Transcribed by AI with human review:
Ko'u Hopkins:
Hello, and welcome to today's episode of Community Voices. I'm your host, Ko’u Hopkins, and today we have a very special guest from the APL, or better known as the Animal Protective League. Could our guest please introduce themself?
Alexis Haven:
Hi, my name is Alexis Haven. I'm the Animal Protective League's Development Director. I'm so glad to be here today.
Ko'u Hopkins:
Welcome, Alexis, to the studio. And so could you give us some background about yourself? How long have you worked for the APL?
Alexis Haven:
I've been with the Animal Protective League for the past three years. I started with APL back in July 2023.
Ko'u Hopkins:
Do you like working there?
Alexis Haven:
Absolutely. I love the Animal Protective League, not only because of the animals and all the work that we're doing for them, but all the people that work at APL, you know, management. All of the people who are walking the dogs, the volunteers, the fosters, everyone has so much passion. They're genuinely kind people and we all make a great team. So I love working for APL.
Ko'u Hopkins:
What made you want to go down the road of working for the APL?
Alexis Haven:
I've always had a huge passion for animal welfare. I grew up around a lot of animals. My mom grew up on a farm, so she instilled that in me and my siblings. So I've always loved animal welfare. And before I came to APL, I worked as the company manager for Chicago Summer Opera, which is a youth artist program out in Chicago. And so I had the experience of working for a nonprofit and doing some of the sort of business development side of things. And so that, paired with my love for animal welfare, really matched up nicely for my work with APL.
Ko'u Hopkins:
So what made you want to come from the big city of Chicago down to Springfield?
Alexis Haven:
My husband. So me and my husband have been together for going on 8 years now, and at the time we were engaged. He's lived in Springfield his entire life. And whenever I got the job at the Animal Protective League, it was the natural next step to move over to Springfield, and I've loved it. It's a mix of what I grew up in, which was small town living, but also the perks of a big city, great places to eat, lots of fun places to shop and activities. So it's been wonderful.
Ko'u Hopkins:
I'm really happy to hear that and especially because as a Springfieldian, I think that's how you would say it, we are so happy to give you this experience of feeling big town but also small town. But going back to the APL, could you kind of explain what their main mission is?
Alexis Haven:
Absolutely. The Animal Protective League is a 501C3 nonprofit organization dedicated to caring for sick, injured, and abused homeless animals in our community, giving them the medical care that they need, the food, the shelter, getting them healthy and happy, and then helping them to find loving forever homes. That's our mission in a nutshell.
Ko'u Hopkins:
I'm really glad that you have a kind of an elevator speech there, but kind of digging deeper, what do you look for in volunteers? Because I know that there are young people or maybe older people that are wanting to get involved with you guys.
Alexis Haven:
Yeah, what we look for in volunteers is people that love animals as much as we do and want to help out. We have all sorts of tasks for volunteers to do at the shelter, whether it's cleaning cat cages or kennels, taking our dogs for walks. All of our dogs get 3 walks every single day. Helping out with the multiple different fundraising events we have every single year. There's something for everyone who wants to volunteer. So really all it takes is a willingness and a love for animals and we'll teach you the rest.
Ko'u Hopkins:
Is there an age limit on this volunteering?
Alexis Haven:
If you're younger than 18, you can volunteer with a parent. But over then, we would love to have you at the shelter.
Ko'u Hopkins:
Good to know. Good to know. You might be seeing me out there pretty soon. So you kind of touched upon events. Are you going to be having any summer events or anything soon?
Alexis Haven:
Absolutely. We have our Donuts and Dogs 5K Fun Run coming up here on June 13th out at Southwind Park. This is always a super great event. Even if you don't run, even if you want to walk, it's just a great opportunity to raise money for animals. We have multiple different vendors that come out. We have a doggy cool down area that has a little pool for your dogs to hang out in, special dog treats, you name it. It's a super fun event and it helps us to raise money for the life-saving work we do for cats and dogs in need.
Ko'u Hopkins:
I know that we'll be all marking that on our calendars as I didn't know about that. So kind of moving back to the animals in the shelter, are you needing any foster help over the summer?
Alexis Haven:
Absolutely. We always need foster help, but especially right now, we're entering a season that we like to call kitten season. And it's where we see hundreds and hundreds of kittens coming through not only our shelter, but shelters all over the nation, really. And so we need lots of people who are willing to take them in because we take as many animals as we can in the physical shelter, but we have limited capacity. And so we need people who are willing to open their heart in their homes to take in animals, that way we can work to save more lives. So if you are interested in fostering, you can get on our website, apl-shelter.org/foster-a-pet. That's foster a pet. And you can get all the information there and fill out an application. You can choose what animals that you want to foster. Maybe you're only comfortable fostering healthy cats or dogs. Maybe you're only comfortable fostering adults. But we also have lots of young vulnerable animals as well as seniors, as well as super sick animals. we prioritize by sick, injured, and abused. And so we have lots of animals that need a special medication regimen, or maybe they're fresh out of surgery and need someone to make sure that they don't burst their stitches open and keep a close eye on them. We also need fosters who will help out with the sick and the ones that need a little bit more attention. So yes, we always need fosters and we would love to have your help.
Ko'u Hopkins:
So are there any requirements for fostering? What do people need to have? Is it okay if they already have pets, already have dogs, cats, birds, bunnies?
Alexis Haven:
We always want people who are willing to foster. We always want people that are happy and excited to bring a cat or dog into their home. But for more information to learn more about what exactly we're looking for with individual foster scenarios, get on our website and look at that application.
Ko'u Hopkins:
Wonderful. I know that I will definitely be looking at that application, but have there been many foster fails, as they say?
Alexis Haven:
Lots. And for those who don't know what a foster fail is, it basically just means that you're fostering an animal, you fall in love with them, and you can't bring yourself to give that animal up, so you just wind up adopting them. And that happens a lot of times. There are so many occasions where a foster will bring a cat or dog into their home, and then they get so connected with them that they wind up adopting them. And that's certainly not a fail in our book, but it's definitely a funny way to put it.
Ko'u Hopkins:
I don't know why they call it a fail, but I can also see why, because it's like you're supposed to be fostering, but I always think that's a very happy fairy tale ending there. So kind of stemming off of fostering, I know that you guys are needing donations there at the shelter. What are you needing now?
Alexis Haven:
We have a full wish list on our website that we keep updated with stuff from Chewy's website and Amazon, but we are always in need of pet food. We have a free pet food bank that we operate out of the Animal Protective League, and this is primarily to help pet owners in our community experiencing financial hardship. So we do our best to keep that food bank stocked with things such as dry and wet cat and dog food at the shelter as well as treats for when people need it. That way we can decrease the chances of people having to rehome their animals or even give them up to already overcrowded shelters and animal control facilities in our community. So of course food bank food is always a huge plus, but we also take your used towels and blankets and empty pill bottles and empty paper towel rolls and empty toilet paper rolls. Those are used for enrichment. The list goes on. But also monetary donations. If you're not sure what to donate, any sum of money helps us a huge amount. We are a 501C3, so we don't receive any federal funding. So any donation you're able to make will go a long way.
Ko'u Hopkins:
That's always really good to keep in mind. And I didn't know that you were taking all of those things. I thought it was mostly you were just needing food and some, I don't want to say toys, but things in that nature. But you guys are really going out there making enrichment toys and using towels for animals. You forget about those things. And are you taking donations all year round or at certain days, times of the week?
Alexis Haven:
All year round. APL's shelter is open every single day from 8.30 A.M. to 11 and then they break for lunch and then open again from 12 P.M. to 5 P.M. So during those times, the shelter is open for you to drop off donations and then we're open for animal visits from 12 P.M. to 5 P.M. every day as well.
Ko'u Hopkins:
Very good information to have. And kind of stemming off of important information to have, I would like to ask you kind of about animal safety, especially with summer coming around. And as the Midwest tends to be a little fickle, sometimes things can go as low as 50 in the summer all the way to over 100. So keeping that in mind, how would you say to best care for your pets?
Alexis Haven:
Yeah, so there's a couple really important things to keep in mind with the hot weather that's coming up here soon. Whenever you're about to take your pet for a walk or just take them out at all, make sure you're aware of the ground temperature. If it's too hot for you to be walking on the pavement, if it's too hot for you to be walking on the sand without burning your feet, it's also too hot for your dog's paw pads. There's this sort of misconception that dogs' paw pads are just super strong and they're durable and not going to get hurt and it's just not true. We want to make sure that we're taking the best care of them possible and that includes ensuring that they're comfortable no matter where we take them. So check the ground temperature and then also make sure they have access to fresh water all the time. Hydration is a big way to avoid them during heat stroke or anything like that. And that moves on to my next point which is heat stroke. Pets are very susceptible to heat stroke. And so that's something you want to keep an eye on throughout the summer.
So some symptoms that you can look for in your pet is distress, vomiting, weakness, excess drooling, and a dark red or purple tongue. And then once you see the signs of heat stroke, some things that you can do to sort of combat those symptoms are to apply cool water to the ears, belly, and paw pads, not cold water, not ice water, just cool water. And then once they're stable, bring them to a veterinarian. Heat stroke can cause organ damage and it can even be fatal. So that is important to remember. And then of course, never leave your pet in a hot car. Even if it's 70 degrees outside, car temperatures can rise really, really fast. Not safe for your pet at all.
And then as we get into summer, usually you're only going to see a lot of fireworks around July and 4th of July, but firework safety, of course. Make sure to not have any fireworks around your dogs. They could get burnt, injured. It could wind up being a fatality. So make sure to keep your dogs away from those fireworks. And then also a lot of dogs and a lot of pets in general are just scared of those loud noises and scared of all the fuss that fireworks can cause. So in that case, keep your pets in a quiet room, turn on the TV or some calm music, offer treats and toys, and then close the doors, curtains, and windows just to give them a calm environment while you enjoy the fireworks with your family members outside. So those are just a couple things for the summer just to keep in mind for your pets to keep everyone happy and healthy.
Ko'u Hopkins:
So kind of going on par with the summer idea, what kind of items that you could buy or that you could make to keep your cat, your dog cool for the summer.
Alexis Haven:
I know my dog always appreciates having a little pool outside to kind of to jump in while they're playing outside. So offering them a small body of water to play in is always a good idea. Always make sure that if your pets are around a body of water that you're supervising and that they're not left unsupervised. So that's an option there. Of course, my cats also appreciate whenever I put their delectables, their little like push-up delectables in the freezer and they can kind of eat them as a Popsicle. So that's an option there as well. You know, those Kong toys for dogs, you can always put maybe some like frozen peanut butter or frozen Greek yogurt or even just some water so they can lick a treat out of their Kong ball. There's all sorts of options and you can certainly find some more online. There's tons of resources out there for providing a yummy cold treat to your pets, but those are just a couple.
Ko'u Hopkins:
Thank you for that information. I know that was something everybody wants to celebrate and I know that we would like our pets to be in a celebratory mood as well. And do you have any more information about the APL? What are you hoping for their future and their mission?
Alexis Haven:
We're always on a mission to get more animals adopted, to save more lives, to provide spay neuter procedures to more animals, We are the regional leader in ending pet overpopulation, and we do so by adopting out well over 2,000 cats and dogs every single year, as well as providing almost 7,000 spay neuter procedures as well each year, ensuring that less unwanted litters are born into unfavorable circumstances like homelessness, abuse, and neglect. And so we're always on a mission to do more, go out to more places to do adoption events. We do lots of adoption events around town. We have something called the mobile adoption unit and we take it out to different places such as PetSmart, Petco, something that we call the yappy hours, where we have different bars host us around town, and we bring out a couple of dogs here and there for them to be seen and hopefully increase their adoption rates. But we're always doing what we can to get them seen and adopted.
Ko'u Hopkins:
And what are kind of the ages of your pets right now? Are they mostly young puppies, young kittens, or are we kind of having an older look? Because I know some families, they would like to adopt a senior dog or a senior cat.
Alexis Haven:
All across the board. It truly is all across the board. Right now, you know, we're seeing a lot of younger animals because, like I said, it's kitten season. And so we've got tons of kittens. I mean even if you don't see kittens at the shelter, there are kittens that are in foster care right now. So lots of young kittens and stuff, but we have plenty of senior animals. plenty of senior animals, animals that maybe were strays for a long time, or maybe they've just been in our shelter forever. There's one cat that comes to mind, Albion, who is a cat that has very limited mobility in her back leg. She's paralyzed from the waist down. And she is a super sweet long-haired white cat. And she is, I think, let's say, maybe 12 years old at this point. We've had her for, I think, since she was a kitten, I guess. But she's just one example. We have plenty of senior animals that would love to spend the rest of their golden years in a fantastic home. I would say across the board we have plenty of just adult dogs that are just in their prime years, between two to seven years old. So lots of them that are just ready to have a good life with a family who will love them and cherish them and give them all the attention that they deserve.
Ko'u Hopkins:
Thank you, everyone, for listening to today's episode on Community Voices. I'm your host, Ko’u Hopkins.
