What We Do
Animal Shelter Adoption Partners takes concrete steps to reduce the unnecessary euthanasia of adoptable animals at local animal shelters.
There were hundreds of animals destroyed every year in San Luis Obispo County who could have been saved if they had found homes.
We started as volunteers at the San Luis Obispo County Animal Shelter, and soon found that animals were destroyed solely because the shelter had insufficient space to house them.
We quickly recognized the simple truth that we could only reduce the number of euthanized animals by increasing adoptions and redemptions of stray animals, or reducing the number of animals coming into the shelter.
Starting where we thought we could have the greatest impact in the shortest time, we sought to increase adoptions of the many perfectly delightful dogs and cats at the shelter.
Our initial role was to encourage those who came to the shelter to adopt one of the animals they saw. Unfortunately, there were more dogs and cats than potential adopters. It was clear that more adopters had to be found.
Some of our programs are described here. We will continue to develop new programs wherever we see a need.
Rescue Me!
Rescue Me! is a weekly TV program that has shown every shelter animal since 2001! This show is the most played show on Charter Cable Public Access TV Channel 2.
Many people come to the shelter just because of Rescue Me! The positive image of the shelter and its animals encourages new visitors. Rescue Me! increases adoptions and redemptions.
Foster Support
Sometimes the shelter gets an influx of animals that a few short-term foster homes can remedy, saving animals lives.
ASAP provide financial support and equipment to foster homes that can be called on to temporarily relieve the pressure on the shelter, as well as placing dogs and cats in foster homes while they receive medical treatment or improve their behavior to make them adoptable.
Assessment and Training
ASAP funds a behavior assessment program to find training solutions for dogs that are unadoptable because of their behavior. We implement training plans while the animal is still at the shelter, and provide free training for life for selected animals at a local animal training facility. Without this help, many dogs would be labeled ‘unadoptable’.
Adoption Fee Rebates
Some of our wonderful pets need a little help getting into their new homes. ASAP provides rebates for pets that are not quickly adopted, and have the added problem of still needing to be spayed or neutered at the new owners expense.This program will help those hard-to-adopt pets that would have never made it out of the shelter just a few years ago. We also assure that every senior dog and cat gets their adoption fee paid to help the older animals that are routinely euthanized at most shelters.