I would like to take this opportunity to thank our amazing volunteers, donors and community supporters who work day in and day out to help us tackle our mission: to support homeless animals and other animals in need.
This was our first full year occupying our headquarters: Pedro Pet Pals Hyla Marrow Center at 395 W. 7th Street in San Pedro. Having a space to work in and operate Hyla’s Heart to Home Cat Lounge has been amazing. We are so grateful to Hyla Marrow for her compassion and commitment to helping cats and kittens through her trust.
I’m proud to report that with the help of our lounge team, led by Carol Crawley, and collaborating partners like Pet Protectors League, South Bay Cats, the Harbor Shelter teams and New Hope Program of LA Animal Services, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes and CRAFTED at the Port of LA, we were able to help over 200 kittens and cats find their forever homes.
We are proud of our affiliation with Creative Pet Supply at 305 N Harbor Blvd, San Pedro, and Animals Rule Rescue for their tireless efforts to rescue, foster and place dogs in permanent, loving homes. We had two dogs adopted directly out of our facility last year!
I am happy to report that we are supporting behavioral training for dogs adopted out of the Harbor Shelter. Ernesto Robles provides invaluable lessons to adoptive families, as well as Shelter staff and volunteers, enabling them to prepare dogs for adoption and keep challenging dogs from returning.
I personally worked with animal control officers, local vets and other organizations to address two major dog hoarding problems. In one instance 52 dogs were rescued, spayed and neutered – and forever homes were found for almost all of these dogs. The remaining (sterilized 6) were able to stay with the owner. In another instance, 31 dogs were removed and sterilized – many were able to find forever homes but several are still searching: please email me if you’re interested in opening your home to a pet in need!
Supporting the veterinary needs of dogs, cats and even a few birds and bunnies represents the bulk of our expenses annually. Major funding also goes towards reducing the number of community kittens born into our area and preventative care. This past year we funded spay/neuter, surgery, medication, testing and vaccinations for well over 1000 pets.
Donations from so many local, generous supporters, like the De Luca family (J DeLuca Fish Company), enable us to help families in need afford care for their beloved pets. We are also appreciative for the support of Lance Douglas as well as Irene Howard and Bay Cities Italian Deli and Bakery (Home of the Godmother!) in Santa Monica for their amazing contributions. UmeWorks provides us with outstanding web and technical support!
As we begin 2023, I am confident that we will be able to accomplish even more this year! We are looking forward to collaborating the LA Animal Services (Find a Pet at the Harbor Shelter!) to serve as a “satellite” adoption facility for shelter cats and kittens in Hyla’s Heart Cat Lounge.
We also look forward to more collaboration with local veterinarians to help financially challenged families obtain affordable veterinary care for their pets. We know that when the Community Animal Medical Project clinic opens in our building in a few months, local families will gain access to an affordable, not-for-profit site for full service veterinary care that has been sorely lacking in our area.
The construction and development of the clinic could not have been possible without the Hyla Marrow Trust (Rita Topalian, Trustee), CAMP, Petsmart Charities and the City of Los Angeles (through former council member Joe Buscaino’s office) for their contributions and generosity. We hope to celebrate with our friends and supporters at a Grand Opening (tentatively in March) – and we’re looking forward to the return of (in person) BINGO early in February.
As the days and weeks of 2023 continue to pass by, our dedicated volunteers will be working tirelessly on behalf of the animals. We hope for the continued support and encouragement of our community and generous donors. Each day brings its challenges, some more daunting than others, but I am always grateful for the Pedro Pet Pals team and those who empower our small but amazing group to accomplish so much.
With much love and gratitude,
Theresa
Volunteers working at mobile adoption event.
