Greetings Volunteers,

At the Tails by Twilight gala on Saturday night, we talked about how Marin Humane’s work reaches far beyond our campus. In fact, we help animals and people whenever and wherever we can. This year, our Fund-A-Need will raise critical support for three major areas where we transform lives beyond our campus: answering community calls for help, animal welfare investigations, and disaster and emergency response. This video highlights our essential work in these three areas. Check it out to hear directly from the Animal Services team responsible for meeting these vital needs. We’ll always go above and beyond to keep animals and people safe. However, the cost of these efforts is not fully funded by our county, and we need additional support to remain nimble and responsive in moments of crisis. If you would like to contribute to the Fund-a-Need at any amount, please click here. Thank you for your support!

Shelter update: We currently have 303 animals in our collective care. 212 are at Marin Humane: 80 animals in foster and 132 animals in the shelter/Kitty Corner, including: 22 dogs, 1 puppy, 58 cats, 14 kittens, 9 rabbits, 9 guinea pigs, 4 rodents, 4 reptiles, 1 birds, and 9 fowl. 91 animals are with the Hopalong Foster Program: 27 animals are in the Oakland office and 64 are in foster or offsite adoption sites!

Adoption update: It’s Wednesday and you know what that means: it’s adoption slideshow time! We congratulate everyone who took home a new family member last week — adopt don’t shop! For more info on who went home last week, here’s the Adoption Report! 

Hopalong happenings: Meet Jett and Ninja, two adorable black kittens who are now up for adoption! These brothers have a special place in the Hopalong family: They came to us at 4 weeks old and our Animal Care Coordinator Sam McNaughton fostered them for a week. After a couple more fosters, they have been residing in our loft space and our staff have fallen in love with them. Jett and Ninja are the most outgoing, energetic and loving kittens you’ll ever meet – they come running when you open the door! They particularly like curling up on your chest or shoulders. One of our cat care volunteers joked, “One of them is a cuddler, one of them is a necklace!” If you’re interested in meeting these cuties, please call Hopalong at 415-506-6225.

Volunteer High Five to Gala volunteers! Huge kudos to all the volunteers who helped make the Tails by Twilight event so wonderful … and successful! Each and every one of you played a role in creating yet another magical night filled with fun, inspiration, and incredible generosity. A round of a-paws …  

*To the pre-event volunteers (Carol, Cheryle, Emi, Gayle, Georgia, Joanie, Kathy, Linda, Lynn, Mary, Mindy, Nancy, Susan, Suzy, and Veronica) who assembled the decorations, silent auction items, and doggie swag bags, and then set-up the silent auction tables! Bravo for all the behind-the-scenes help and for organizing the beautiful silent auction table displays!  *To the check-in volunteers (Claire, Linda, Peter, and Shilo) who warmly welcomed our guests and made this process quick and easy! You were gracious and set the tone for the night!  *To the check-in helpers (Linda, Michele, Shawn, and Tamara) who made the process of check-in run so smoothly!  *To the greeter and photographer (Connie and Rachael), the guests appreciated your warm greetings and loved having their photo taken in front of the fancy Marin Humane backdrop!  *To the Animal Assisted Therapy teams (Nicole & Ella, Stephanie & Hawkins, and Craig & Miles) for bringing their sweet dogs to welcome our guests!  *To the cat & dog treat bar volunteers (Felicia and Melanie) for dishing out the yummy treats guests could take home to their pets!  *To the mobile bidding buddies (Ashley and Craig) who engaged our guests at the silent auction tables and helped them navigate the mobile bidding app. You were invaluable in making this system of bidding easy peasy!  *To the raffle volunteers (Bibi, Caryl, and Heather) who gamely engaged every guest to sell them a raffle ticket all while managing the finicky technology.  *To the guest seaters (Christina and Molly) who showed folks to their tables so they could enjoy the festivities, this was an extra nice touch.  *To our puppy and kitten volunteers (Kathleen, Leanne, Nancy, and Susie) for getting our wee critters ready for their big night at the Gala, their presence always holds a special place in the hearts of our guests!  *To our post-Gala volunteers (Irene, Kathy and Nancy) for helping organize all the post gala stuff! And for helping with the silent auction redemption. 

Thank you, ALL, for going above and beyond for Marin Humane. We couldn’t host such an elegant fundraiser without all of your support and hard work!  With much gratitude for making this an exceptional fundraiser for the shelter animals. ~ Candace and the Development Team

Volunteer High Five to Sue Chiaroni! “We are so fortunate to have volunteers who help us with the laundry every day of the week! As part of the animal care volunteer team, our laundry volunteers are SUPER appreciated because they do this hard work when it’s a blazing 97 degrees or windy and rainy! Sue Chiaroni is one of our longtime laundry volunteers. Sue comes in every Thursday to tackle the mounds of dirty towels, pet beds, toys, and more. Sue is so committed to the laundry role and keeping the area organized and tidy that she donated several large laundry baskets to handle the overflow of dirty laundry. Thank you, Sue, for not only your time and commitment to helping the back of the shelter run by doing the laundry, but also for supporting us with your donation. We appreciate you !” ~ Kyle Dunlop, Animal Care Supervisor! 

Sweet kitten story: Need a “feel good” story? I mean, who doesn’t?! Well, I think you’ll enjoy this one: When a Santa Rosa man on a cross country bike trek encountered something mysterious on a hot, rural road outside of a small town in Virginia, what he found would change the direction of his remarkable journey. Read the full story: “Bay Area cyclist on cross-country adventure rescues kitten.”

Tails of Marin: You’ve likely seen the insane amount of media coverage (local, national and even international) about the squirrel who attacked two people in the Lucas Valley area. This Tails of Marin sheds some light on the likely cause and serves as yet another reminder not to feed wildlife (let alone try to raise wildlife babies ourselves): “Takeaways from viral squirrel story.”

Flyball Tournament Volunteer Opportunity! What’s it all about, this fast and furious game of flyball that the dogs love so much? Find out AND be part of the game! Please come and support your local flyball club, Marin Running Riot Flyball Club on Saturday, November 8 or Sunday, November 9 as we host our “It’s About Time” flyball tournament. We need several volunteers, to box or line judge (no experience required, training provided), host the hospitality table, or assist on the scoring table. Shifts are generally four hours, either morning or afternoon. The tournament will be held at All Dogs Sports Park 5111 W Sargent Rd, Lodi. Your short trip ( about two hours to Lodi) is a tax write off since all club practice revenue goes to Marin Humane and the tournament location is a spectacular example of a primo training facility and dog rescue center. Make a day or weekend of it by including a trip to some Lodi wineries. Please contact Annie Humphrey at ahumphrey@marinhumane.org for your availability or with questions. Annie will also help coordinate carpools, too.

Happy October!

Candace