Tag Sales, Photo Clinics, Adoption Clinics and MORE! There are SO many TASP events going on throughout the year! All are for raising the funds needed to continue our mission of helping companion animals stay safe and healthy. Want to help? Visit/volunteer/donate/shop! Bring your friends and family and have a blast while you help local animals! CLICK HERE for a fast connection to the TASP Events Page.
Tag Sales, Photo Clinics, Adoption Clinics and MORE! There are SO many TASP events going on throughout the year! All are for raising the funds needed to continue our mission of helping companion animals stay safe and healthy. Want to help? Visit/volunteer/donate/shop! Bring your friends and family and have a blast while you help local animals! CLICK HERE for a fast connection to the TASP Events Page.
I want to say thank you so much for all your help that you have been doing for my cat Lucy it means a lot to me. Thanks again….. Jean
Thank you for all you did for Raymond’s “Pups.” …..Pat
I don’t know what we would have done without your compassion and support. Your organization is truly a Godsend and I would be proud to say I am affiliated with it…….Although Smoaky most definitely had a better “vacation” than I did, I am recovering well……I’m sure my peace of mind and not having to worry about Smoaky contributed greatly to my recovery. At a (very rare) loss for words for thanks, I’ll just say a million and one thanks for all your help!…….Sincerely, Pam
Thank you for talking to me last night. I appreciate your advice and look forward to having you over …..Alice
I was just filling my cats’ food bowl and I was just thinking how wonderful you were to help me both times and I just want to let you know that I really appreciate it, especially the litter cuz I really would be in a pickle right now if it wasn’t for you…because I literally have no income. So I just want to thank you again, I really, really, really appreciate it. I’m hoping if I do get my Social Security maybe I can help someone else and pass it forward. Just had to say it again, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much!……..Tina
Barbara Myers, “Robin’s Mom”
If you’ve ever been to one of our pet photo clinics at Benson’s or Pet Supplies Plus, or if you’ve come to one of our tag sales, chances are you’ve met the pretty, soft-spoken lady we all know as “Robin’s Mom,” Barb Myers.
Barb has been one of our most dependable volunteers for years now; and it brightens up our events to have her cheerfully signing folks in for photos or striking a bargain with a tag sale customer. She’s always one of the first to arrive on the scene to help with unpacking the van and setting up an event, and she is always the last to leave after helping get everything torn down and ready to roll out. In short, she is solid gold to our little organization!
According to Barb, “My journey with The Animal Support Project began when I happened upon a photo clinic at Benson’s while shopping with my dog, Robin. Soon we became regulars and are now proud owners of a collection of pictures from various events. It seemed a natural transition to go from a photo clinic patron to a volunteer as I learned more about the organization and all the wonderful support given to pets and their families. I thoroughly enjoy working the photo clinics at Benson’s and Pet Supplies Plus as well as working the tag sales. It is such a pleasure greeting every pet family that participates in the photo clinics as well as taking in the pet fashion. It is so much fun viewing the pride and pleasure each family takes in their special animal whether it is a dog, cat, pig, bunny or even a snake.
Anyone who knows me knows that my pets are my babies. I do not think of them as just a pet, they are part of my family. I feel like my love of pets has found its niche with the Animal Support Project and with the wonderful group of people I have the pleasure in volunteering with.”
When circumstances permit, Robin still tags along on a photo shoot, posing for his latest Fantasy Photo. The little guy shows all the signs of a well-loved, impeccably groomed companion and it is clear his life with Barb is one enormous bowl of gravy. Barb’s devoted to Robin and he to her.
TASP is very fortunate to have so many solid, talented individuals among our volunteers and Barb is a prime example of the exceptional quality of our people. Always polite, professional, thoughtful and genuinely compassionate, is it any wonder why we’re so proud to have her on our team?
TASP has received many enquiries about our plans for responding to the Gulf hurricanes this season. At this time, several of our key people are massaging our schedules to comply with requests received from ASPCA and RedRover. As an all-volunteer organization, we have to be sure that when we, as individuals, are planning travel across the country to support animals victimized by a natural disaster, the needs of our own families, jobs and animals are provided for. So will TASP people be traveling to the gulf to help? Based on our individual situations, several of us are planning to respond with the national groups who have been invited in by the local jurisdictions, and with whom we already have relationships.
In the meantime, for those of you who want to help the animals and people currently under duress in the gulf, please consider making a financial donation to any one of the NARSC (National Animal Rescue and Sheltering Coalition) organizations who are responding. If you aren’t sure who’s really a part of this qualified coalition, CLICK HERE for a link to the list of the current NARSC membership: . And remember that the well being of pets depends on the well being of their owners. Don’t underestimate how important pets are to the people who were evacuated from their homes in Texas, Louisiana, Florida and surrounding areas. These people need to get back on their feet asap and get their families back to something like normal. Organizations like The Salvation Army are the vital link to that. Your donation, made specifically for Harvey or Irma (or Jose? Maria?) Response, will go a long way toward bringing people and pets home.
Just a reminder to all of you who have been worrying about this: The south is used to bad storms and flooding and they have learned a lot from past experiences. Don’t forget that there are many qualified rescues and national animal welfare organizations who have an abundance of trained, qualified staff and volunteers located within driving distance of the disaster. Animal disaster response is handled much differently now (thank God), compared to the way things were handled after Hurricane Katrina. If you watched any news footage of the human rescues for Harvey and Irma, there were many images of animals and their people all leaving the home together. Thanks to lessons learned, many human shelters now allow pets in the same or a nearby separate shelter, so pet owners and pets can remain connected until they can all go back home. This works very well and has been used for years very successfully. Ever since George W. Bush’s PETS Act went into effect, local SARTs/CARTs (State/County Animal Response Teams) in the gulf have been drilling regularly in preparation for something like a Harvey or an Irma. They have had trailers filled with supplies and volunteers with go-bags already packed, ready for deployment when the call comes. Starting this August, the call came and came again; and all that preparation was put to work for the good of the pets in the gulf.
All the major states and cities in the gulf (and around the country, for that matter) have advance contracts called, “Memoranda of Understanding” already established with all sorts of non-governmental organizations for situations like hurricanes and other disasters. When the local jurisdictions feel they can’t manage the animal situation on their own, they contact the animal welfare organizations they’re already contracted with and invite them to enter the disaster zone to help the locals rescue and/or care for the displaced animals. The same “Incident Command” protocol used by fire, rescue and military is used now by all the bona fide Animal Disaster Response organizations in the NARSC coalition. This way, there is mutual accountability, communication and tracking that will sustain the mission and ensure the best possible outcome for pets and people.
Many months from now, when the gulf’s inhabitants are back on their feet and the emergency pet shelters and boarding facilities begin to deactivate, there may be a need for animals who were not reclaimed to be sent to foster care or to pre-qualified municipal shelters and rescues. Some may even be sent as far north as our back yard. But until that emergency sheltering/boarding period is over, the NARSC animal welfare organizations will not likely be sending owned hurricane animals anywhere. One of the primary purposes of emergency animal sheltering is to hold the animals until they are reclaimed by their owners. We are obligated to allow the owners to have their pets back once they are able to take them. You would expect the same courtesy if you were in their shoes, right? Animals who were already in the shelter prior to the hurricane’s arrival ARE being moved out to other shelters outside the disaster zone, and one local shelter, Mohawk Humane Society, actually just received 23 animals from a Texas shelter and is taking another 30 from Florida shelters. But if someone asks you to finance their trip to the gulf today to bring back animals and they’re not affiliated with one of the authorized member organizations, you might want to ask a lot more questions before opening your wallet.
Thank you all for caring and praying about this situation. Having worked plenty of disasters in the past, I can tell you there are few sights that compare with the look on a displaced person’s face when they are with their beloved pet, no matter what else they may have lost. As the hurricane season continues to evolve, we will be bringing you our own personal accounts of what we find when we deploy to wherever we’re needed. Until then, take comfort in knowing it’s a blessing for something like a Harvey or an Irma to happen in 2017 instead of 2007; animal disaster response has come a long way since then.
Meet Marisa Adler, her Mom, Deb Williams, and Deb’s partner, Steve Bonnier. And while you’re at it, you might as well meet Aria, Echo and Mollie, because these dogs are a huge part of this wonderful family’s world. When you walk into their home, you can’t help but notice what a life-centric place it is. In addition to décor focused on Deb’s fetish (pinecones) there are family photos hung everywhere. In a side room, designer dog collars, sweaters and dresses…..a color-coordinated wardrode for each dog and each day, hang neatly, ready to be deployed. Deb’s latest crafts project may lie on the kitchen table awaiting the arrival of local friends who will join her for a day of crafting and one kid or another may be pouring a drink from the fridge or putting a load of laundry in the washer. It feels good to be here and everyone who enters, two-legged and four-legged, wants to stay.
This family is a powerhouse for TASP. Multitalented, all of them, they are an essential component of TASP’s daily operations. Need a nervous foster pet groomed? No worries, Deb runs Tub 64: her very own pet grooming salon in Waterford. Need to staff a Fantasy Pet Photo clinic? No worries, Steve can unpack, set up, shoot photos, tear down and transport the whole show. Deb is now an experienced Photoshop operator, cranking out beautiful pet photos at the computer bench and Marisa’s nursing training at Russell Sage College pays off when we need careful documenting of the sign-in and financial transactions for the photos. Marisa’s also an ace at getting a fussy dog to settle for that perfect pose, and Steve’s carpentry and mechanical experience are welcome on the photo set and at TASP’s storage facility, where tag sale items need refurbishing and the storage buildings need upkeep.
