Sarge’s Annual Meeting
Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation held its annual meeting March 20 at the Shelton House Barn in Waynesville. Board President Dr. Jed Lambert reported Sarge’s financials and information on the 637 animals Sarge’s saved in 2018.
Lambert discussed Sarge’s relationship with the Haywood County Animal Shelter, with Sarge’s personnel assisting the county by managing the adoption side of new shelter.
“The Haywood County shelter had a 40 percent increase in adoptions in 2018, with the help of Sarge’s employees assisting at the shelter. The adoptions helped the Haywood County Shelter achieve a 94 percent live release rate for the year,” Lambert said. “This shows how amazingly the collaboration is working.”
Sarge’s Industrial Park Drive Adoption Center continues to provide needed shelter capacity and adoptions. There is such a need for space for homeless dogs and cats in Haywood County, more capacity is needed than just the new county shelter.
Sarge’s continues to expand its focus to resolve animal behavior issues as needed, and support programs to help alleviate the need for dogs and cats to even enter the Adoption Center/Shelter.
Board members elected to new terms were Carrie Moreland and Ron Kroot; new board members, Paula Gatens and Julie Moriarity, were elected.
Kristen Limbert, senior director of operations at the ASPCA Behavioral Rehabilitation Center (BRC), in Weaverville was the guest speaker.
After the annual meeting, the board elected officers: Jed Lambert (president), Jim Ray (vice president), Steve Hewitt (treasurer) and Paula Gatens (secretary).
Sarge’s on Pet Pals
Thank you to Sarge’s Board member Felisha Yon and Sarge’s supporter Hunter Wyman for appearing on WLOS-TV ABC News13 Pet Pals with Karen Wynne. These on-air segments give Sarge’s and Sarge’s animals a big boost in awareness all over Western North Carolina. And the TV segments help pets get adopted. Shortly after Felisha talked about Sarge’s cat Laura on TV, Laura was adopted!
Support animals explained
Sarge’s Animal Behavior Coordinator, Caitlin Morrow, is helping adopters understand the important differences in support animals. Here is what Caitlin has to say:
“There is a meme circulating on Facebook about all dogs being ‘therapy dogs.’ While it’s mostly true (and hilarious), behind the meme is a very real problem — the unregulated, and confusing, world of assistance dogs.
People come into Sarge’s regularly asking staff to find them a service dog, only for us to discover they don’t understand what type of assistance dog they are truly needing.
The three big types of dogs that offer assistance are: service dogs, therapy dogs, and emotional support animals.
Let’s start with Service Dogs. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a service dog as one specially trained to perform various tasks which help mitigate a person’s disability. These dogs are granted public rights under the ADA but must not be a nuisance in public and must be well trained for public access. Some examples of these dogs are diabetic alert dogs, seizure alert dogs, mobility assistance, guide dogs for the blind, hearing assistance dogs and so many more. These dogs can be of any age, size, breed and have a lot of specialized training in place.
Therapy dogs, on the other hand, are dogs that are social, well-trained and well-behaved in public — but training is specifically for them to go into places like nursing homes, hospitals, schools and other places where they provide therapy for many people. These animals can be of a variety of sizes, ages and breeds, but go through rigorous testing to earn a certification to allow them to enter specific facilities that have invited therapy dogs to participate. Therapy dogs are not granted public access rights.
Emotional Support Animals are the third category and is a category specifically for individuals who use their animal for personal therapy and need an exemption to restrictions that housing places on owning pets. These dogs are not granted public access rights or therapy dog access. These dogs do not need to have any specialty training.”
The chart below will help you find which type of animal is right for your needs.
Aww Factor
Can you beat this photo for showing why Sunshine is a great nanny dog and staff member? Here’s sleepy-time photo of Sunshine cuddling Sarge puppy Lacy.
“These two are so sweet together,” said Nancy Bulluck, Sarge’s medical assistant, social media manager and Sarge’s founder.
Thanks to Emily Okon for the great photo.
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