From Austin Dog Alliance

Letter From the Executive Director

Friends and Supporters,

The Center has been open for three months now and life is finally starting to return to a normal cadence. Our Puppy and Pet Dog Manners classes are filling up each time and everyone that attends classes seems happy and content. We are slowly but surely developing a volunteer base to help with running the center and we have even stocked our pet boutique with some high quality and durable toys and leashes.

Now that everything is fairly under control, our Board has started to focus once again on outreach activities that fit our mission of Making Dogs a Part of the Community. In April we hosted two free community events – our Grand Opening Party and a Bow Wow Reading Dog celebration. Our publicity for the Reading Dog event has lead to requests for more Bow Wow Reading Dog teams at local libraries and schools. Now we just need to train more teams so that we can meet the demand! We have also started to plan for the expansion of our after school programs for the deaf community.

Our Rescue team is going to host a meeting of all Austin area rescue groups on Friday, May 8. We have long held the belief that by working in cooperation with all rescue groups, we can achieve greater success in reducing the number of dogs (and cats) euthanized in our area shelters. We are quite delighted that the Center can be used to further the achievements of all rescue groups in our area.

So although funding is still needed and still an issue for us, we are making progress towards reaching a sustainable model that will allow us to rescue more dogs; train, place and support more pet therapy teams; expand our program offerings for the deaf community; and, provide more community events and activities.

These past few months, while they have been a whirlwind and I have never worked harder in my life, have provided me the opportunity to work with some truly amazing and dedicated volunteers who have so much to give to our community. We are now positioned to increase our presence in the community.

I feel blessed and honored everyday to be a part of this organization.

Together, we are making a difference.