Hello Volunteers,
No foolin’, Woofstock tickets are on sale today! In fact, “early bird” discount pricing just started and ends April 7. Use secret code VOL50 to get 50% off the adult ticket price to this fun, fundraiser — Sunday, May 3rd , 12-5pm. Enjoy music by Pop Fiction and a few other bands. There’ll be food trucks featuring vegetarian food, beer, and wine. The ever-popular free Kid’s Zone will be back with awesome activities for kids of all ages. Explore event booths featuring local merchants. All proceeds benefit the animals at Marin Humane. Bring your family! Bring your friends! Bring your dog! Don’t delay!
Shelter update: We currently have 219 animals in our collective care. 119 are at our Novato campus, including 22 dogs, 3 puppies, 60 cats, 11 kittens, 6 rabbits, 5 guinea pigs, 2 rodents, 6 reptiles, 2 birds, and 2 fowl. Six animals are in our Oakland office; 10 are at Kitty Corner and the Woodlands stores; and 84 are in foster homes.
Adoption update: Hooray for Wednesdays, our favorite day! Check out the lucky animals who found their forever homes over the past two weeks: March 16-22 and March 23-29. Congratulations to all the adopters on their new family members! 🎉 Here’s the more detailed two-week Adoption Report!
Hopalong happenings: If you’ve come through our office recently, you may have noticed a friendly grey pit puppy hanging out. And if you’ve said hi to her, she has likely rolled over for belly rubs or hopped up to get pets. This cutie is named Juniper and she has stolen the heart of our Vet Assistant, Sam McNaughton. Sam has been fostering June the past couple of months and will adopt soon. She already has a pit mix named Maddox and she was on the lookout for a friend for him. The two dogs hit it off straight away, playing together and wrestling. June still gets up to some mischief (she’s never met a potty pad she didn’t want to chew) but she’s becoming such an affectionate pup and a quick favorite for volunteers. Congratulations to Sam on this new addition to her pet family!
Petaluma animal shelter: Starting today, April 1, we’ll be helping our friends to the north by temporarily managing the animal shelter in Petaluma! We’ll be caring for the animals at the shelter formerly managed by North Bay Animal Services and providing field services. We expect to be there for about six to eight weeks while the City of Petaluma works to find a new provider for animal services for their community. Visit this webpage to learn more!
Volunteer High Five to Cathy Jakubiec and John Costello! “I’d like to shout out Cathy Jakubiec and John Costello for stepping up to foster Austin when he really needed it. It can be especially hard to find foster homes for large dogs, and Austin was becoming increasingly mouthy in the shelter, making it clear that he needed time and space to decompress. Cathy and John opened their home to him during that critical moment and gave him the opportunity to settle into a calmer environment. What makes this even more impressive is that they are balancing Austin’s needs while also managing a large dog of their own (MH alum, Merlin,) and a cat, and they’re doing it skillfully. Taking on that kind of foster situation requires patience, generosity, and skill, and Cathy and John have shown all three. Their willingness to step in and make it work has made a real difference for Austin.” ~ Jane Aten, Shelter Canine Behavior Coordinator
Join us for an important webinar! In order to give all staff and volunteers a solid understanding of our philosophy and criteria for determining outcomes of the animals we take in, we are holding a Decisions and Outcomes Workshop via Zoom on Thursday, April 16th from 4:00-5:30pm. This workshop is presented by staff from the management team including Nancy McKenney, Dr. Belinda Evans, Keri Fennell, Virginia Grainger, Beth Weil, and Sam Winegarner. We share the various perspectives involved with our intake process, behavior assessments, and euthanasia decisions. This workshop will address what factors play into our capacity to care and how to answer general questions regarding the topic of euthanasia at Marin Humane. There will be time at the end of the session for Q&A. Please let me know if you’d like to attend and I’ll send the Zoom link next week.
Tails of Marin x2: There are two Tails of Marin articles for your reading pleasure. In fact, both are written by guest contributors: “Lilies and cats don’t mix,” written by Dr. Monica Figueroa the medical director at VEG Larkspur, and “How modern housing transforms animal shelter care,” written by Teal Conroy the director of philanthropy at Marin Humane. Enjoy!
Volunteer Patti Oji – Artwork in the Whittell Building: Many of you knew Patti as the always smiling woman walking around with the cat food cart, bringing the joy of dinner to our shelter felines. Sadly, Patti passed away in September 2025. Among the many things that Patti was involved in during her life, she was a wonderful artist! A small collection of her animal artwork, including some of our shelter dogs, are displayed in the lobby of the Whittell building. Come by for a visit to see Patti’s beautiful artwork!
Caring for Your Aging Dog Webinar: Are you prepared to care for your senior dog? Join us for a special webinar, “Caring for Your Aging Dog,” on Saturday, April 11. As pet owners, we actively seek guidance in raising our puppies, but we don’t always recognize or adapt to our senior dogs’ changing needs. Yuching Desch, Marin Humane dog training instructor and Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, will offer an in-depth look at: ❣️Signs of aging and frailty – and how they differ by breed and size ❣️Changes to be mindful of ❣️How to adapt your home ❣️New training and enrichment needs ❣️Taking care of yourself as the caregiver ❣️Working with your vet ❣️Quality of life considerations ❣️Saying goodbye. This webinar is appropriate for both dog guardians and pet service providers, including groomers, dog walkers, and pet sitters. The webinar is 1.5 hours, including plenty of time to answer your questions, and costs just $25. A recording will be available if you can’t join live. Zoom login instructions will be provided 1 week before the webinar. Reserve your spot here.
Have a wonderful week!
Candace
