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Rescue Round-Up: A Look Back at 2020! |
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As we welcome 2021, we thought we'd look back at some of our favorite moments from last year. |
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With A Little Help From Our Friends |
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It is always an inspiring sight to see when the youth of our community takes the initiative to further our efforts of saving lives. We were blown away this past year by many young animal advocates who made a difference with their donation drives, fundraising, and service projects.
Their acts of kindness remind us that empathy and compassion lead the way to a humane society for all living things. Thank you for sharing your birthdays, chore money, and talents with us and our animals. We hope to see more of you in 2021!
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Gifting toys and money may be your safest bet when attending a 9-year-old’s birthday party - unless that birthday party happens to be for a nine-year-old named Ethan. Last year, instead of asking for gifts, Ethan asked for donations off of our shelter wish list.
His family and friends celebrated his birthday with a slew of pet food, toys, treats, and supplies totaling over $2,000!
Thank you Ethan for sharing your special day with our animals. We hope you had a very Happy 9th Birthday!
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March began with a phone call that our Executive Director received from a previous adopter, Nicola Cunningham. She was interested in making a donation in memory of her daughter, Mia, who had recently passed on February 13, 2020. Nicola shared that Mia had an avid love for animals and rescued two dogs from our shelter who she often referred to as her own “siblings”.
Mia’s passion for the Humane Society of El Paso prompted her parents to encourage their friends and loved ones to donate towards the shelter in lieu of flowers. Over $5,000 was donated in memory of Mia Cunningham and will go towards the medical department to help ensure the health and wellness of all the animals Mia held dear to her heart.
We are honored to have been included in the celebration of Mia's life. Thank you to all who donated.
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Then, things took a shift...
As an animal welfare organization, the Humane Society of El Paso was designated an essential service. The COVID pandemic forced us to close our doors to the public and our volunteers had to stay home. Even though we were closed, we continued to care for nearly 200 dogs and cats at the Shelter, while our Foster Department provided daily support to 144 animals placed in volunteer foster homes.
Our team was divided into two teams to reduce the risks of COVID and to have a backup in case one of the teams had to go into quarantine.
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When the pandemic and uncertainty began in March, we still had 344 mouths to feed at the shelter and in foster care.
So imagine our delight to receive an email from Dean Travis, the President of Pet's Barn, saying that his company was stepping up to the plate to supply our dog and cat food at NO COST for the rest of the year. Mr. Travis said, "Pet's Barn is not going to let the Humane Society of El Paso run out of food".
Pets Barn has been a long-standing supporter of animal health and welfare groups in El Paso. Our furry residents' tummies have been nice and full, and we are all so grateful to Dean Travis and Pets Barn for helping us care for our animals during this crisis.
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Open Your Heart, Open Your Home |
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Our volunteer foster families play a vital role at HSEP because they care for underage puppies and kittens, their mothers, and special needs animals. Usually, the animals stay with their foster family until they are medically stable or old enough to be adopted. This year our foster families enjoyed a few extra weeks in quarantine with their litters until the shelter reopened in June. WHEW!
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Thankfully, with many more people adjusting to the quarantine life and working from home, our foster families hung in there and made sure we were able to care for these new moms and their bundles of joy.
Altogether, our foster families donated over 51,608 hours of their time, saved hundreds of lives, and made sure these animals found their forever homes. We love our Foster volunteers for being the heroes we needed during this crisis. Next time you meet a Foster parent, be sure to thank them because we can’t do it enough.
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HSEP's very first PAW-casso art contest took place over Spring Break in lieu of the seasonal Tall Tales Reading Program. The contest was created in hopes of inspiring El Paso youth to exercise their talents and tap into their creativity. We have to say that all the responses we received blew us away! Out of the 50 entries received, our Facebook followers chose the winners by voting for their favorites in each category.
We would like to thank all of our participants and give a big PAWS-UP to our 2020 Paw-casso Winners!
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Saraya Amador
Age 6
Elementary Winner
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Aranza Munoz
8th Grade
Middle School Winner
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Sofia Rochin
9th Grade
High School Winner
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The Summer of Going Virtual |
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Since it first began in 2014, the Critters n’ Kids Summer Camp has been a favorite HSEP tradition for young animal advocates eager to learn about their four-legged friends. Nothing was going to keep us from having fun this summer, not even a pandemic. So, Critters n’ Kids went virtual! Although different from previous camp experiences, going virtual had opened up so many new possibilities for the kids.
Thanks to technology, our campers enjoyed yoga and capoeira classes provided by Sol Studio and a morning of natural beauty at Franklin Mountain State Park while learning about native plants and animals in our area. They also received an exclusive "Behind the Scenes" tour of the Przewalski's Horse and Tortoise exhibits from our friends at the El Paso Zoo. The kids even "traveled" to Colorado to visit the Butterfly Pavillion where they met the resident octopus and witnessed an extraordinary butterfly launch. No matter if it's virtual or in-person, the Critters n’ Kids camp is always guaranteed fun!
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Jaxin was surrendered to HSEP in the hopes that he would find a more suitable home. He was under-socialized and terrified of anything that moved. Sometimes people would ask to meet him and Jaxin just sat, frozen in fear. It was heartbreaking to see such a sweet dog be so scared of everything, but the staff at HSEP saw his potential! We took him on walks every day, we introduced him to other dogs, we gave him treats and pets and love.
Slowly, Jaxin started to come out of his shell. He would greet us in the morning by bouncing across the lobby and nibbling our fingers. He showed us that he was a friendly, playful dog that just needed someone patient and kind to show him the good things in life.
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Then it came time to try and find Jaxin a home. The problem was he had gotten so attached to staff members that when people asked to meet him, he didn’t pay any attention to them! We knew Jaxin would make a great companion but he was just not interested in meeting anyone new. We would offer advice and suggestions but no one seemed interested in a dog that wasn’t interested either. That’s when Josie came along. As a Customer Service Associate, she spent a lot of time with Jaxin in the front lobby. She got to know how awesome and sweet he was and just like the rest of the staff, she fell in love too.
What started as a few days of fostering quickly turned into an adoption. We all miss seeing Jaxin running around the shelter, but we were so happy to know that he has found his perfect home.
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27th Annual "Be a Star, Save a Life" Telethon |
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August 1, 2020, marked the 27th year in which the Humane Society of El Paso hosted its annual “Save a Life” Telethon with KVIA, ABC 7. Much like the rest of the year, the 27th annual Telethon was one to not be forgotten.
The Telethon aims to bring viewers seven full hours of adoptable pets, heartwarming success stories, and exclusive behind the scenes interviews with our staff and volunteers. For the first time ever, the Telethon was broadcast live from the HSEP! In spite of the new challenges presented by COVID, $82,000 was raised the night of the event.
The success of our Telethon is in large part due to KVIA - for all of the hard work that happens both in front of the camera and behind the scenes, as well as to Nextiva for sponsoring our phone bank. With the help of their network, our volunteers were able to take call-in pledges virtually. Thank you El Paso for continuing to support our work to care for homeless animals.
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Thank you for your incredible generosity for the 5th Annual El Paso Giving Day Campaign! Between October 8th and October 15th, El Pasoans donated $20,462.85 to support the Humane Society’s many programs for homeless animals. Folks across our community helped us achieve our first matching opportunity, and the Humane Society of El Paso received $5,060 from the Walmart Foundation. Finally, El Pasoans helped us win $1750 in prizes from the various event challenges, including the Traffic Jam Power Hour from 4-5 pm.
Your support helped make this our most successful El Paso Giving Day yet!
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One of the most important jobs an HSEP volunteer can perform is keeping our furry residents full of mental and physical enrichment. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our volunteers are finding creative ways to help our animals from the safety of their homes. Our volunteer, Erika, made all these toys and sent them to us with this letter: |
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The Shelter Reopens for Adoptions |
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After months of not being able to house cats with our retail partners, imagine our delight when we received the green light to return to two of our Retail Cat locations. As of November, our Retail Cat Care associate has had the pleasure of transporting some of our feline residents to PetSmart Joe Battle and Petco Zaragoza; adoptions have been going great! We look forward to being in all five of our Retail Adoption Cat locations in the future! |
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UTEP CARES Internship Program
Welcome, Daniela!
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In November, the Humane Society of El Paso (HSEP) was selected as an organization to host a UTEP student intern under the UTEP CARES Regional Internship Program. Through this 16-week program, UTEP seeks to establish new and strengthen existing relationships with small businesses, non-profit and public sector entities to open the doors for additional student engagement opportunities.
HSEP is pleased to welcome Daniela Lopez to the team as the new Marketing Assistant Intern! Daniela describes herself as an animal lover with a passion for philanthropy. Before moving to El Paso for college, Daniela was a frequent volunteer at the Humane Society of Cabo San Lucas. Being no stranger to shelter life, Daniela hopes to use her creativity and skills to bring you a wonderful 32nd Annual K9 Classic event this year!
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A Word from Our Pack Leader |
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To all of our Friends -
Thank you! Because of you, we are able to continue the life-saving work of the Humane Society of El Paso (HSEP). Over the past year, your contributions have supported HSEP’s vitally important programs - the Shelter and meow house; our foster program for puppies, kittens, and special needs animals; medical services; our end-of-life services; our virtual ed-venture programs for children and youth; and our on-going community education initiatives. #TheWorkContinues
Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, the need for HSEP programs has grown. Ten months into the pandemic, our team continues to receive vulnerable animals who need care, fostering, and medical attention. Over the past 10 months, despite county-mandated closures, HSEP has cared for over 2000 animals and adopted out 1466 dogs and cats into loving homes. In addition, our Education Department developed a number of innovative online camps for students throughout our community – establishing new partnerships with organizations, such as Texas A & M and the El Paso Veterinary Medical Association. Your support has made this possible.
We wish each of you a happy and healthy New Year and look forward to when we will be able to invite you to the Shelter to see the life-saving work you support.
Until then: Stay safe. Stay strong! Stay hope-filled!
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4991 Fred Wilson Ave.
El Paso, TX 79906
(915) 532-6971
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