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Member Spotlight: Meet Katie at Denver Dumb Friends League!

posted Friday, October 14th, 2011 by Editor

Meet Katie Shipley, Event Manager at Denver Dumb Friends League, the largest community-based animal welfare organization in the Rocky Mountain region. Katie started with DDFL six years ago in Animal Care, and has since helped with shelter development, donor relations and now heads up special events for the center.

                                   

 

Every year, Denver Dumb Friends League – a name established by the original founders, adapted from a Britian shelter – takes in almost 25,000 animals who are lost or surrendered by the owners. While many are they adopted out, reunited with lost pet owners and nurtured in foster care, the shelter also provides spay/neuter services to animals in underserved areas, and investigative teams when cases of cruelty, hoarding, neglect and abandonment come up.  In [fiscal year] 2011,  DDFL saved 19,535 pets and saw a Healthy Pet Placement rate of 99%.

 

The Events

Did you know? October is Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog Month! In addition to ongoing events, Katie is a primary part of the planning for each of DDFL three major events per year:

  • Furry Scurry: Held every May in Wash Park (next scheduled for May 2, 2012), the event attracts 12,000 people and 5,000 dogs and - in 2011 - Furry Scurry raised $1.37 million for the shelter.

  • Annual DDFL Telethon: Scheduled for January 29, 2012 (which makes for some very soft, cuddly and furry Pro Bowl pre-game entertaiment), the event is filmed live at DDFL, where they set up rows of phone banks and feature a variety of adoption-ready pets. In 2011, the Telethon raised $305K for the DDFL

  • Wag & Trail: (STILL ACCEPTING DONATIONS) Scheduled for September 22, 2012, this event is like a smaller scale Furry Scurry where you can hike with your dog, and is held at Glendale Farm Open Space. September 2011’s event raised $134K with 1500 walkers. 

 

Katie On Animal Hoarders

Every few months, DDFL finds themselves with a large intake of sick and neglected animals from hoarding situations. Many times, the investigative teams at DDFL or the local Humane Society have uncovered the hoarding, and then must divide the animals among local shelters in order to accommodate the special medical needs each animal requires. Many of these hoarded animals (as is the same with animals from “mills”) have not been socialized – meaning they’ve never stepped on carpet, worn a leash, encountered stairs…and sometimes have never been pet or loved – so it’s up to every worked at DDFL to integrate them back into a normal lifestyle by walking them through the office halls, allowing them to hang out on comfy dog beds inside employee offices, an so on. 

 

Senior Animals Need Love, Too!

Right now, there are a significant number of senior animals at the shelter who are 8 years and older. All they want is a good home, someone to love and a cozy place to sleep. While they might not have as long in the world as a puppy, senior dogs are already trained and don’t have the same behavioral issues that many puppies have (read: chewing, nawing, biting, jumping), so the right person or family willing to give these cats and dogs a wonderful rest of their life and lots of love to boast is all they really need. 

 

Get Involved!

Now until November 1, DDFL has a critical need for foster-care volunteers and is taking applications for people who’d like to provide in-home foster care for animals who require and thrive in a more home-based environment while waiting for their purrrfect adoptive parents. Fill out your application here.