Positions Available

We have new volunteer positions available!  Do you love animals but can't have pets?  Are you a student who needs community service hours?  Interested in learning more about animals or helping out more?  We are looking to fill the following volunteer positions:

Adoption counselor -- An adoption counselor visits the home of a potential adopter, sometimes with the new cat or kittens in tow.  During the home visit the counselor gives the Adoption Seminar, a short talk that teaches new pet owners about proper nutrition, health, and other important aspects to having a new pet.  Adoption counselors also follow up with new adoptive parents to see how things are going.  Training is provided.

Foster mentor -- A foster mentor is a contact for new fosters in case they have questions or concerns.  A foster mentor provides guidance, tips on how to take good photos of the animal up for adoption, how to keep the animal safe, and information on behavior and health.  This is a position for someone who has experience with foster animals.

Transport -- -This person ferries cats and kittens to new homes, to and from foster homes, events, and vet appointments.  When we need transport we send out an alert and whoever is available offers help. Notice is anywhere from 2 days to a few hours. We're looking to add names to our email list!  Can we add yours?

Spay/Neuter Coordinator -- This position is great for someone who is great with data, records and is really organized.  The spay/neuter coordinator maintains records of which animals have been spayed/neutered, who need to get fixed, when they're due to get fixed, et cetera.  The S/N coordinator also keeps in touch with adopters to notify them of upcoming surgeries and to schedule appointments with our vet. 90% of this job is done over the phone and computer.

If interested or you have any questions, please email friends@atailatatime.org

And remember ... THERE WILL BE KITTENS!

P.S.  We still need volunteers to cover shifts at our adoption event tomorrow.  Can you come spend an hour with us?  Email friends@atailatatime.org!

Adoption Event This Saturday

Adoption event this Sat May 15th

at Pet Health Store

corner of 81st and Amsterdam

12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

*WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!!*

It's going to be a gorgeous weekend and we will need a total of 4 volunteers

2 inside, 2 outside

Email info@atailatatime.org to sign up for a shift!

These are the shifts needed:

11:30 to 1:00

1:00 to 3:00

3:00 to 4:30

OR ANY COMBINATION OR TIME YOU WANT!

What does a volunteer do?  Volunteers help set up the kitty crates with blankets, food and water.  Voluteers empty a litter pan if someone does their business.  They provide interested people with information about the animals, and about our organization.  But the best part?  Volunteers get to spend their afternoon snuggling kitties.  

A Tail co-founder Tracey at an adoption event in December 2009

Email info@atailatatime.org or visit our website, www.ATailAtATime.org for more info.

Opt to Adopt!

Love Your Mama

Mother's Day is quickly approaching, so I wanted to take a moment to write about a group of mothers who go quite unnoticed most of the time.

Puppymill Mothers.  You probably weren't expecting that.  And I know it isn't a very cheerful thing to think about, but that's kind of the point.  Puppymill mothers spend their entire lives in small chicken-wire cages, stacked one atop the other, in drafty barns or stuffy warehouses.  Many of them have never been spoken to kindly, they've never slept on a bed, they've never known that a human's hands can be gentle or loving.

My own Theo was a puppymill rescue, and that dear sweet little dog still has not healed.  He cowers and urinates in submission when anyone but my husband or I reaches out for him.  When he sleeps he cries out,  whimpers and moans, shivers all over until I place a warm hand on his belly and then he gasps, sighs, and lays still.  I think he has terrible nightmares.  And yet, he was a stud.  He only had to fend for himself. He never had to nurse a litter while malnourished and pregnant with another.  He never had to fight to protect six babies when he couldn't protect himself.  These are creatures who are degraded, mistreated, abused and used.  Let's show them some love on Mother's Day.

Mabel spent ten years in the same Virginia puppymill Theo came from.  She, Theo, and more than two hundred other small breed dogs ranging from Jack Russel Terriers to Westies to Chihuahuas, were rescued in the fall of 2007 thanks to effort from Best Friends and Pets Alive.  When she was rescued, Mabel was pregnant with what could have easily been her nineteenth litter.  It was clear she was due any day, her belly was quite swollen and she was obviously uncomfortable.  The veterinarians taking care of her were nervous about this birth because Mabel was well past her prime years.  They waited two days and then they gave her a C-section.  Her vets had had every right to worry.  It turned out she had only been pregnant with one pup, and by his size they could tell he was weeks over due.  And many more weeks dead.

But you can help!  You can make a difference!  Make a pledge to pass the word that Puppies Aren't Products.  Talk to your friends and family about the importance of adopting a pet instead of buying one.  And if you don't know what to get your mom for mother's day, click here to make a donation to the Best Friends Puppies Aren't Products campaign. It's the perfect way to say thank you to a lot of wonderful moms, your own included.

Participate in our Then And Now Project

Adopters!

Send us a picture of your A Tail kitty.  We are posting "then and now" pics on our website and we'd love to see how your adopted kitty is doing.  Email info@atailatatime.org and we'll feature your cat on our website.

Opt to Adopt!

More Kittens! And more and more and more...

Jay's kittens -- two girls and a boy

Without our foster families and our volunteers, A Tail at a Time would not be able to save the animals we save.  Kitten season is here in full bloom and we need help.  We're seeing more and more kittens on the alert lists, and just this weekend a cat we pulled from the kill list gave birth to three more.

While the number of euthanized animals has dropped in the past years, there are still thousands and thousands of healthy, affectionate, young, friendly cats and dogs killed annually simply because of lack of space and funds.  From February 2009 to January 2010, twenty-eight thousand one hundred sixty-eight (28,168) cats came into the NYC shelters.  Three hundred ninety-eight (398) of those cats were claimed and returned to their owners.  Eighteen thousand three hundred sixty-three (18,363) were adopted (either by individuals or adoption groups) and eight thousand one hundred eighty-eight (8,188) were euthanized.*

Each day, Tracey and Kathleen (founders of A Tail), receive an alert list from Animal Care & Control, which informs them of all new arrivals.  Thanks to kitten season, we are seeing nearly a hundred new feline arrivals each afternoon.  Some of the new arrivals are as young as three days and some are as old as nine years.  Some were surrendered by owners who are moving, getting a divorce, or having a baby.  Some were found as strays, wandering the street, crying for food, eager to be petted, stroked and picked up.  Some are there because their owner died and no one else wants them.  Some are there because their families don't want to deal with a cat and her new litter of kittens.

The good news is that you can help.  You can volunteer for an animal rescue organization by helping at adoption events, you can spread the word about free spay/neuter programs, you can foster a pet (or several!), you can encourage friends who want to buy a pet to adopt one instead.  We are a small group now, but it's our mission to recruit more fosters so we can save more animals, and it's our dream to have a greater impact on the people of NYC, who's responsibility it is to make sure that all of their pets are spayed and neutered.

The fact of the matter is that the animals pouring into the ACC every day are victims of people who are too busy, too distracted, and too uninformed.  We can change that.  We can't save all the animals, but we can save a tail at a time.

If you'd like to help, please email us at info@atailatatime.org or visit our website www.atailatatime.org for more information.  And always, always, always opt to adopt!



*Statistics taken from the NYC ACC website www.nycacc.org

LOST CAT

Click photo for larger view

Looking for Foster Families

Welcome to Spring - a.k.a Kitten Season.  This is the time of year when unaltered cats give birth to litters of kittens and the kill list at the local shelters explode.  This means that many rescuers begin only pulling kittens from the shelters, leaving the adult cats to die.  A Tail At A Time pulled two adult cats this weekend and they need foster homes!

This is Frisky.  He looks terrified in the photo because he is.  He'd just been relinquished by a family who could no longer afford the regular costs of owning a cat.  Frisky loves all people of all shapes, sizes and ages.  He's 9.9 pounds and only 11 months old. He's never been around other animals, so he'll probably do best in a home where he's the only animal.

This beauty is Roz, a gray tiger/Maine Coon who was found as a stray.  She's two years old, 7.4 pounds, and looking forward to having a safe, warm place to sleep.  She's not feral -- she was most likely abandoned.  

If you have room in your heart and your home to take in either of these cats as a foster, or a foster-to-adopt, or if you know someone who might be interested in lending these kitty's a little love, please email us at info@atailatatime.org or you can visit our website, www.atailatatime.org, for more information.

Opt to Adopt!

P.S. We're now official members of the Mayor's Alliance of NYC!  Congratulations to A Tail At A Time!

Nanan, beautiful black lab

"Nanan" a gorgeous, deaf, 10 year old lab is at the Ashtabula County Animal Protective League in Ashtabula, OH.  She's been sitting in the shelter since June 2009 -- that's more than eight months!

She is a very sweet dog and she deserves to be in a home living out her final years in comfort, with a family who loves her!  Because she is deaf, she needs to be somewhere where her people know not to startle her or sneak up from behind -- probably best that she not be around small children for this reason.

If you would like to help Nanan or know of someone who might, please contact Tina Hayes at addedtouch@roadrunner.com.  Transport is available anywhere in the U.S.

Opt to Adopt!

A reminder from ASPCA:

Dear New York Advocates,

There is still time to save low-income spay/neuter! Last week, we contacted you about New York’s proposed 2010-2011 Executive Budget, which seeks to eliminate a statewide program called the Animal Population Control Program (APCP) but includes no plan to replace it. We need to ask you to contact your legislators once more—even if you already emailed them last week, please do so again.

We’ve set up our online letter-sending system to fax your senator and assemblyperson, since their staffs have informed us that for this issue, this is the best way to get your opinions heard. We also hope you can take a minute to call Governor Paterson at (518) 474-8390 to urge amendment of the proposed Executive Budget to save the statewide spay/neuter program for low-income New Yorkers' animals.

As you know, animal control resources are already stretched to their limits—and without a pet sterilization program to meet the needs of low-income New Yorkers, the number of unwanted dog and cat births in our state will skyrocket, leading to further overcrowding in shelters and increased euthanasia.

What You Can Do
Visit the ASPCA Advocacy Center to fax your state legislators about saving the state’s low-cost spay/neuter program.

Thank you, New York, for caring about our state’s neediest animals.

ACC still needs your help!

Here is how you can help right now.

Bill Moran of C+K Distributors has generously agreed to help us help the animals! C+K is a huge distributor of pet food and supplies for the NYC metro area. In response to this unprecedented emergency, C+K will sell to the public at 5% below wholesale! That is less than what they charge pet stores! As orders come in they will be brought to the care centers. All major credit cards are accepted.

Please, go to your phones right now.
Call C+K at 718-894-4302 and say:

"I would like to place an order for the Animal Care & Control Food Drive."

Purchase 1, or as many cases as you can afford, of the following:

24/14oz Pedigree - $17.76 For Dogs
24/13oz Friskies-$19.20 For Cats

The shelter is also out of Kitty Litter.
Please purchase 40lb bags of Tidy Cat - $7.75

C+K Hours of Operation:
Monday-Friday 9am-6pm
Saturday 9am – 3pm
718-894-4302

Hungry Hungry Animals

Animal Care & Control is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that rescues over 43,000 animals every year; that's approximately 350 animals a month.  ACC relies heavily on funding from the City of New York but because of the recession, support from the City has been drastically reduced.  ACC is running out of food.

There are several ways you can help.  ACC is accepting donations of canned dog food, canned cat food, gently used towels and blankets, washable rubber toys and cat litter.  If you'd like to donate, here are some of your options:

1.  Contact Petropolis, 91 Washington St., NYC, NY (212) 608-2234 if you'd like to purchase food to be donated to ACC.  They will take your order over the phone or in person and make sure your purchase gets to ACC.

2.  Contact A Tail At A Time at info@atailatatime.org.

3.  Visit the website www.NYCACC.org to find the shelter nearest you so you can make a delivery of food, blankets, or toys yourself.

4.  Bill Moran of C+K Distributors has generously agreed to help us help the animals! C+K is a huge distributor of pet food and supplies for the NYC metro area. In response to this unprecedented emergency, C+K will sell to the public at 5% below wholesale! That is less than what they charge pet stores! As orders come in they will be brought to the care centers. All major credit cards are accepted.

Please, go to your phones right now.
Call C+K at 718-894-4302 and say:
"I would like to place an order for the Animal Care & Control Food Drive."

Purchase 1, or as many cases as you can afford, of the following:
24/14oz Pedigree - $17.76 For Dogs
24/13oz Friskies-$19.20 For Cats

The shelter is also out of Kitty Litter.Please purchase 40lb bags of Tidy Cat - $7.75

C+K Hours of Operation:
Monday-Friday 9am-6pm
Saturday 9am – 3pm
718-894-4302

Any item donated will help prolong the life of a homeless animal.

Click image for larger view

Opt to Adopt!

An important message from Animal Alliance

-----Original Message-----

From: Animal Alliance (Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals) <info@animalalliancenyc.org>

Subject: A disaster in the making in the NYS Budget!

Your help with a serious issue facing dogs and cats in the State of New York is urgently needed.

On page 171 of a 585 page document entitled "Executive Budget Agency Presentations" there is a seemingly innocuous heading "Dog license reform".  The suggestion from the Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets and accepted by governor Patterson is to eliminate the State's role in dog licensing and have each city, town and village (over 1,000 across the state) do their own licensing.   Hmmm, sounds like it wouldn't make much difference, you'll still get a dog license and show proof of rabies vaccination at your town clerk.  Might not sound much different.  There are many issues around decentralizing dog licensing, but that's not the biggest concern.

The problem is what this summary does not say.  What the governor left out (wisely) is that with the elimination of the central dog license database, the governor is also planning to eliminate the State's Animal Population Control Fund (APCF).  The APCF gets money from a $3 surcharge on every dog license sold in the state for dogs that are not spayed or neutered.  The fund then pays for spay/neuter surgeries for low income people and animals adopted from shelters that were not already altered.  This fund has subsidized surgeries for over 90,000 animals.  That means millions of animals were never born that would have ended up in shelters and added strain and expense to an unfunded non-profit system.

This is a system that worked, helped animals, helped people and was paid for. In 2008, the governor stole $1 million from the fund and put it in the general fund, who knows where that money went, but it did not go to help animals. It’s time we stand up and tell our government to stop taking away service we care about for our companion animals.

We should not allow this important service to disappear in our state.  Other states have seen the value and success of similar programs and understand that spaying and neutering animals saves money because the puppies and kittens don't have to go to shelters.

We have recommended to legislators that they create a statewide non-profit entity that will collect funds from the $3 surcharge and give grants to veterinarians and organizations that wish to help low income people spay or neuter their pets.  The administration costs for the non-profit would be significantly lower than what the government has spent on the fund and would create a sustainable statewide spay/neuter system, but we need your help now!

YOU CAN DO SOMETHING.

Act now:

Contact your local Senators and Assembly members:

To find out who your senator is click here.  Enter your address and you will be told who your senator is.  Then call, write and e-mail and let them know you want the State's Spay and Neuter fund to be preserved.

To find out who your assembly member is click here.  You can enter your zip code and find out who your assembly members is, again, let them know you want the state spay/neuter fund to be saved.

Contact the governor:

David A. Paterson

State Capitol

Albany, NY 12224

518-474-8390

Let him know that he was wrong to suggest eliminating the fund and he withdraw his recommendation.

Thank you for your support and please speak out for the animals, they have no voices of their own.

Blue Rosey

Click for larger view

Will Work For Food

The NYC's Animal Care and Control budget was cut by the department of health.  As a result, ACC is running out of food.  They apparently have a week's worth of food left for their cats and when the food runs out, so do the cats. 

Here's how you can help:  Call or visit Petropolis, and tell them you want to purchase pet food for the NYC ACC.

Petropolis 

91 Washington St.

New York, NY 10006

Phone: 212-608-2234

Fax: 212-608-2235 

www.Petropolisnyc.com

It's important that all donations are food and not money because we don't want our money being used to purchase the drugs that will be used in the next round of euthanizations.  

Please help out - your food donation will save a life.

Opt to Adopt!

A Little Reminder

Just a reminder to visit www.theanimalrescuesite.com to vote for A Tail At A Time!  You can vote every day, it's free to make the donations (the site does it for you), and you don't even have to register.  Helping us is as easy as clicking your mouse a few times.

To vote for us go to www.TheAnimalRescueSite.com, click on the purple button to make a donation to feed shelter animals (it's free for you, the donation is paid by the site's sponsors), and then follow the link at the top of the Thank You page to vote for your shelter. It says: VOTE.

We really appreciate your support.

Opt to Adopt!

Help Is A Click Away

There is a new shelter challenge going on over at the The Animal Rescue Site.  The Animal Rescue Site, together with Pet Finder, is awarding $100,000 in grants to eligible Petfinder.com member rescue organizations to help animals. The grand prize is a $10,000 grant and there are lots of other prizes as well! Visit www.theanimalrescuesite.com to learn more or vote for your favorite animal rescue, which hopefully is us!  You don't have to register, voting is free, and you can vote every day. 

To vote for us go to www.TheAnimalRescueSite.com, click on the purple button to make a donation to feed shelter animals (it's free for you, the donation is paid by the site's sponsors), and then follow the link at the top of the Thank You page to vote for your shelter. It says: VOTE.

In this way you are helping us and you are helping feed animals at other shelters.

Opt to Adopt!

Moby Update

As of this past Friday, January 29, Moby is stable. His lungs are bruised and full of fluid and there is air trapped in his chest. He spent the weekend at Dr. G's being monitored. As soon as I have more information, I will share it.

If you'd like to make a donation to help A Tail pay for Moby's treatment, there are three ways to do it:

1. Visit our website and donate via paypal


2. Send a check or money order to:
A Tail At A Time
PO Box 1655 Radio City Station
New York, NY 10101

3. Call NYC Vet Specialist at 212-767-0099 and tell them you would like to make a donation for Moby under A Tail At A Time

Any donation you can make helps us, helps Moby and is forever appreciated. Thank you.

Opt to Adopt!

Need a hand here

Moby is a sweet 4 year old cat who needs your help.

After being rescued from the ACC, Moby snuck out of his apartment last night leaving him in the inside hallways of a five story building. Moby was found hiding under garbage cans, injured and frightened. His injuries are consistent with a fall of several stories. While we are not exactly sure what happened to Moby in the few hours before he was found, a neighbor thinks he might have been put out on a fire escape by another tenant.  

As of 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 26, Moby is on oxygen in the critical care unit of Emergency Veterinary Specialists. His lungs are bruised and the vet still needs to examine his stomach, liver and kidneys for additional injuries.  Moby will be spending the night in emergency care and will hopefully be released to A Tail at a Time's Vet, Dr. Giagnola.

It is a sad fact that many injured homeless pets are never able to find forever homes due to the overwhelming cost of medical care. Moby was very close to being adopted when this happened. We are asking for donations to help us pay for his urgent veterinary care. Any donation you can give will help Moby have a chance at finding his forever home.

There are three ways to donate:
1. Visit our website and donate via paypal
2. Send a check or money order to: A Tail At A Time, PO Box 1655 Radio City Station, NY NY 10101
3. Call NYC Vet Specialist at 212-767-0099 and tell them you would like to make a donation for Moby under A Tail At A Time


We are very grateful for all of your help and support. We'll keep you posted on Moby's progress. Please keep your fingers crossed.

Knit Purl Meow

Are you a knitter?

We are in need of some kitty scarves for this Saturday's Adoption Event - KNIT PURL MEOW.

It is so cold and more arctic air is coming thru!

Scarves needed for this Saturday's event:

for adults 15" length x 1 1/2" width (I recommend casting on 10 rows of a small yarn)

for kittens 10" length X 3/4" to 1" width

Let us know if you can bring 1 or 2 or more!

And if you have any questions, as always, email info@atailatatime.org

Short-Term Foster

Happy Howlidays and a very Meowey Christmas!

Today Tracey is picking up two russian blues from Manhattan ACC. They have foster-to-adopt homes starting Wednesday or Thursday, but they need a place to stay in the mean time. This would be more like pet-sitting than fostering, so maybe it's perfect for you?  

Milton is a neutered three-year-old male who is shy but gets along with other cats. Inez is a spayed three-year-old female who is very social. They're being picked up at 4 p.m. and if you could take them in for just a few days, you'd be doing a great service!

Email info@atailatatime.org

Opt to Adopt!