{"id":13566,"date":"2024-06-03T12:07:34","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T19:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/napahumane.org\/?p=13566"},"modified":"2024-06-06T21:37:59","modified_gmt":"2024-06-07T04:37:59","slug":"the-paws-initiative-supporting-pets-and-their-guardians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/napahumane.org\/the-paws-initiative-supporting-pets-and-their-guardians\/","title":{"rendered":"The PAS Initiative: Supporting Pets and Their Guardians"},"content":{"rendered":"

Though less than a year old, Napa Humane\u2019s PAS (Pet Assistance and Support) initiative is already having an amazing impact on pets (and their guardians) of our unhoused community.<\/p>\n

Our PAS program is a partnership with Napa County Department of Housing & Homeless Services to provide services for the pets of the unhoused. Napa Humane\u2019s Case Manager works with Abode clients to connect them with necessary pet-related services \u2013 such as veterinary care, grooming, and Napa Humane\u2019s own spay\/neuter, vaccination and training programs.<\/p>\n

While Napa Humane staff spends most of our time with clients at the South Napa Shelter, we also recently added office hours at the North Napa Shelter, Valley Lodge Apartments and Heritage House, where permanent housing has been made available to formerly unhoused people. Providing permanent housing at these locations has allowed people with families and pets to come in off the streets together \u2013 and stay together.<\/p>\n

Recently, our case manager spent some time getting to know a truly special cat Thor and his guardian J.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \"\"<\/p>\n

Meet Thor & J<\/h3>\n

How did you meet Thor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 \u00a0I was looking for a friend for my last cat, and my friend had Maine Coons. I was looking for a large cat. He was the last one of the litter, all of his other brother\u2019s and sisters were orange and white. He was 12 weeks old when I got him, we lived together in a motor home at Skyline park for the first couple years so we were always in close quarters. That\u2019s where he learned how to climb trees, learned about horses, and learned how to walk on a leash.<\/p>\n

Do you have any stories about Thor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 One day he got out and was gone for 3 months and 17 days. I had him microchipped but didn\u2019t have a phone at the time, so I had his chip registered to my friend\u2019s phone. When he was found the lady ended up calling my friend\u2019s number, but my friend had broken his phone screen. Getting Thor back was so important to me, I paid $100 to get my friend\u2019s phone fixed and then called roughly 30 of his missed calls to finally find the lady who found him.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t want to give him back but the woman at the shelter advocated for me and we were reunited!<\/p>\n

What does Thor mean to you?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 Everything! I was so depressed when he was gone, he\u2019s my best friend, no doubt about that.<\/p>\n

Has the PAS program been helpful for you and Thor.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 Oh yes, getting regular litter has been amazing, before when I\u2019d run out I would have to use bark. This program really makes our life so much easier when staying here. As hard as it\u2019s been, you took off some of the stress off and that\u2019s big.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Facts about J & Thor:<\/strong><\/p>\n