How long had sweet Cherry quietly suffered?

It was late October in 2020 when 2-year-old Cherry’s previous owner received the awful news that would devastate any animal lover like you or I: they were being forced to move, and their new apartment did not allow cats.

Through no fault of his own, this affectionate, well-mannered, and cuddly fellow found himself looking for a new home—and traveling across Washington to find it.

When our veterinary staff met Cherry, he did well for most of the exam—until his front paws were touched. That’s when Cherry let us know he was in pain. Cherry had been previously declawed, with unfortunate side effects: tight tendons in his feet were causing his toes to curl under themselves. Even worse, he often refused to walk, showing us just how much the simple task of getting around was hurting him.

Cherry’s toes curled under each other due to a previous declawing surgery, making each step painful for him.

It broke my heart to see poor Cherry in such pain. Thankfully, donors like you have provided a roadmap to recovery for Cherry. With x-rays, skillful surgery, and compassionate veterinary care, Cherry is currently recovering in a foster home from surgery to loosen his tendons. Walking will no longer be such an awful experience for him.

Cherry’s journey is just one example of how, with your help, we live our mission of saving animals’ lives. I am so grateful for individuals like you who share the dream of a more compassionate world for animals.

As we celebrate our 31st anniversary this month, please know that your support is still urgently needed by pets in the shelter now—like Cherry, Bruce, Magnus, Princess, and Cassie. Beyond that, hundreds more pets of all ages will arrive this spring from our community and partner shelters.

Would you join us in celebrating our 31st anniversary by making a generous one-time or monthly sustaining gift? Your gift, of any amount, is needed to provide the food, shelter, medical, and behavioral care each pet will need on their way to a new forever home.

Celebrate 31 years of Matches Made and Lives Saved with us! You can make your gift on our website at www.homewardpet.org or by using the enclosed response card and envelope. Your gift ensures animals like Cherry receive the care and support needed in finding their happy “tails” and forever homes.

With gratitude,

Nanette McCann

Executive Director

Cherry’s feet being examined by our veterinary staff, who determined he needed surgery to alleviate his pain.

Join us on Thursday, February 24, at 5 pm!

From 5 – 7 pm, we’re hosting a virtual Open House to celebrate our 31st Anniversary…and we can’t wait to chat with you! Here’s how it’s going to work…

1990 – 1998: Founding & First Years

In 1990, Homeward Pet – originally named Hooterville Pet Safehaus after an old cartoon – was founded on the belief that every adoptable animal would eventually find a safe, caring home. Our founder, Peggy Barnish, saw a need for a shelter without time limits in Greater Seattle. Euthanasia was – and continues to be – used only as a last resort to ease suffering from injury or illness. With this commitment to providing homeless animals stays without the pressure of a euthanasia deadline, we started small: just 350 cats and 20 dogs adopted this first year, many from foster homes.

It took time to grow: severe lack of funds, space constraints, and unfavorable attitudes toward adopting pets all required perseverance and dedication to overcome. But by 1996, Hooterville Pet Safehaus reached an important milestone: 1,000 pets adopted in a single year.

Pet homelessness, however, remained a pervasive problem. In 1997, in an effort to stop pet homelessness before it began, we began spaying and neutering every animal who came through our doors. Though we didn’t have a veterinary clinic of our own yet, we developed profound, lasting relationships with local vets in the area who assisted our spay/neuter efforts.

In 1998, to accommodate our growing need for additional space, we moved to Bothell’s Country Village. This location did not allow dogs on the premises, so we relied on foster housing for our canine companions. Our years at Country Village were full of growing pains: our sheltered animals were scattered throughout various buildings (including a chicken coop retrofitted into a feral cat home); we knew our next location needed more square footage than ever before.

1999 – 2009: Expanding Our Impact

In 2003, Hooterville Pet Safehaus underwent a much-needed name change to Homeward Pet Adoption Center along with a move to our Clearwater Spa location in Woodinville. For the first time, all of our adoptable dogs and cats were housed under one roof. Finally, we were able to build an on-site veterinary clinic to take care of the majority of medical care in-house. We also began to strengthen our connections to shelters across the nation, taking in animals from shelters forced to close and animals displaced by natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina.

But even as we sought national partnership, we remained committed more than ever to our local community. We introduced the Homeward Pet Low-Cost Spay & Neuter Clinic in 2010, to further reduce the number of unwanted animals born by providing low-cost surgeries to reduced-income families. That year, we also began including free training classes with all of our dog adoptions—hoping to increase pet retention through education on animal behavior.

2010 – 2020: Community Commitment & Beyond

In 2011, in addition to moving to our current Woodinville location, we debuted another community program, the Homeward Pet Food Bank. The Homeward Pet Food Bank provides pet food and supplies to families in need of a little assistance to help them keep their beloved pet in their home—providing hundreds of thousands of pounds each year to those who need it.

In 2015, we took major steps to address the behavior needs of our animals, to match the outstanding medical care provided by our clinic. The Homeward Pet Dog Behavior Team provides daily sessions to shelter dogs in need of training and socialization. After the success on the dog side, our Cat Behavior Team began recruiting in 2016.

We continue to grow each year: 2019, in fact, was our best adoption year on record, with 1,934 animals finding new beginnings under our roof.

With the end of our current space’s lease on the horizon in 2022, we are searching for the next perfect home for what we do best: finding safe, caring homes for homeless cats and dogs.

Celebrate 31 years of rescue…and toast to 31 years ahead by making a special gift.

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At first, it looked like Sam’s stay with Homeward Pet would be brief…

Meet Sam! She is a curious, active, and playful Shepherd mix who, these days, enjoys taking road trips and wilderness hikes with her new forever family.

Sam’s story began as a shelter transfer from the Yakima Valley last December. She was an energetic handful who was very mouthy, and tended to playfully grab at clothes, arms, legs, shoes, and her leash.

She was adopted in December, but returned to us a few days before Christmas. Her tendency to grab things with her mouth had resulted in bruises in her new home. It was evident that Sam needed more than just daily play. She displayed behavior that was getting in the way of finding her forever home.

Thankfully, support from donors like you means that we didn’t have to turn Sam away. Our Behavior Team was able to work with Sam on her behavior—for five and a half months.

Homeward Pet’s Behavior & Adoptions Program Manager, Jenny Black, shares what helped Sam the most, training that many other animal shelters do not have the resources to provide: “With the help of daily training sessions, lots of exercise, and anti- anxiety medication, she started to make progress, and we were able to put her back up for adoption when we re-opened to the public in June of 2020.”

All those months of work paid off when Sam met her new forever family: Brandon, Clara, and their dog, Minna.

Brandon and Clara found that Sam quickly fit into their family: “When we adopted Sam, we had plans to go on a road trip, so we were obviously a bit nervous about putting a new dog in a situation like that, but Sam seemed to be adjusting well. She and Minna were getting along great, so we decided to go for it, and it went better than we could’ve imagined.” Minna’s energy matched Sam’s, and the two turned out to be the perfect combination. Today, she’s learned to tell the difference between her own toys and things like shoes and clothing, and Minna’s been showing Sam the ropes at the dog park.

You give us the time necessary to make remarkable transformations like Sam’s possible.

Sam’s journey to her forever home is just one example of how the Homeward Pet continues to match each pet’s resilience with the compassion and generosity of donors like you. Through your gift, Sam—and hundreds of other adoptable pets like her—receive the behavioral, veterinary, and daily care they each need on their journey to a forever home.

Your year-end gift will help the next “Sam” we meet. Your gift will support the continued work of Homeward Pet to save lives and find forever homes.

Your gift ensures that animals arriving this holiday season receive the care they need to find their own happy tails and forever homes.

Just like Sam.

With gratitude,

Nanette McCann

Executive Director