Dallas City Wire

As we start the New Year, we want to take a moment to thank you for everything you do and highlight the impact you have made in the last year. This past year has had its fair share of challenges for DAS. From navigating Canine Influenza (CIV), to being overcapacity, to the various IT outages, you have stuck with us through the ups and downs and been instrumental in helping us save lives. When the going gets tough, each and every one of you are taking action and doing something to help improve our community and the lives of homeless pets. We are so thankful to have such an amazing community of volunteers who are dedicated to helping us find positive outcomes and improve the quality of life for the pets in our care. 

Thanks to you, we are able to have programs that would otherwise be impossible due to limited shelter resources and staffing. The category with the most growth in 2023 has been our offsite events. In 2022, we had 163 hours logged for offsite events. In 2023, we had over 1,800 hours logged for offsite events. This is an astronomical jump! The number of hours spent at offsite events is just a portion of the picture, the true impact of how many people ended up fostering, adopting, or volunteering after seeing us at an offsite event is immeasurable. Thanks to you, we have built relationships and made community connections that otherwise wouldn't have been possible. 

Another category we would like to highlight is marketing. In 2022, we had around 1,300 hours logged for marketing. In 2023, we had over 2,300 hours logged. That's a thousand more hours this past year of helping market pets and find them a new home. Whether you write bios, take photos, help with one-off projects, or post on your own social media pages to find a pet's perfect home, you have made a world of difference in finding homes for pets! 

Marketing and events are not for everyone, and that is okay. So many of you have helped in other ways that are equally as important. Over the past year, we had over 4,000 hours logged in dog related opportunities and over 550 hours logged for our dog related opportunities. If you're a dog person, that is 4,000 hours of enrichment and activity that the dogs in our care otherwise wouldn't have received. If you're a cat person, that is 550+ hours of time spent helping vulnerable kittens or socializing cats in the shelter. Many of these cats are shut down when they arrive at the shelter, and thanks to you they feel comfortable coming out of their shell and showing their true personality to adopters.  All of your interactions brightened a pet's day and your notes & photos contributed to helping us find positive outcomes. 

To mention just a few more of the ways you help - Home Again Heroes continues to help reunite lost pets with their owners, our rescue ride team often drive 6+ hours round trip to transport to rescue partners, our pantry team helps pet parents in need and helps keep pets out of the shelter, our training leads help welcome new volunteers and conduct trainings, and our customer support volunteers ensure that everyone who visits the shelter has a good experience! 

Thank you so much for everything you do for us. You make a world of difference for both the staff and the pets in our care. We wouldn't be able to do what we do without you! 

Original source can be found here.