- 59 minutes ago
Kristen speaks with Cory Topel, Communications and Grant Manager for the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). They talk about the organization's mission of making Philadelphia a no-kill city and all that they do each day to help make this goal happen.
They touch on the thing that sets PAWS apart from other rescues; their many programs that help to keep pets with their families. PAWS offers low-cost vet care, temporary emergency fosters, a pet food pantry, and lots more to support families who need it. Cory also talks about the ways that others can help, whether it's by fundraising, becoming a temporary foster, making food or blanket donations, or helping to walk dogs and give them a break from the shelter.
They also go over the details for the 20th Annual PAWS Mutt Strut this year and how to help fundraise to make this their biggest year yet. Saturday, October 3rd from 11am to 2pm at the Navy Yard. Go to pawsmuttstrut.org for all of the details.
They touch on the thing that sets PAWS apart from other rescues; their many programs that help to keep pets with their families. PAWS offers low-cost vet care, temporary emergency fosters, a pet food pantry, and lots more to support families who need it. Cory also talks about the ways that others can help, whether it's by fundraising, becoming a temporary foster, making food or blanket donations, or helping to walk dogs and give them a break from the shelter.
They also go over the details for the 20th Annual PAWS Mutt Strut this year and how to help fundraise to make this their biggest year yet. Saturday, October 3rd from 11am to 2pm at the Navy Yard. Go to pawsmuttstrut.org for all of the details.
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AnimalsTranscript
00:02hi everybody it's kristen herman and i am here with a member of one of my favorite organizations
00:08in philadelphia philly pause the philadelphia animal welfare society who's celebrating 20
00:13years somehow and i've been familiar with them for i think around that amount of time
00:19corey topal communications and grants manager for pause how you doing hi kristen good morning it's
00:25so good to spend today with you you too and congrats on 20 years thank you it's hard to believe
00:32it's been two decades but more importantly you've been with us since the beginning and we're just so
00:37grateful for that we're so excited for our 20th annual muttstra which obviously you'll play a big
00:43part in as one of our emcees this year i am honored i'm honored to know you i'm honored to
00:49be a part of
00:50that event and for so long and i actually have the best job in the whole event but before we
00:54get to
00:55the pause muttstra i would just like to talk to you a little bit about what you all do the
01:00rest of
01:00the year you know like we're all there at this huge party at the navy yard in october but you
01:06all work
01:06every single day working to make philadelphia a no-kill city and from the moment you started 20
01:12years ago until now um i remember it was something like a kill rate of like 89 percent in the
01:18philly
01:19shelters back then and and you've like reversed that like now it's like less than 10 percent
01:24of the animals that are going into the shelter are are actually euthanized and usually it's for
01:30like really extreme reasons uh you all save so many animals daily and you help so many families
01:36to keep their pets in their homes yes tell me a little bit about how you all do that and
01:41and the
01:41locations you have the people you serve the animals you serve yeah absolutely so as you mentioned
01:48pause was founded 20 years ago this year for folks who maybe aren't familiar we are a 501c3
01:55non-profit animal welfare organization and our mission is dedicated to saving the lives of
02:00philadelphia's at-risk pets and serving pet owners in need we are the city's largest rescue partner and
02:08provider of low-cost vet care and through our programs each year we make sure that not only do
02:14thousands of animals find loving homes through our foster and adoption programs but we're also
02:20working just as hard to make sure existing pet owners across the region have the resources that
02:26they need to keep their pets happy and healthy at home where they belong so it's really a two-prong
02:31approach and um in the day-to-day of course as you mentioned um we're taking in some of the
02:37most
02:38at-risk and vulnerable pets from the city shelter act who's one of our biggest life-saving partners
02:43um so what does that look like that means we are pulling um pregnant moms or nursing mom kitties and
02:51newborn kittens senior cats and dogs um many senior cats and dogs you know haven't gone without vet care
02:59for many years um we're also taking in animals who are recovering from illness or injury so quite
03:05literally many of those animals might not make it out of the city shelter alive without a rescue
03:11partner stepping in who has the capability to provide them with the resources they need primarily
03:17with medical care so that's really why pause was created we saw the need that many animals were
03:24needlessly losing their lives 20 years ago and that's how pause came to be um so it's a great honor
03:30to
03:30be able to get to do what we do but i do want to mention in addition to providing that
03:35rescue aspect
03:37and adoption um you know we're really focused on serving both ends of the leash as we like to say
03:43what that means is that we're also making sure pet owners like i mentioned have the resources they need
03:50to keep their pets at home and that's through our affordable vet care um we offer um vet care at
03:57two
03:57locations in philadelphia one in grace ferry and one on grand avenue in northeast philadelphia so you
04:03can visit our website to schedule your pet and avoid an appointment to get their vaccines and annual
04:10checkup if they have an infection or you know maybe an upper respiratory infection um we can help make sure
04:17your pet remains healthy and gets the care that it needs but in addition to that we also provide resources
04:23resources like our pet food pantry um we provide pet food and litter and other supplies to philadelphia
04:31residents who need help supporting their pets we never want to see a pet go hungry that's something
04:37we're really proud to do and through our pet retention programs like our safety net foster program
04:43um if folks are experiencing a time of transition perhaps they're sick and need to be in the hospital
04:51to receive medical care themselves for a few weeks or if they're experiencing housing insecurity whatever
04:58the situation may be we recognize that sometimes pet owners just need a safe place for their pets to
05:04reside for a temporary amount of time so rather than make the heartbreaking decision of surrender the pet
05:10that they love so much we'll take that pet into our safety net foster care program put them in a
05:17great
05:17dedicated foster home where we can care for them until that person's ready to get back on their feet
05:23and be reunited um we of course also have dog trainers on staff who are able to help provide
05:30behavioral support we also have cat experts on staff who can provide that level of support as well
05:36so we're really working around the clock to make sure that families are not just formed newly but that they
05:42remain together and when you do when you talk about a rescue organization i think in our brains i mean
05:49we just you know can't keep it all in it in our heads but it's just it's so much and
05:55it's hard to
05:56describe but you did that so well in that you know it's not just about adopting a dog or a
06:01cat from an
06:01organization who is holding them temporarily but there's the foster programs and there's keeping animals
06:07in the homes now and and like you said making those hard decisions for something that is only
06:13a month or two or a few days even you know and having nowhere else to go they feel like
06:19they're
06:19they desperately have to put their dog or cat somewhere safe but they don't know where that place
06:25is and and you are that place and and if someone isn't able to rescue a dog or a cat
06:31themselves
06:31adopt now and and have that permanent you know new family member you also have fosters that are
06:38just temporary you have people that are helping to raise kittens and and you can help in so many
06:43other ways even just walking dogs at your locations right absolutely there's so many different ways to
06:48support us whether it's through volunteering through fostering you mentioned probably one of the most
06:54important aspects of our work we cannot save these animals unless we have folks who are willing to
07:01open up their hearts and homes to care for these pets temporarily we do have three locations across
07:07the city but we have limited space so we also know that cats and dogs are going to do so
07:13much better
07:14in a home even if it's temporarily they get to decompress they get to learn what it's like to be
07:20part of part of a family we get to know their personalities better that way and then we're able to
07:26make better
07:27matches for long-term adoptions that way so fostering is such a key component to the life-saving work that
07:33we do and we're grateful for anyone who's willing to help in that way and if you know you can't
07:40bring
07:40an animal even into your house right now there are donations there are there are so many other things
07:44and you talked about the pet food pantry is that something that people can make donations to as well
07:49absolutely so we offer a pet food pantry to philadelphia residents who need support feeding
07:55their pets so you can visit our website at phillypaws.org and we have information on how to
08:02support the pet food pantry program whether that's through a financial contribution that you can easily
08:08make online or if you'd rather send food directly to be part of the pet food program which is then
08:14distributed to pet owners across the city we can do that as well we have online wish lists so you
08:21can
08:21easily shop whether it be on chewy or amazon and we make it really easy for folks to see this
08:27is the
08:28type of kibble or you know canned food that we're looking for most or litter things like that even just
08:35blankets and chew toys we love to give to pet owners as well as part of the pantry so folks
08:41can easily
08:41contribute and support us in that way as well and i have to say gloria our our dog for the
08:48longest
08:48time our benefit dog jockey that we got through pause you know it was about 20 years ago or close
08:54to that and even then you know we originally again weren't looking for a pet it just kind of came
09:00up
09:00that we there was this dog in need and and we brought her home and i had never even probably
09:05even
09:05said the word pit bull before i'd never met one and oh my gosh i fell in love i'm now
09:10a giant fan of
09:11this that breed specifically but just you know white kitties i i will always have a special place
09:16in my heart but even that many years ago as a part of your foster program i was given everything
09:22that
09:22we needed we had vet care appointments to go and get her checked out she had a number of little
09:27you know mange and some other issues and you know you made sure that she was completely healthy
09:31you know her her vaccinations were all up to date she um was set up we were given food and
09:38a leash
09:38you know because it was one of those things where i think she was time stamped and and we got
09:42there
09:43and there's 24 hours between me telling my husband we're bringing this dog home and and everything we
09:48needed i had that many years ago so i can only imagine what you're doing for people now and and
09:53really and how many animals you have saved over this many years and the big celebration for this 20
09:59years of saving animals and really changing the way that we approach caring for animals in the city
10:05the big celebration is the plasma strut which is one of my favorite events of the whole year
10:10it is so much fun at the navy yard and happening this year on saturday october 3rd rain date the
10:174th
10:17right that's great let's do a dance to the rain gods that we won't need that but we've been lucky
10:24the
10:24past few years it's been beautiful weather so let's keep it going and so the hours are from about
10:3011 o'clock is when the actual strut starts okay like what two o'clock yeah it goes from 11
10:37to two
10:37the strut kicks off a little bit closer to noon but folks can start to arrive and as you know
10:43kristen
10:44it's one of our favorite days of the year at both and for me professionally and personally the
10:50mudstrut's been around for a long time even before i joined pause as a staff member i used to attend
10:55and
10:55it's just such a fun day for the whole family we have everything from you know the 1.5 mile
11:02strut
11:02so you can take a nice leisurely beautiful walk around the navy yard but we have the halloween costume
11:09contest for dogs we have dozens of animal friendly vendors set up through the field we have fun
11:15activities for dogs and kids and adults alike we have the lore course which is back this year
11:22it's gone for a couple years as you know it was back last year but for folks who maybe aren't
11:28familiar it's this hysterical zip line where dogs can chase a lure it's great exercise and enrichment
11:35but it's just such a funny fun thing to watch as parents to the dog zipping around and getting
11:42exercise and just being silly we have asked the vet and asked the trainer booths and delicious food
11:49and a beer garden by dock street brewery there's just so much fun for everyone and um we just are
11:56very very excited for the third to be here before we know it it's a fall festival with your dog
12:04or
12:04without you know you don't have to bring an animal we haven't brought one for years but absolutely rent
12:08a dog to strut you don't even have to strut i i can't remember the last time i actually did
12:12the walk i
12:13i hang out there and we sign people up and i have the best job of the entire day which
12:18is to judge the
12:19doggy costume contest this is so cute and people go all out and again you don't have to you know
12:26if
12:26you want to just show up that morning and just watch that's the way to do it too but oh
12:31my gosh we
12:32have had like sherlock holmes little like giant dogs as sherlock holmes and tiny little bumblebees and
12:37everything in between and one of my favorite categories actually we have all different categories we have so many
12:42winners but one of my favorite character categories is the topical category so like last year i think
12:49we had what were the la boo boos you know yes um you never know what it's going to be
12:53and so for this
12:54year i feel like we'll have some dolly partons i would say absolutely some k-pop demon hunters uh or
13:02canine demon hunters we could say uh maybe that was last year too but yeah they're just you know the
13:07sky's
13:07the limit and it's adorable and fun and and all of this fun for such an amazing cause so it's
13:13just
13:13this win win win win win it's best it is and like you mentioned and thank you for mentioning you
13:19don't
13:20have to be a dog owner to have fun and attend the mutt strut you don't have to have a
13:24pet at all if
13:26you're just looking for a fun reason to get out on a beautiful saturday morning in early fall enjoy some
13:32sunshine you know join the philadelphia community of animal lovers come on out we encourage folks of
13:38course to pre-register and buy their tickets in advance but you can also just walk up the morning
13:44of and um and enter the grounds and we promise you won't regret it yeah come and join us phillypaws
13:51.org
13:52is the website you could start a fundraising page again you could just show up and and just enjoy it
13:57is
13:58such a great time and and i i think you said that you haven't been to the mutt strut before
14:03you
14:03became a part of part of pause i can almost see that as like part of the reason you were
14:07drawn
14:08to the organization you really like you cannot attend the mutt strut without loving phillypaws and
14:13all that you do and um and you really do you've done so much and and i'm so thankful that
14:18you're here
14:19in philadelphia and and you know that our animals get to benefit from all of your hard work so thank
14:24you
14:24thank you for doing it and um please everyone sign up for the pause mutt strut if you go one
14:30year
14:30you're going to go every year as i have for a lot of years two decades thank you so much
14:36kristin we're
14:37so excited to see you there at the navy yard on the third and again folks can register online by
14:43visiting our website at phillypaws.org or you can go to pause mutt strut.org as well directly to
14:49learn more and purchase your tickets today oz mutt strut.org and i'll put it all over our
14:55socials as well thank you so much kori thank you kristin you're the best