Greetings from Volunteer Engagement! February 22, 2023

Greetings Volunteers,

Interested in learning more about mountain lions? Join us for a special seminar about mountain lions on March 1st at Marin Humane from 6:30-7:30 pm in our auditorium. This is presented by our friends at the Felidae Conservation Fund.

The Bay Area is home to some amazing wildlife, including mountain lions and bobcats so it’s important that we are informed about how to coexist with them and how to prevent human-wildlife conflict. In this seminar, Zara McDonald and Alys Granados from the Felidae Fund’s Bay Area Puma Project will discuss mountain lion ecology and history, and the important role of wild cats in maintaining healthy ecosystems. The seminar will also cover BAPP’s current research, the challenges of sharing habitat with wild felids, lasting myths and misconceptions, and importantly, will provide tips about how we can facilitate coexistence with these wild cats in the Bay Area. 

The seminar is free, but advance registration is requested. Please register before 3/1 at: info@bapp.org

Shelter update: We currently have 139 animals in our care at Marin Humane: 43 animals in foster and 96 animals in the shelter/Kitty Corner, including: 20 dogs, 1 puppy, 45 cats, 10 rabbits, 9 guinea pigs, 6 rodents, 1 reptile, 3 birds, and 1 fowl. Hopalong has 60 animals in their care, 13 animals in the Oakland office and 47 cats and dogs in fabulous foster homes or offsite adoption sites!

Adoptions update: It’s the best part of Wednesday! Just a handful of happy families this week (we had some camera-shy adopters, no biggie!) but very worth a watch for the smiles! Here’s what you’ve been waiting for, the adoption slideshow! And this week’s Adoption Report, too!

Hopalong happenings! This past Saturday the 18th, Hopalong brought six new dogs into our program from Oakland Animal Services (pictured here is a before and after of one of the pups, who we’re calling Phyllis). These dogs were part of a hording case of 30 dogs and as you can see, they were in desperate need of some TLC! Our wonderful network of foster homes allowed us to jump right in to support Phyllis (and Andy, Toby, Oscar, Holly, and Erin – fans of The Office will see a theme in the names here). Clearly, Phyllis is happy with her makeover!

Happy ending! Lauren, our Animal Care Coordinator, shared this happy ending: “My good friend’s family fostered our bunny Bon Bon, and ended up adopting him a few months ago! He had some health scares while in foster, but they took great care of him at the direction of our vets, and is now doing great. His new name is Alfie. Her sister is his bestie, but he is very loved by the whole family. He was shy at first, but has come out of his shell and shown his mischievous side. He has full run of the (rabbit-proofed) house during the day, and helps with such chores as accidentally dusting book shelves and culling their wicker basket collection without permission. He loves lying next to his human while she meditates, exploring the house, and getting head scritches. Definitely a happy ending for Alfie!”

Volunteer High Five to Paula Spencer! Speaking of rabbits, here’s a well-deserved high five for a “bun-derful” volunteer: “When COVID hit, everything in our world at the shelter changed. One significant change was that we no longer could have Rabbit Romper Room. RRR was critical for our rabbits to get some space to run around, do bunny binky’s, play with new toys, and get attention from many volunteers. While some rabbits were lucky and went to foster homes, we simply didn’t have enough foster homes for all the rabbits in the shelter. The rabbits, I’m sure, as well as the volunteers, were sad that this extra enrichment couldn’t be provided.  

Then, on top of COVID, we learned of a fatal virus that affects both wild and domestic rabbits. Once again, the world of rabbits in our care changed dramatically. Fortunately a vaccine was made rather quickly and now our rabbits are vaccinated. This got me to wondering if RRR could start up again. First, I checked with our vets and with some new protocols in place they said we resume RRR. Yeah! My next step was to call Paula. Would she be comfortable coming to the shelter as the lead for RRR. Before I could finish my sentence, there was a very excited YES! I was so happy to hear this and started to put things in motion for RRR. Many of the pre-COVID RRR volunteers decided not to return, but luckily, Paula was unfazed. Paula’s #1 priority is to get the bunnies to Romper Room either by herself or with a few extra hands. So, as of last month with huge kudos to Paula, RRR started up again! Yippee!   

To say staff was happy for our bunnies would be an understatement. We all work together to think of enrichment for the animals in our care and staff loves knowing for at least once a week our rabbits get to kick up their heels! And, thanks to Paula, we can get a much better idea about their behavior. Yes, every rabbit has their own personality and knowing more about each bun helps the adoptions staff match them up with the right adopter.  

A BIG Volunteer High Five to Paula for being so devoted to our rabbits. We are so fortunate to have Paula caring and advocating for our rabbits. Our bunnies are looking forward to RRR throughout 2023!” ~ Suzanne Gollin, Foster Care Coordinator & and Small Companion Evaluator  

Tails of Marin: This week’s Tails of Marin is loaded with good tips on Decoding A Fearful Dog’s Body Language. Read it and pass along the good info!

Pet sitter/dog walker: We are in process of updating the Home Care/Pet Sitter List as we’re receiving calls for recommendations as people start making vacation plans. The list is for staff and current volunteers (who’ve been active at least three months) to market their independent services to the public. If you would like to be added to the pet sitter/dog walker list please provide the following info to ohbehave@marinhumane.org by March 1st: 1) your name; 2) service(s) provided: for example, pet boarding, pet sitting, pet visits, dog walking, etc.; 3) locations covered: for example, Marin, Sonoma, Novato only, etc.; 4) contact info: phone &/or email address

Pet First Aid class: Our Pet First Aid & CPR workshop is coming up again on March 18! Our pets rely on us to take care of them when they’re sick or injured but if we’re not prepared, panic and confusion can hinder our ability to help when they need us most. The best way to increase your chances of responding quickly and calmly to a pet emergency is to familiarize yourself with basic pet first aid. This workshop will teach you skills like CPR training, rescue breathing, restraint and muzzling, choking management, poison response, and much more. It’s just a month away and often fills up so save your spot ASAP! Register here.