WeSNIP and Pasado’s Safe Haven Continue Partnership
WeSNIP and Pasado’s Safe Haven Continue Partnership
By Chris Haulgren
You may have seen it — the Pasado’s Safe Haven state-of-the-art Spay Station II — cruising the streets and parking in business lots around the area. It’s hard to miss! A midnight-blue Isuzu with paintings of dogs and cats in space suits announcing that they’ve been “fixed”. Who can even think up something like this?
But fortunately someone did. And lots of other great ideas, too, such as last year’s Project Homeless Connect, a day of comprehensive services for people homeless or near-homeless. The Spay Station II, operated by WeSNIP (Whatcom Education, Spay and Neuter Impact Program), partnered with Whatcom Humane Society to provide free exams and vaccines. Dr. Rounds saw a total of 33 pets and this year we have even bigger plans. The community is the winner when partnering happens, and the partnership of AHS and WeSNIP from the first day we hit the road in late August, 2008, has helped so many people and pets. The generous AHS voucher program was one of the first of its kind and is back in action, but also the relentless return of community calls with information, suggestions and support makes this partnership a stand-out in the rescue field. A more recent partnership for WeSNIP is with local rescue individuals who had been taking animals to Skagit County facilities. By matching Skagit’s prices and setting aside a certain amount of space regularly and learning how to work with ferals, we are helping Whatcom County pets stay right here and saving the planet (less driving) at the same time.
Now in our second year, WeSNIP hopes to continue developing creative partnerships toward the end of eliminating the euthanasia of healthy, adoptable animals, a concept that continues to be central for so many of us.
