animalsamaritans.org

Feature Story

The Valley’s Newest Vet Clinic
Thirty years in the making
By Sawyer Thomas

Animal Samaritans is on a mission. Since 1978 this grassroots charity, once funded with bake sales and neighborhood car washes, has blossomed into one of the desert’s most comprehensive animal welfare organizations. Last year alone they performed a record 8,353 spay and neuter surgeries, vaccinated 24,924 cats and dogs, and administered 787 pet microchips—plastic, grain-sized capsules encoded with pet owner information to help retrieve a lost animal.
They recently hired a second full-time veterinarian to assist with spaying and neutering, and new pet dental and animal wellness procedures. In an economy that chides the frivolous and validates the frugal, more pet owners are bringing their dogs and cats to Animal Samaritans SPCA. As a result, the non-profit has outgrown its decades-old facility and is currently building a new, state-of-the-art animal clinic in Thousand Palms. Providing construction remains on track, the facility will open in December 2009.
In the late 1980s, Animal Samaritans acquired a 10-acre parcel of sand, scorpions and scrub brush off Rio del Sol in Thousand Palms. Lacking infrastructure, water and access roads, the property lay barren for years. Then, in 2000, the current treasurer and past board president for Animal Samaritans, Mike Russell, teamed with Jean Benson, the former mayor of Palm Desert, Corky Larson, who was executive director of the Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG), and Riverside County District Supervisor Roy Wilson to discuss maverick public-private collaboration called the Coachella Valley Animal Campus. In exchange for in-kind building materials, Animal Samaritans donated half of its 10-acre property to Riverside County as the site of their current mega-animal shelter. On the remaining five acres, Animal Samaritans planned to build a new animal hospital.
Years passed with no tangible progress on the clinic. Despite an average annual growth of 14.4 percent over the last five years, Animal Samaritans’ detractors found it unlikely, if not impossible, the organization would rebuild, especially given today’s economic climate.
On February 24, 2009, National Spay Day USA, with financing from The H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, Animal Samaritans broke ground on their future veterinary clinic. To repay the program-related investment, the organization has embarked upon a capital campaign, “Every Creature Counts.” With more than a million dollars in hand from past fundraising efforts,  the Animal Samaritans has already committed donors’ names to the pharmacy and laboratory, several pet kennels, and overnight holding areas for dogs and cats. That said, many naming opportunities remain. These range from $5,000 recovery kennels to $500,000 for the lobby, reception and scheduling areas. For a cool $2 million dollar (tax-deductible), you can even have the building named in your honor. 
The 7,360-square-foot building has been designed to not only meet, but exceed California’s energy saving standards. Fifty strategically placed solar tubes will supply natural daylight and reduce the use of electrical lights; a weather-based irrigation system will ensure that outside plants are watered according to nature’s clock, not ours. On the roof, solar-powered vent fans will blow out hot air while circulating the cool. As with human hospitals, a robust air purification system will help negate the spread of airborne pathogens and maintain a healthy working environment. Builders will use only non-toxic paints and adhesives, and only energy-star appliances will be installed. 
“Rather than a clinic, many supporters wanted us to build a larger animal shelter. That’s phase two,” explains Fred Saunders, executive director for Animal Samaritans. “Our first obligation is to continue our mission of reducing animal overpopulation, disease and neglect. While we do this, we’ll be paying back our loan.” Saunders, who joined Animal Samaritans five years ago, has a reputation for planning and managing dozens of hospital projects, including the McKennan  Alvera Regional Medical Center in Souix Falls, South Dakota, Rice County Hospital in Kansas, as well as veterans’ and Air Force base hospitals throughout the country.
Animal Samaritans agrees with other industry leaders that the most effective way to curtail the needless suffering and euthanasia of unwanted animals is through spaying and neutering. In their new clinic, vets will be equipped to spay and neuter 20,000 animals annually, more than double their current maximum capacity.
At just $60 dollars for cats and $85 for dogs, pet owners from every city in the Coachella Valley bring their pets to Animal Samaritans, as do residents from the high desert, Beaumont to the west and Blythe to the east. “People make the long drive because we’re often the only option they can afford,” admits Richard Martin, Animal Samaritans’ director of Clinic and Shelter Operations.
Sometimes, however, even $60 to $85 dollars is more than people can afford.
Last year Animal Samaritans gave back more than $97,000 to the community in subsidized spay and neuter procedures and free services performed on feral cats. Through diligent grant-seeking, they also acquired and distributed over $35,000 in free vet care to low-income seniors. In addition, Animal Samaritans holds fundraisers earmarked for specific needs. Their annual Walk with the Animals, held each year at Palm Desert’s Civic Park, raises funds for their Humane Education program and shelter animals, while proceeds from this year’s 9th annual ARF Academy Awards went to the No-Cost Spay & Neuter fund.
With the addition of a new clinic at the Animal Campus, Animal Samaritans plans to make room for an additional six dogs at its shelter on Ramon Road. At any one time, the shelter houses four dogs, 40 cats, and multiple puppies and kittens—which, until four months of age, do not register as occupants of the shelter in the eyes of the county. “If we could hold more animals we would,” explains Pet Adoptions Counselor Rhona Linsell. “Especially dogs. Fortunately, we adopt them out rather quickly.” With local shelters at full capacity, and so many pet owners downsizing or losing their homes to foreclosure, there’s no shortage of socialized, adoptable animals. Linsell says she works to fill empty kennels as quickly as possible. “Most people want puppies and kittens. Then come dogs. We’re always thrilled when someone takes home an older cat.”
In just ten years, one unspayed female cat and her kittens’ kittens can produce more than 80 million offspring. That’s a number children across the valley are learning, thanks to Animal Samaritans’ Humane Education program. Teaching in both English and Spanish, humane educators visit more than 1,000 classrooms annually. Students learn responsible pet ownership, dog bite prevention  and the basic tenets of compassion for all living creatures. To seize children’s attention, educators often bring along dogs from the organization’s Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) program.
More than 90 volunteers and their AAT dogs and cats visit nursing homes, hospital patients  and disabled students at local schools. In May, the Palm Springs Unified School District honored Animal Samaritans’ AAT program with a Shiny Apple Award, an accolade typically reserved for the district’s top teacher or administrator.
Like any successful non-profit, Animal Samaritans depends on the generosity of its donors. “We need your help,” says Saunders. “This clinic will save countless lives. Those giving to the campaign are actual lifesavers.”
Information on the “Every Creature Counts” campaign is available online at animalsamaritans.org.

BREAKOUT

Adoption Day at the Center
On Saturday, June 20 from 8 am – 12 pm, Animal Samaritans SPCA will be offering homeless cats and dogs, kittens and puppies for adoption at the Desert Pride Community Center. Adoption fees range  from $85 to $125 dollars. Animals up for adoption have been spayed or neutered, microchipped and are up to date on their vaccinations. For more information on Adoption Day, please call 760.343.0837 with questions. Animal Samaritans Clinic and Shelter is currently located a 72-307 Ramon Road in Thousand Palms. For more information visit animalsamaritans.org or call 760.343.3477.