Greetings Volunteers,
As this is the last Volunteer Blog of the year (where did 2024 go?!), we wanted to share a few highlights. To date, our volunteer corps has dedicated over 60,000 hours in 2024! That’s amazing, woo-hoo for you! Fosters play a pivotal role at Marin Humane + Hopalong: so far this year 1,630 animals have been in foster homes for 34,825 foster days! And last but not least, there have been 2,929 adoptions! Thank you for all you do to make countless lives happy!
Shelter update: We currently have 252 animals in our collective care. 214 are at Marin Humane: 61 animals in foster and 153 animals in the shelter/Kitty Corner, including: 26 dogs, 10 puppies, 64 cats, 19 kittens, 15 rabbits, 5 guinea pigs, 7 reptiles, 6 rodents, and 4 birds. There are 34 animals with Hopalong foster families and 4 in the Hopalong office.
Adoptions update: Happy Monday and happy holiday week! This is the last Volunteer Blog of 2024! To set the tone for the next few weeks, here’s last week’s slideshow of holiday adoptions! 
Congratulations to all of last week’s adopters … and thanks for choosing to adopt, not shop. If you’d like more details on who went home, here’s the Adoption Report.
Hopalong happenings: Sometimes, the foster experience and the matching of adopters for particularly colorful personalities can be quite an adventure; and we just love a good adventure. We write this in the most endearing of ways because it really is a lovely and informative experience to foster an animal and learn their quirks, idiosyncrasies, and beautiful attributes. The key is using that information to find them the perfect home. A Case in point is one of our favorite cats to pass through our doors recently—the stealthy and hilarious puma-like cat, Lacie. Lacie had exuberant energy with a little mischief mixed in and loved to play hard. She specializes in drive-by play bites and excelled in stalk-pouncing from around the corner, halfway up the drapes, or from the top of a nearby refrigerator. She wound up staying with the Hopalong Foster Program for some time as she waited for the perfect match, and finally it came to us! This adventurous gal needed a dog, and a big, adventurous one at that! Our Foster Dog Program Manager, Alex Sanchez, had the brilliant idea of emailing all our current dog fosters throughout Marin, the East Bay, and San Francisco to see if there might be an adoption match. Lo and behold, a brilliant and loving adoption match was made, and it included a huge, cat-loving Great Pyrenees named Lucy Who proved to be the perfect partner for this rambunctious gal. Lacie and her new family are over the moon, and we couldn’t have envisioned a more delightful and joy-filled outcome.
Volunteer High Five to Maggie Kass! “Maggie has been an adoption volunteer for only a few months now (since September) and is already receiving praises from her fellow Adoption Counselors, Adoption Staff and now….our clients!! The Yelp review below speaks volumes! Maggie – you are a wonderful addition and we are so happy to have you on our Adoption Volunteer team! Thank you for providing GREAT customer service – well done!” ~ Ruthie and Catherine, Adoption Supervisor/Adoption Manager. Here’s the Yelp review: “Marin Humane is such a special place. I don’t know if the team here is made up of volunteers or employees, but I don’t think it’s possible for them to be any nicer. Maggie, in particular, was so sweet and patient during my visit with a kitty. There are so many wonderful animals here, and it’s clear they are well taken care of. The team truly cares about every animal and works hard to match them with the right homes. Highly recommend visiting if you’re looking to adopt or just want to support an incredible organization.” 12/20/24
Happy ending! Meet Jingle and Belle, two puppies who got a rough start in life but are now ready for their forever homes, thanks to a team of awesome people! These adorable poodle pups were found in the back seat of a car, along with a number of drugs, by an officer with the Mill Valley Police Department when they responded to a call regarding a suspicous person in a vehicle. The police officer called us and Animal Services Officer Courtney Miller (pictured here) arrived on the scene to find the approximately four-week-old puppies acting worryingly listless. She whisked them off to Pet Emergency & Specialty Center of Marin where it was confirmed the puppies had ingested drugs. Fortunely, Jingle and Belle recovered quickly and were able to go to a foster home, where they thrived. They’re about 8 weeks old now and ready to head to forever homes for the holidays!! We’d like to thank the Mill Valley Police Department, Officer Miller, and PESCM for their efforts to get these puppies safe and healthy! The driver of the vehicle was arrested and willingly relinquished the puppies to Marin Humane, and the Mill Valley PD is now pursuing extra charges. (P.S. We’re happy to report that both Jingle and Belle have found their forever homes just in the time for the holidays!)
Tails of Marin: This week’s Tails of Marin was contributed by our friends at WildCare, with another reminder: “Protect wildlife from fishing hooks, other hazards.”
Another reason to NEVER use glue traps: … you never know what animal will get stuck! Glue traps are incredibly inhumane, which is why WildCare wants to see their sale and use banned completely. This glue trap was set out to capture rodents, but a Novato resident got a big surprise when they discovered this rattlesnake hopelessly stuck to the trap’s surface instead! The snake’s face and jaw were glued to the trap, rendering him temporarily harmless, but his rattle remained loose, warning everyone in the vicinity that this was a very angry and terrified snake indeed!
The Novato resident called Marin Humane, who dispatched an officer to safely transport the snake to WildCare for help. Fortunately, WildCare’s team is well accustomed to dealing with injured rattlesnakes! Snake tongs, heavy gloves, and lots of experience with venomous snakes reduce the risk to our Medical Staff, but this snake offered an additional challenge — he is a young snake, and too small for the snake tongs! Our team sedated the snake for the arduous and delicate process of carefully removing his body, scale by scale, from the sticky glue. Afterward, while he was still sedated, Med Staff washed the snake, making sure to completely remove any and all remaining sticky residue, before administering subcutaneous fluids to rehydrate him after his ordeal. Shockingly, once he was removed from the trap, the snake proved to be uninjured, and as he recovered from the anesthetic he demonstrated that he was feeling much better! The team kept the snake overnight for observation, but the next morning it was clear that he had recovered sufficiently to safely return to the wild, and was cleared for release. A staff member returned him to an open space near the location where he had been found. Learn more about why glue traps are inhumane and why you should NEVER use them here.
We’re hiring! Seeking employment in the New Year? Well, Marin Humane is currently accepting applications/resumes for a full time (30 hours/week) Feline Behavior Associate. Get more information on this position here. Come join our team!
Ho ho ho and happiest of holidays to you and yours :)!
Candace
