Have you heard of Pet Alliance? They are the oldest non-profit animal shelter in Central Florida- they have been around for 80 years! Pet Alliance adopts out approximately 5,000 dogs and cats each year.
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My family first learned about Pet Alliance at an Orlando Pride game, where my daughter lovingly got to pet some puppies. Then, when I teamed up with Ilene Lieber and Zoey at our National Read a Book Day event at Abbott’s, Barbara came by to support Ilene. I met Barbara and found out that she works with Pet Alliance. Knowing how much my daughter loves animals, and seeing all of the kids love Zoey that night, inspired me to learn more about this great organization.
Mark your calendars for February 10, 2024! Paws in the Park is happening at Lake Eola Park, which is a dog-friendly and family friendly event. A community wide event in its 30th year, Pet Alliance will have dogs on hand ready for adoption! And if you have a child in grades kindergarten through fifth grade, they can enter the Bandana Drawing Contest! Details are found here, and submissions are due via email by December 8, 2023.
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Barbara is the Director of Finance for the organization. She joined the organization in 2019 and is responsible for all financial aspects of the organization including: the day-to-day financial operations, the budget, and the $14.0 million Capital Campaign to build their new building on John Young Parkway.
Her colleague, Miranda, answered some questions I had for them.
What is your role with Pet Alliance?
I am Pet Alliance's Digital Marketing Manager, so I handle the development of content for all of our social media channels. I also oversee our website, help create print materials, and assist with events.
What is the mission of Pet Alliance?
Pet Alliance educates, shelters, places, and heals pets and their families with compassionate, responsible care maintained to the highest professional standards.
What happens on a daily basis?
On a daily basis, we have two shelters, two clinics, and many programs that are up and running. We shelter and adopt out pets, provide low-cost veterinary care for owned pets, and help our community through other initiatives like our Pet Food Pantry.
What do you rely on volunteers to do and how can people get involved?
Our volunteers help us keep everything moving forward. They assist us in caring for our cats and dogs in the shelter, foster pets in their homes, and even provide assistance to our veterinarians. Those interested in getting involved can visit https://petallianceorlando.org/community-involvement/volunteer/
What is the process for adopting/fostering pets?
While our fosters are all from our network of volunteers, anyone over the age of 18 can adopt. You can come in during operating hours to meet our pets and our volunteers will help you find one that's a good fit for you. Then, our staff will guide you through the paperwork.
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What are some of the greatest needs Pet alliance has?
There are so many ways to help our pets, like becoming a volunteer or even sharing our pets and their stories with friends and family. Many families have done donation drives in the past where they team up with their schoolmates or neighbors to collect items for our pets. We are always in need of items like wet kitten food, dry pet food for our food pantry, and towels.
What are some success stories Pet Alliance has seen?
Meet Beaver!
When he was only 3 months old, Beaver came to us as a transfer in need of some extra help. He was born blind in his left eye, which was also undersized. This, along with a chronic issue with his eyelid, was leading to health complications. Our veterinarian, Dr. Watanabe, was able to remove the eye so Beaver could be free of any future problems it may cause. After spending some time recovering with one of our wonderful foster volunteers, Beaver was quickly adopted! We're overjoyed to have been able to help this little guy (and his big, adorable ears) get a fresh start.
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Meet Raven!
Raven is just shy of two years old and quite the fascinating feline! Raven was born blind with underdeveloped eyes and eyelids. She navigates her world through touch and sound, relatively undaunted by her inability to see. She’s a people-lover who will enthusiastically headbutt your hand to ask for pets when you make your presence known. Despite her resilience, her condition was leading her down a road of chronic infections. For Raven's longterm health and wellbeing, our veterinarian, Dr. Andersen, was able to remove her eyes. Now free of pain and discomfort, Raven has flown away with her perfect adopter!
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Do you have exciting news to share?
We are building a brand new state of the art shelter in Orlando! We will have double the medical space to care for ill or injured animals – including the largest shelter medical unit in Florida. Disease specific quarantine space for dogs and cats to reduce the potential for disease transmission. A modern shelter space with air conditioning for dogs and cats. We've broken ground and hope completion will be Spring 2025.
Bonus Features!
Here's a video of what a cat wellness exam looks like on our clinic side and a video of an adorable mom\kitten family.
Thank you, Barbara and Miranda, for sharing such helpful and heart-warming information about Pet Alliance!
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