Hands 2 Paws Response to the
Covid-19 Pandemic
Everyone is impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Hands to Paws and other animal rescues are not exempt from this impact.
We hope that this information below will help you to understand how we are dealing with the situation.
First, Are we still up and operating? Yes, but on a highly altered fashion . We still have 40 animals in our care between boarding and foster homes. Their care must continue forward but is occurring in line with Federal and local government recommendations of safety protocols and social distancing.
We have not taken in any new animals at this point and have not completed any adoptions since the outbreak with the exception of Gargoyle...now Luke who was adopted by his foster family. Foster failure...They fell in love with him immediately..and although no formal paperwork done...it is just understood.
Due to the need to limit contact between humans we are not taking in any new animals. We highly recommend that individuals and families hang onto their pets at this time as all rescues and animal controls in also in a crisis state. If you need help with food reach out to neighbors and organizations in the community for help. We can help on a limited basis.
Adoptions and/or Fostering:
All organized adoption events have been canceled.
We are proceeding with individual adoption, but we must adhere to all Federal, state (GA Dept of Agriculture) and local government mandates for shelter at home and social distancing practices .
At this time we are making the following suggestions to our fosters who receive adoption interests
in the dog(s)/cat(s) in their care:
We truly want to be move forward will matching the right pet with the right individual or family whether for fostering or adopting, but must also be a responsible and look out for the community as a whole. Please be patient and work with us as we all go through this together.
President, Kathy Ellis
We hope that this information below will help you to understand how we are dealing with the situation.
First, Are we still up and operating? Yes, but on a highly altered fashion . We still have 40 animals in our care between boarding and foster homes. Their care must continue forward but is occurring in line with Federal and local government recommendations of safety protocols and social distancing.
We have not taken in any new animals at this point and have not completed any adoptions since the outbreak with the exception of Gargoyle...now Luke who was adopted by his foster family. Foster failure...They fell in love with him immediately..and although no formal paperwork done...it is just understood.
Due to the need to limit contact between humans we are not taking in any new animals. We highly recommend that individuals and families hang onto their pets at this time as all rescues and animal controls in also in a crisis state. If you need help with food reach out to neighbors and organizations in the community for help. We can help on a limited basis.
Adoptions and/or Fostering:
All organized adoption events have been canceled.
We are proceeding with individual adoption, but we must adhere to all Federal, state (GA Dept of Agriculture) and local government mandates for shelter at home and social distancing practices .
At this time we are making the following suggestions to our fosters who receive adoption interests
in the dog(s)/cat(s) in their care:
- Follow the guidelines from Dept of Agriculture as they provide guidance and share in all efforts to be transparent.
- Follow all federal and local recommendations for social distancing and use all necessary precautions such as gloves and sanitizers.
- All fosters have been directed to keep the health and safety of themselves, their families and the community in the forefront of their minds, thoughts and practices at all times. Which first and foremost means social distancing.
- There has been no direct evidence that animals can transmit COVID-19 but adding safety precautions does not hurt our practices at all. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/animals.html
- Hands to Paws is recommending the following:
- Wash your hands after handling animals, their food, waste, or supplies.
- Practice good pet hygiene and clean up after pets properly.
- Use of hygiene wipes on coats of pets to help eliminate the possibility of transmission of human respiratory droplets (not yet scientifically verified, but good practice)
- Use of frequently sanitized collars and leashes.
- Interest in adopting and fostering of our animals will still be pursued with our initial formal measures:
- Receipt of interest acknowledged
- Online application process
- Reference checks via telephone and email
- From there things may drastically change...fosters have been encouraged to use online platforms and social media as well as cell phones to share about the animal.
- Only if you are comfortable ...take a walk in an open area where the potential adopter/foster can also walk...keeping at least/if not more than your 6 feet recommended for social distancing.
- No contact between new human and dog and new human and yourself at this point
- Potential adopter will be given every opportunity to see the personality of the animal
- Fosters will work to keep the potential adopter engaged and interested in the animal while still following all of the safety protocols recommended to prevent the spread of COVID-19
- If from your altered interaction the animal is believe to be a good fit be sure you have completed an adoption application online.
- Home checks will still apply and could be done virtual via Face-time, Skype, Zoom ,etc.
- In-Home checks cannot occur until issues have been worked out and guidance provided by Dept of Ag.
- Deposits can be taken to hold the animal if we get near a point of finalization (if adoption; not applicable in fostering situation).
We truly want to be move forward will matching the right pet with the right individual or family whether for fostering or adopting, but must also be a responsible and look out for the community as a whole. Please be patient and work with us as we all go through this together.
President, Kathy Ellis
|
Kathy Ellis is the face of Hands to Paws. Our organization makes a difference because she makes a difference. Kathy has many accomplishments to her credit in the field of education, including a doctorate of education, 20 years of classroom teaching special needs learners, and 15 more years of teaching teachers in special education. Currently, she teaches visually disabled children.
As President of Hands to Paws, her passion is rehabilitating dogs with social disabilities. Although she is a certified dog trainer, her dog whispering abilities truly come less from a special diploma and more from how special she is within. However you arrived at our site, you are in the right place if you care about canines! |
A NOTE ABOUT KAT: Many of you know that Kat is a teacher of visually-impaired students. Since Covid 19, she has been working on
establishing an online mechanism to reach her students. She was even interviewed about this process by WRDW.
In addition, Kat and Kevin's beloved Baby Girl became seriously ill in the middle of all this craziness (pancreatitis) and spent a night in the emergency hospital. All's well now, but Kat has been one busy busy lady!!!
THANK YOU
FLACK CHIROPRACTIC!
WE LOVE YOU!
Kathy has been SPOTIFIED on the podcast
THINK ON THIS
by Dr. William Bryant
of Augusta University.
Listen to the interview here!
open.spotify.com/show/4bfONltiPMuPqZOxyZ9xkI
THINK ON THIS
by Dr. William Bryant
of Augusta University.
Listen to the interview here!
open.spotify.com/show/4bfONltiPMuPqZOxyZ9xkI
GREAT NEWS! Dog Gone Cold run was a fantastic event for lovers of dogs of every size, shape, and color. This is truly the event you need to attend each year if you want to see a zootopia of canines. Read all about it on our events page!
Hands to Paws will be selling their fund-raising booklet at all dog events. The title of the booklet is "101 Life Hacks for Dogs and the People Who Love Them." 100% of funds raised from the sale of our booklet goes toward pet rescue. You can also purchase the booklet
($10.00) at Graced Kennels.
($10.00) at Graced Kennels.
We always need collars! Every dog that comes to our rescue and gets adopted out deserves their own brand new collar, and it's time for us to stock up on collars. We need about 150 collars. Canis Gear has very good quality martingale collars (they make it much harder for a dog to back out of a collar and get loose) for only about $3 per collar, sold in 10 packs. We are looking for the Martingale collars in Red, Blue, Purple, Black or Green. We have the greatest need for size Small and Medium, but could also use some large ones.https://canisgear.com/collections/martingale-medium. USE CODE 2020 AT CHECKOUT FOR FREE SHIPPING. Our Shipping Address is: 1727 Forest Creek Rd Augusta GA Thanks so much for your support!
Graced Kennel Boarding facility houses rescue dogs for Hands to Paws and Brass Knuckle Pin Ups Rescues. We would like to help them out with expenses we impose on them by doing a donation/collection of items. Items that are most needed at this time that would help them offset costs would be:
Dawn Original liquid detergent-large bottles best/Liquid bleach/Laundry detergent
Donations can be made by dropping off items during business hours: 7AM - 5PM.
Graced Kennels is located at:
1918 Colony Park Rd
Augusta, Ga 30909
|
Donating Supplies
Hands 2 Paws is always in need of various supplies.... I know some people like to donate items instead of money as they like to immediately see the results of their donations. If anyone would like like to help us with these items we would greatly appreciate it. We have included vendors that we frequently use and know that have good prices, but if you have other options that is fine.
Items can be shipped or brought directly to Hands to Paws, 1727 Forest Creek Rd, Augusta GA 30909 Also, we are trying to provide our dogs with Kuranda ShelterBeds. These highly durable beds are made specifically for animal welfare and hold up to heavy chewing and digging. They provide a clean, safe, comfortable resting place for our dogs. To donate a bed, please visit https://donate.shelterbeds.org/348295 . Your donated bed will be shipped directly to us. |
Supplies Wish LIst
1. Dog gates
Available from ChristmasTreeShops.com We like to give gates to new adopters of our shy, scared and timid dogs. It serves as a reminder that they have a new dog in there house that might be tempted to dart out the door. 2. Wire crate tray replacements. Sizes needed: 2= 54 x 36 1= 48 x 30 x 32 3 = 28 x 42 1= 27 x 49 1 = 22 x 46 1 = 22 x 35 1= 22 x 24 1= 21 x 35 1= 17 x 23 Available from Chewy.com. 3. Martingale collars- provides extra security when out on adoption events and we like to send with adopters when we have extras. Available from CanisGear.com: Option 1, Option 2, Option 3 |
|
OUR PURPOSE AND GOALS:
The purpose of Hands to Paws is to initiate and support programs that extend and elevate standards of compassionate care for companion animals in the CSRA by providing educational programs, direct care and cooperative efforts in increasing access to low-cost spay/neuter, rescue, fostering and adoption of animals in need. We are a Georgia Department of Agriculture licensed rescue with non-profit ( # 81-3544786) status. 100% of our funds go directly to support our work. All Board members are totally volunteer. |
|
|
|
|
ONE MORE REASON TO SHOP!
"Knowing I'm helping Hands to Paws makes me feel kind of duty-bound to buy myself that new dress."
(Actual comment from real SmileAmazon user.")
"Knowing I'm helping Hands to Paws makes me feel kind of duty-bound to buy myself that new dress."
(Actual comment from real SmileAmazon user.")