Request for Funding

Presented to:   The Atwater Village Neighborhood Council

Date:                May 11, 2006

By:                   Atwater Village Directors of Animals Welfare (DAWS): Elisa Abelleira,

                        Beatrice Shapiro, Donna Willinsky and Jeanmarie Wisniewski

Background:

The Atwater Village Neighborhood Council appointed their first Directors of Animal Welfare in January, 2006. As the entire DAW program was very new to everybody involved—the Council and the appointed DAWs—no one really knew what to expect. Right from the start, however, it became clear that the Atwater DAWs were going to be very busy.

Some of the things we’ve done since being appointed:

• Obtained an animal hotline to assist stakeholders with animal-related issues

• Posted an animal forum at www.atwatervillage.org

• Rescued, returned, fostered and/or found good homes for 17 dogs

• Fostered and bottle-fed a litter of five kittens

• Picked up five baby parrots and delivered to a wildlife rescue

• Trapped, neutered and released 10 feral cats

• With the help of Animal Control, got a mistreated dog (chained to a wall 24/7 for over a year)

  unchained and free to run around yard

• Solved several loose dogs problems

• Helped a stakeholder deal with wounded opossum

• Helped a stakeholder deal with barking dog situation

• Offered advice on wide range of animal topics: pet care, animal-carried diseases,

  humane way to remove skunks living under house, opossums, etc.

• Returned a rabbit to its owner and provided spay/neuter information

• Volunteered at various pet adoption events, from grooming shelter dogs to showing

  them at event

• Attended all monthly DAW meetings

• Recruited several volunteers

• Collaborated with nearby DAWs in Glassell Park and Los Feliz

• Worked with animals rescue groups: Best Friends, Feral Cat Alliance, Pacific Coast

  Dog Rescue, Rescue Train, Save Us Dogs, and many others

• Attended Health Fair/Spay Mobile Event at Chevy Chase Park and distributed a large variety of

  animal related literature

• We are one of the most active and effective DAWs in the entire program. Atwater

  Village has set an example for all other DAWs throughout the city

The pet adoption/information booth at the farmers market:

• Hosted the first three Atwater Village pet adoption & information booths at the farmers

  market. These events have been far more successful than we had even hoped for!

• First event (2/26/06): Farmers Market sales went up almost 30%!

• Second event (4/2/06): Farmers Market enjoyed their highest sales ever: $5,800!

• Third event (5/7/06): Farmers Market (TBD after next event)

• Joyce Chan from see-la/Farmers Market tells us that all the vendors are extremely

  happy with the crowds we bring in, they love the activity and the energy and, when we’re not

  there, they ask, “Where are the pet people? We want them here every week!” (See letter from

  Joyce.)

• We are currently working with L.A. Animal Services to make the Farmers Market a permanent

  mobile adoption site for shelter dogs from Lacy Street (the shelter that services Atwater Village

  and surrounding communities). We will continue to utilize our booth to assist Atwater Village

  residents in placing stray or unwanted dogs and cats

• We’ve had a representative from L.A. Animal Services at our event with spay & neuter

  vouchers and vaccination coupons

• We offer a wide variety of information from the HSUS, ASPCA, Best Friends and L.A.

  Animal Services on everything from animal-related laws to living in harmony with

  skunks and squirrels

• Hundreds of people visit our booth, fill out applications, take literature and ask animal-related

  questions

• Some have taken the opportunity to report animal abuse or neglect (which we pass on to the

  appropriate authorities)

 • Lisa Young from the Rescue Train (an established rescue group) had this to say about

  our event:

Once again thanks for a wonderful event! We were all very impressed with the way you guys ran things. Merry, one of the puppies goes home on Thursday (to a fantastic home) and I have a strong application for the other little girl. You ladies really have it going on. There was a great vibe there with responsible adoptions going on. I really like that cat group you brought in. I hear nothing but good things about them. I would be happy to help you in any way I can in the future.

Thanks to the generous support of the AVNC, along with our own contributions*, we have been able to put together several very successful events and serve the needs of the animals and the stakeholders of Atwater Village. However, there is much more we would like to do—and many things we need to do.

What’s next?

One thing has become clear to us over the last few months: we significantly underestimated how much we’d be doing and how much funding we’d need! As we gain more awareness in the community, we are getting more phone calls, more emails and more animals issues to deal with. We’re happy to do it, but all of this takes funding.

Additional funding for the adoption/information booth:

We are confident—given our three-month history—that we can generate even more awareness, traffic and sales at the Farmers Market, as well as provide an effective venue to find homes for deserving animals.

• We need more tents to provide shade for people and animals (especially with summer just around the corner), more promotional materials, some extra supplies, etc.

Three more tents with sidewalls                                       1,200.00

Four more tables to encourage visitors                                250.00

Astroturf                                                                           200.00

Four folding animal cages                                                  480.00

Four pens for dogs                                                            480.00

Balloons (10 months’ worth)                                               500.00

Advertising – flyers, banners, etc. (10 months’ worth)           750.00

Storage facility (one year)                                                  780.00                      

Subtotal                                                                        4,640.00

Avian flu awareness campaign

• We would like to develop a bird flu awareness campaign to inform stakeholders about how they can reduce their risk of infection birds (many Atwater residents keep pigeons, chickens and other “wild” birds, as well as parrots and the like) what to do if they find dead birds, etc. Avian flu might be one of the biggest crises facing the U.S. in the coming years. We would like to help Atwater prepare and prevent, if possible.

Flyers                                                                             120.00

Non-profit status

• We would be able to raise funds on our own if our group were a 501c3 non-profit. With the ability to hold fund-raisers and solicit donations, we could pay for a wide range of programs that would benefit the animals and stakeholders of Atwater. Therefore, we are asking for funding to supplement legal and filing fees to become a tax-exempt 501c3.

Non-profit status funding assistance                                1,000.00

Total funds requested                                                  5,760.00           

*We feel it is important to note that all four Atwater Village DAWs are dedicated to the welfare of all animals and, in particular, the animals of Atwater Village. Since the beginning of 2006, we have spent more than $5,000 of our own money on animal rescue, rehabilitation, veterinary care for strays, supplies for our adoption /information booth, advertising materials and more. We are passionate, committed and in this for the long term. 

On behalf of all the animals of Atwater Village, thank you!