't just one Island of Misfit Pets, there are many, if you
count all of the local rescue organizations in the Metroplex. However, the most
well-known Island of Misfit Pets is usually the local municipal animal shelter, in our case, Dallas Animal Services.
Unfortunately, the city's Island of Misfit Pets is often filled
just after Christmas, rather than emptied
on Christmas Eve. Once filled, it is emptied, but most of the pets
don't find
homes with people to love them - Dallas Animal Services had an 82%
euthanasia rate in 2005. In 2007, almost 28,000 pets were put to sleep
simply because they were misfits. This Island of
Misfit Pets is not a very happy place, because while Dallas Animal
Services has new facilities, and the staff tries diligently to save
pets, there simply isn't room or staff to keep all the unwanted pets
until they can find forever homes.
(Unfortunately,
Dallas Animal Services is not measured on the number of pets they save,
they are measured on the number of pets they remove from the streets.)
While
there are many King Moonracers (running local rescue groups) who fight
for Misfit Pets and help them find a place to live, there are just too
many unwanted pets for all of them to be saved.
I know
Christmas stories really should have a happy ending, but some simply
don't. If you know people giving pets for Christmas, especially as a
surprise, don't be shocked to hear in March that the pet has "gone to
live in the country" or whatever euphemism is used for banishment to
the Island of Misfit Pets.
Here's the reason we're doing what
we do - our Sparky
was a Misfit Pet. He was abandoned, picked up by the local humane
society, adopted from their shelter, then returned by his new owner,
and finally adopted
again into our family. Once with us, he found his forever home, so even
though we lost him less than three years later to a disease that could
have easily been prevented early on, he's still one of the "lucky"
ones.
Sparky's
Pals
goal is to close the Islands of Misfit Pets. I would like nothing
better than to tell the rescues they don't have anything to do, and to
stop having to pay taxes to keep Dallas Animal Services running.
However, the only way
to close the Islands is to remove the need for them. In 2009, we worked towards this goal by
helping children in after-school and Head Start programs learn about the humane treatment of pets and how to be safe around animals. We talked to children at multiple branches of the
Dallas Public Library about pet care and safety. We taught Girl Scouts about pet care through
their Pets Interest Project. We helped parents and children learn to
set expectations when bringing a pet into
the household, and we reminded all pet owners that prevention is better
than cure, and that spaying and
neutering their pets will prevent unwanted litters.
We appreciate
your help in fulfilling our mission and reaching our goals.
Thank you again for all of your support in 2009. We look forward
to an even more successful 2010! Sparky's Pals wishes you and yours a
safe, healthy and happy holiday season! Sincerely,
Kevin Gilhooly
Sparky's Pals
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Help Sparky's Pals!
Could you make a tax-deductible donation to Sparky's Pals to help cover the cost of materials for our workshops?
 Donation: $20
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