Love Never Strays
Have you ever walked through an animal shelter? It teams with hope…dogs and cats hopeful that you will take them home and love them. Heartbreak because last year an estimated 3 million dogs and cats across the United States found themselves alone, afraid and abandoned in such facilities. Animal shelter have greatly improved in the services they offer these animals but sadly, the majority of these wonderful loving pets will never find a forever home. They are destroyed because no one adopts them. There are just too many of them.
A few months ago, my local veterinary association took part in a ‘Doctors Without Borders’-type pet wellness event sponsored by a spectacular organization founded by my guest, Teri Austin. This woman’s passion for helping some of the least served pets in the Los Angeles area will hopefully inspire you to help her foundation or who knows, you may want to use this model to tackle the same issues in your home town.
"There's so many wonderful people in the animal community, and to me, I was so touched when I looked around the room and I saw everything from our dog trainers to boarded specialists, veterinarians who had given their Sundays." — Teri Austin
BIO:
Once upon a time, Teri Austin was one of the stars of the nighttime soap, "Knots Landing."
These days she is still a superstar, not for acting, but for her tireless work with animals. Teri Austin is an actress who became an activist.
As you walk through the kennels at south Los Angeles' Animal Services Center, you get a feeling even the dogs know this home may be their last.
Last year, the animal control agencies of L.A. city, county and local municipalities put almost 105,000 animals to death.
Their crime: being unwanted.
And that's where Teri Austin comes in.
She's been acting professionally since she was a teenager, but her biggest role is her work with animals.
Teri's in charge of the state's most successful mobile spay-neuter program, which is run by The Amanda Foundation.
The program gives free spay-neuter services to pets whose owners can't afford them.
Through this program, Teri thinks the number of local animals put to sleep can be cut in half in the next five years.
"Because it is cheaper in the long run to treat the animals well and spay and neuter them, house them well and spay and neuter them, than it is to continue to build shelters," Teri says. "It's like building more prisons. You know, you want to solve the problem, you don't want to just house the problem."
According to the American Humane Society, one female dog and her off-spring can produce 67,000 dogs in six years.
Last year alone, the program crew spayed and neutered more than 6,000 cats and dogs.
Teri also saves animals from certain death, taking them from our local shelters to be adopted from The Amanda Foundation's No Kill Facility in Beverly Hills
"It's not work when you love it, you know, and I do," Teri says. "And it fulfills me. I feel spiritually fulfilled. I tell people, I say 'There are very few guarantees in your life,' but when I help someone adopt a dog or a cat, I can guarantee them that that creature is going to put love in their life."
Charley was a "dead dog walking" when Teri rescued him from a south L.A. facility on his way to the euthanasia room.
He now lives with actress Mischa Barton!
Ellen DeGeneres has adopted cats from the foundation. And Teri's old "Knot's Landing" buddies Lisa Hartman Black and Nicollette Sheridan are among The Amanda Foundation's celebrity supporters.
Many of Teri's friends are four-legged ones living at The Amanda Foundation.
Bobo, now living at the foundation, needs a home. So does Captain Crunch.
Teri loves helping animals. And while she will act again, she doesn't miss her old life.
"When I put my head on the pillow at the end of the day, it's not what fills me with joy," Teri says. But knowing that I've got an appointment with Captain Crunch the next day and he might go home to a new home, that makes me smile!"
Transcript:
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:00:00]:
Have you ever walked through an animal shelter? It teems with hope. Dogs and cats hopeful that they'll be taken home and you'll love them. Heartbreak, because last year, an estimated 3 million dogs and cats across the United States found themselves alone, afraid, and abandoned in such facilities. Animal shelters have greatly improved in the services they offer these animals, but sadly, the majority of these wonderful, loving pets will never find a forever home. They're destroyed because no one adopts them. There are just too many of them. A few months ago, my local veterinary association took part in a Doctors without Borders type of pet wellness event sponsored by a spectacular organization founded by my guest, Teri Austin. This woman's passion for helping some of the least served pets in the Los Angeles area will hopefully inspire you to help her foundation.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:00:57]:
Or who knows? You may want to use this model to tackle the same issues in your hometown. We'll be right back after the short break. Teri, thank you so much for bringing your organization to the awareness of my local veterinary association, but most importantly, for what you're doing for the animals of Los Angeles.
Teri Austin [00:01:21]:
Well, thank you so much, Dr. Cruz. And I've been with the Amanda foundation for 30 years, and I am so privileged to be able to do something that I love, which is work with the dogs and cats and the people who love them and the wonderful veterinary community we have in Los Angeles, who has been so supportive all the years I've been working our programs.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:01:40]:
Well, thank you for mentioning that, because for some people that might go, Teri Austin, that kind of sounds familiar. Tell us a little bit of a background as to who you are and how Teri Austin came to bring together the Amanda foundation.
Teri Austin [00:01:55]:
Well, I'm originally from Toronto, Canada, and I started as a teenager in the acting profession, and I worked in Toronto on stage and in films and television. And I worked for an american producer in Toronto who invited me down to do a job in Los Angeles. So I came down to Los Angeles to work on a television show called Knot's Landing, and I played the nefarious Jill Dennis, who was always trying to kill Valene. And it was a great.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:02:24]:
But you're really a nice person.
Teri Austin [00:02:26]:
Well, thank you so much. It was fun. And in Toronto, I had always worked with the Toronto humane and other rescue groups in Toronto. And when I moved down to Los Angeles, I became acquainted with the Amanda foundation, which had just started up and was a dog and cat rescue. And there were half a dozen dogs and some cats. And it was a small group at the time. And I became acquainted through my veterinarian and over the years, just found what we could do for the companion pets of Los Angeles was so much more fulfilling than working in the entertainment industry that I segued from one to the other. So I worked for many, many years here.
Teri Austin [00:03:06]:
I was fortunate to do all the shows that were popular at the time that I was working, Seinfeld and LA Law and things like that. But over the years, as I say, it just became so much more interesting and so much more fulfilling to be able to make lives of dogs and cats better. And the Amanda foundation has been working towards that on several levels. Our spay neuter program, our rescue program, and our veterinary program.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:03:29]:
Starting off Amanda, it was this a particular pet that somebody, you know, my dog, Amanda, my cat, Amanda, or person. Where does the name Amanda come from?
Teri Austin [00:03:41]:
Well, it's interesting you say that, because that is the number one question we get. When people come in, they say, who's Amanda? And we tell people that the name Amanda in Latin means worthy of love. So our charity is not named for a person, but rather our philosophy towards our dogs and cat buddies, that they are worthy of our love. And so when people come to Amanda and they say, who is Amanda? I say, we all are. Everyone who's helping the critters under our umbrella is Amanda. So we hope more people want to be Amanda and come and join us.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:04:11]:
And I think that's one thing that really comes through, as I mentioned at the start in the introduction, that we can talk a little bit more about the event that you sponsored that my veterinary colleagues and I got associated with. And honestly, they said, okay, we're having this group, Amanda foundation, googled you to find out a little bit about it. And it was going to be in a part of Los Angeles that as a child growing up, my mother said, don't go. Know it's not a safe place. And really thought, gee, these people probably don't care for their animals. Oh, my goodness. It was just so heartfelt. These people, I don't care if you live in Beverly Hills or if you live in south central Los Angeles.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:04:52]:
Everyone seems to just really love their pets and want to do the best. And that's what the Amanda foundation is allowing, is the best care possible for all animals which are worthy of love.
Teri Austin [00:05:06]:
Yes. And you're correct about the love of love people have for their animals. And that's what we've learned. When I started doing our outreach, our medical outreach, it was primarily Spain neuter. We looked at the problem that Los Angeles has, which is one of the worst problems in terms of overpopulation of animals, partially know. We don't have a winter here. There's not a season that animals aren't breeding. We have a very large spread out geography.
Teri Austin [00:05:32]:
It's not like New York or Chicago, where you can chase a dog down an alley and catch know. So the animal control has a very hard time regulating. So in order to have less animals ending up in the shelter and on the streets, we really need to control the population. So we started by having our free spay neuter mobile clinic, and we realized after collecting data and just doing some boots on the ground, walking around neighborhoods, working with the city of Los Angeles and the county of Los Angeles, asking what zip codes do the animals that are in the shelters, where it's coming from, what areas do these animals come from? That either people are relinquishing their pets or good Samaritans are bringing them in off the street that they found, or that the city is being called out to pick them up off the streets. And we did find they were in the lowest income areas, where there aren't many services for animals, where there aren't veterinarians. And, for instance, one of the reasons we chose the community you mentioned, which is Watts, is there isn't a veterinarian who has the address, Watts, California. So if you grow up in that community, even no matter how well meaning you are, there's not a local veterinarian. So I always tell, hey, you know, if you're growing up in a community and you're walking to school and you know where the church is and you know where the McDonald's is, and you know where the food for less is, and you never see a veterinarian, it wouldn't necessarily be on your radar about taking your animal to a vet, and then the cost is prohibitive sometimes for people in low income areas.
Teri Austin [00:06:56]:
So we've been taking the spaymobile to that area for over a decade. And in that time, I've met so many people who do love their animals. And a lot of the times, the medical issues their pets have are certainly not due to any irresponsibility on the part of the people. Their dental issues or their mass removals or their foxtails or a number of things that could occur anywhere. So being able to take our pop up wellness clinic, and we called it wellness and wags for watts, and having the participation of such wonderful, enthusiastic veterinarians like yourself, yeah, I found it very heartwarming, too, because the people do want to take care of their pets, and they willingly showed up at seven in the morning to have a veterinarian take a look at their pets.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:07:40]:
So Amanda foundation started off as a spay and neuter program, or rescue.
Teri Austin [00:07:47]:
No, we started off as a rescue. And when I came to Los Angeles, as I say, the organization was fairly new, and it was a group of women rescuing as many dogs and cats as they could afford on whatever money they were raising. And when I got involved with the organization and I started visiting the shelters of Los Angeles, it was not too long a time. Like within a year. I said to my colleagues in the, said, you know, if all we're doing is rescuing, it's kind of a hobby. We're not really solving a problem and we'll never be able to adopt our way out of this problem. And I take issue with slogans like adopt them all and stuff, because that's just not a reality. If you do the math, if you took the number of animals that are sitting in shelters today, and if every household in the United States were to adopt five dogs and five cats, you still wouldn't empty the shelter.
Teri Austin [00:08:35]:
So adopting is part of the answer and will always be an adoption organization. But we realized that we really need to get in there and try to lower the number, the volume of surplus animals that nobody wanted. And I know that when people hear that, they sometimes think, well, who wouldn't want a puppy or a kitten? Well, yeah, a lot of people want a puppy and kitten, but do they want that dog or cat when it's one or two or five or ten years old? So you have to have people who aren't looking for a novelty for a few months, but rather a companion for the span of its life. And since even 30 years later, I've been with Amanda, this is my 31st year, and our shelters are still full. There's less animals, but they're still full. Clearly, we still need to work towards having less animals to place. So we started as a rescue, realized we had to work on the supply end, and that's how we became a spay neuter organization. And then once we were involved with the medical of spay neuter, sometimes, many times people come to our mobile clinic, our spaymobile, and their pet has some other issue.
Teri Austin [00:09:37]:
Well, the spaymobile isn't a fully equipped hospital. It's primarily set up as a spay and neuter mobile clinic. So it doesn't have an x ray machine on it and doesn't have a lot of other, doesn't have a full pharmacy. So we branched out into having a full service animal hospital, so that we could attend the other needs, medical needs that people and their pets need.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:09:56]:
So this is what's really amazing, is that, yes, you have this large vehicle that goes around Los Angeles, and we'll talk about how many animals you can spay, who's doing these services. But then you also have a brick and mortar facility and that brick and mortar facility. Tell us a little bit about that. I believe that it's a full service hospital. Is that correct?
Teri Austin [00:10:17]:
Yes, it is. We do orthopedics, ultrasound, dentistry, general practitioner. I mean, everything that you'd find in any other small animal practice, we do at our hospital. And it is located in Beverly Hills, and it has a fancy address, but the building was built in 1924, and it's stucco and wood. And right now we have a capital campaign going to rebuild it. It's kind of an interesting history. The city of Beverly Hills is just 101 years old. It was founded in 1914, and in 1924, the city still had horses to pull the patty wagon or the milk wagon, or there were still horses in the city.
Teri Austin [00:10:54]:
So the stable that took care of the horses owned by the city were across the road from where our hospital is now. And our hospital, our little building, was where the veterinarian who looked after the city horses lived. And our present parking lot was a paddock.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:11:08]:
That is a great history.
Teri Austin [00:11:10]:
Yeah, it's true. And that's how it started. And it was never meant to be used in larger capacities. We use it now, but that's what it was. Well, by the 30s, horses were gone and cars had replaced them, and the vet who lived in that building had become a small animal vet. And so it has been a veterinary practice for 91 years. It's very difficult these days to get zoning in any city for a full kennel and a hospital. And so we're very fortunate that this property is grandfathered in for that so that we can rebuild on it.
Teri Austin [00:11:40]:
We were spectacularly lucky this year. Truly blessed. Our largest supporter for many, many years is Frank Sinatra's daughter, Tina Sinatra. And this year, this past year, she gifted us with a million dollars, which went towards the purchase of the property. So after being tenants for 30 years, we bought the property last year, and now that we own it, we're looking towards rebuilding it.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:12:02]:
That is absolutely amazing. And the services that you are offering? I'm thinking of my own practice in south of you in Orange County, California. And I know that providing these services is not inexpensive. So who are you serving? Is it the people, for instance, from Watts that you take the spaymobile to, or is it going to be the local people there in Beverly Hills?
Teri Austin [00:12:28]:
Well, it's always been. For our whole history, it's always been both the spaymobile because it goes to many, many low income areas. We're as far out north of the city as Pacoima and Silmar and Sun Valley east of the city into Lakeview Terrace and east LA and Boyle Heights south of the city down to south La. Compton, Watts, and Compton is actually its own city. But we do work Compton as well. And all through our history, we've then invited clients to come for surgeries and treatments that weren't available on our spacemobile. We've invited them to come to our hospital in Beverly Hills because it is in Beverly Hills. We do service the community there.
Teri Austin [00:13:08]:
And our clients who are from Beverly Hills and the surrounding areas are people who could well afford to go to other hospitals that choose to bring their pets to us because they know we have excellent staff, truly excellent staff, and they want to support the charity. So by spending the money that they would otherwise spend at another hospital and spending it at our hospital, and they're paying the going rate, they're not paying our subsidized or certainly not getting pro bono care. That is one income source for our charity to continue running. But the hospital does so much pro bono and low income cost that we don't turn a profit. We use a lot of other subsidies as well to do the programs. For instance, PetSmart charities. This past year, one of the reasons we were able to do the pop up clinic was they gifted us with a grant of over $100,000 to buy the beautiful, portable dental machines you saw that day and the portable wet tables and the portable x ray machine. That was my goal this past year, was to obtain portable equipment so that we could do these pop up clinics.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:14:10]:
Teri, this is just amazing. What you are doing and the resources that you have been able to garner together is just fabulous. We're talking right now with Teri Austin. She is intimately associated with the Amanda Foundation, a group that's helping animals throughout southern California, Los Angeles area, some very impoverished areas. I want to learn more about this. Please, everyone who's listening, stay tuned. We'll be right back after this short break. Teri, listening to how you've been able, the Amanda foundation, to pull this together, the spaymobile, the rescue, especially your brick and mortar hospital.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:14:51]:
This looks to be a model that I don't think is available anywhere else in the United States. Is that correct?
Teri Austin [00:14:58]:
I'm not aware of another nonprofit that runs a full service animal hospital. I know a few that run, or several that run spay neuter clinics or vaccine clinics. There is actually a nonprofit in New York that runs a full service hospital, but they're not also a rescue and also run a spaymobile. So our thought of what our business model has been for our charity is that we have the staymobile that is trying to prevent the production of surplus pets that will not have homes. We are rescuing the animals that are already here and need homes. And then we're trying to provide care so that people can retain their pets and they don't end up relinquishing them to the shelters because they feel that they can't afford the medical care. So we're trying to service an organic circle there, doing everything we can to help people retain their pets. We work very closely as well with a couple of intervention programs in the city.
Teri Austin [00:15:52]:
So sometimes when people bring their pet to the shelter and they have the intention of relinquishing it, the intervention staff will say, well, why are you relinquishing your pet? And sometimes it's not that the person wants to, but they feel they have a problem that's insurmountable, perhaps a training problem, or their backyard is not secure to keep their pet in, and it keeps getting out. And there's a lot of organizations that we work with that will do other things besides medical to help people retain their pets. So there's so many ways that ourselves and a number of our colleagues are reaching out to help well meaning people who do love their animals be able to retain them. But this last recession really taught me that nonprofits should try to have some other income source beyond just waiting for donations. And with the pet industry, we have these big pet stores that are on many corners, and we have doggy daycare, and you can buy all sorts of sweaters and leashes and fancy things for your dogs. And there's a number of businesses that have sprung up in the pet industry. So I urge other rescues to look at what they might do as a business that would create a revenue stream so that there's always a cash flow, so they don't find themselves in a situation where there's been a recession or there's a bad stock market quarter and the donors dry up. So part of our goal towards doing what we're doing with the hospital, with this Baymobile, with the rescue, is to branch out to dog training and educational seminars and other things that we can do to bring people to us not only to adopt, but also to donate and also to support our hospital and all the other ventures that we're doing.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:17:31]:
Teri, thank you very much for bringing that up, because one of the things that I was so impressed with is that, again, the stereotype that I had in my mind of those dogs that were going to be walking through the doors of this pop up wellness clinic, they were going to be pit bulls. They were going to need muzzles. They were going to be ill behaved. We're going to have fights going on in the line as people were bringing their pets in. I was just imagining a worst case scenario, and they were very well behaved. Yes, there were some pit bulls, and I have nothing against that breed. They are awesome dogs. It really gets down to the training of these dogs.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:18:08]:
But you had trainers there and some really, I mean, they looked like the people they were serving. They could talk to these people and they could understand, and they had leashes and harnesses, and they were doing all this for free. How do you do this?
Teri Austin [00:18:25]:
The goodwill of the people who are involved? There's a wonderful man named Larry Hill who had worked for Department of Animal Services for many years, and he retired, and he has started an organization called Puppy. You know, a puppy will imprint on its owner, and that's a way that you get the dog to bond with you. And Larry has offered many free sessions to people because we know that will keep that pet in the home if it's better behaved. A dog that's lunging at neighbors or things like that is a reason that somebody might relinquish their dog. And if they can train that pet, they want to keep it. Another man named Mike Cornelius, who has a nickname dog man, and lives in south LA again, for over a decade, has been giving free lessons. There's so many wonderful people in the animal community, and to me, I was so touched when I looked around the room and I saw everything from our dog trainers to boarded specialists, veterinarians who had given their Sundays. I think a lot of times people have a misconception.
Teri Austin [00:19:25]:
They think that veterinarians have this huge profit margin, and, gee, they shouldn't be charging so much money. And they don't realize that animal medicine is as expensive as people medicine. Pfizer, Marie Albert, all the same companies that manufacture drugs for people are the same people who do them for animals, and they are not cheaper. So a lot of people don't realize there's not a big profit margin for veterinarians. And we're very conscious of the fact that we're working in neighborhoods that are underserved, where there isn't the opportunity. But aren't we blessed that all these veterinarians came from other areas and are so willing to come and help in the areas that need them? So, I mean, I thank you again. And Peter Weinstein, the president of the SCVMA, and all those wonderful veterinarians who came, and they were so enthusiastic and know nobody left early. Everybody stayed until last pet had been serviced.
Teri Austin [00:20:11]:
And it was really wonderful. And we hope to do it again. So I hope I can get you to come again.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:20:15]:
Dr. Chris oh, very definitely. And again, with this pop up wellness, I'd kind of like to explain to people what it involved. This was the first time when I got involved with this event that it had been run, and it was at a building, I think it was for.
Teri Austin [00:20:32]:
Park and recreations that used, it's the Watts community center. And we just pushed all their furniture to the side and threw sheets over.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:20:40]:
So we had this large building, good lighting, lots of individual little cubby holes were made up with exam tables, which were just these folding tables. We had students. Why don't you explain it? This was your event.
Teri Austin [00:20:54]:
Well, thank you again. Peter Weinstein from the SCBMA had reached out to the membership and asked people, and then I had veterinarians who have been friends of mine for years to participate. And then, so we had a number of veterinarians, and then we had over 20 veterinarians, actually. And then we had RVTs, which are registered vet technicians. And these are people that are equivalent to a human registered nurse. They've gone to school and they have an accreditation. And then we had vet techs who are people who very often have as much experience as an RVP but have not been certified. And then we had first and second veterinary students from Western University, compliments of Dr.
Teri Austin [00:21:31]:
Zahara Hedge. And then we had also students who were becoming technicians from Cal Poly, compliments of Dr. Joanne Sahn. And so we had a lot of support help there. And the idea was that we had the professionals, the doctors and the technicians and the RVTs. And it was also a learning experience for the vet tech students and the veterinarian students. So we had all more people than you would have per doctor at a regular hospital, so lots of support staff. And then we brought all, I wish.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:22:05]:
I had this at my facility, because, yes, it's like, oh, you needed help. There was all these hands that were available. And you're right, it was a marvelous time of education because if there was a little downtime between animals. The veterinarians were chatting with the students, and as we were looking at animals, this is what we're doing and this is why we're doing it. And at the same time, educating the pet owners.
Teri Austin [00:22:30]:
Right. And one of the things about a clinic like this, when people are coming in, and the vast majority of those people have never met a veterinarian before. So it was a wonderful, also learning experience for people to break that ICE between ever talking to a veterinarian and feeling comfortable doing that. And also some of the things that came in, the laceration repairs that were done or the bladder stone surgery we did that day, or the number of blood exams that were done, again, to see a volume of things for the students all done in the same day, was great. And it was wonderful for the animals because we were able to do. Idex laboratories blessed us by sending us two of their top technicians to run a full service blood lab. The blood lab that we had there was of the same distinction as one that when a veterinary hospital sends off their blood work to the laboratory, this is the laboratory it goes to. So we were able to do full blood panels.
Teri Austin [00:23:23]:
We had a fabulous digital x ray machine with email capacity, also a gift from IDex laboratories. And we brought our full pharmacy from our hospital. So we had every drug that we carry that we could offer, and we had a microscope there for cytologies. We had an ultrasound machine with an ultrasound internist to run it. And we had two mobile clinics there that day. One was doing spay and neuter, and one was doing other surgeries, mass removal, vionucleations and that sort. So we had a full service hospital and the idea, and it was fabulous.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:23:54]:
The quality that you had of all your equipment was mind boggling. And knowing that, gee, Doc, I'd love to have that done, I just can't afford it. This was. It needs to be done. We're going to put you in the queue. Everyone was very understanding. All right, it's going to. Might take a couple of hours, but you're getting it all done today.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:24:16]:
From blood work to the radiographs to the ultrasound, to dentistry, it was anesthetic dentistries, wonderfully done. Registered technicians. It was amazing.
Teri Austin [00:24:27]:
Well, thank you. And what was so wonderful to have the quality of doctors that we did have there, to be able to do those excellent diagnostics so that we could service the animals. And then we did follow up. Some pets needed another blood test two weeks later, or they need more antibiotic. And because we had created full medical records for each client, we were able to follow up on the things that needed to be followed up on. So we're going to do it again on February the 13th. We're at East Valley shelter doing a smaller event there. But then in March, we're hoping to be back in Watts.
Teri Austin [00:24:58]:
And I'm reaching out to the councilman to let us use that community center again because it's a nice facility.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:25:03]:
People, the listeners right now going, gee, this sounds fabulous. I would love to do it in my own neighborhood to serve these animals, to get a spay mobile sounds like that's extremely expensive. To get these veterinarians to volunteer their time, that's not so hard. But all the other equipment, how would you recommend somebody approach the needs in their neighborhood?
Teri Austin [00:25:28]:
Well, there are some wonderful grants. PetSmart charities is the largest granter in the country, and you can go online and see what the qualifications are for those grants. The ASPCA also has grants. There are also a number of on the ASPCA website, as a matter of fact, they have a listing of other organizations that grant. So there's a large push in the country now toward spay and neuter and wellness. So there's far more opportunity to get a grant to do this kind of work than there was in the past. 1015 years ago, everybody was concentrating on adoption. Now people have realized that we have to concentrate on this as well.
Teri Austin [00:26:05]:
So there are those sort of grants. And as far as the, you know, going in sometimes with a couple of other organizations to get a mobile clinic, there are sometimes veterinarians who have tried doing a mobile practice and decided that wasn't for them. So on eBay, there are often mobile units that are up, know for sale at a reduced price, and they would have been new. And I do find that because the statistics are so compelling on what a big difference you can make in a relatively short period of time. This is the sort of campaign that when people do have a support base, to have that brunch and get everybody in the same room and tell them what you're going to do with this money, that's the fundraising that has to happen. It's constant. I mean, even though we're in Beverly Hills, there is no money tree in the front yard, and we are constantly fundraising. We don't have the money for our building yet.
Teri Austin [00:26:55]:
It isn't easy to get funds. It takes a non ending passion and desire to keep the ball rolling. But we feel if we can get our hospital built, we're going to look forward to inviting people from all over the country and all over the world to come learn a high volume spay neuter. Come watch our organization and see what we've done and copy whatever they think might work in their community.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:27:17]:
So best practices, it's really something that you now are getting down to a science for people that are listening. And you keep talking about the spaymobile. Please describe it, how many surgeries? And some people might be thinking, this must be kind of subclass procedure that's being done since it's being done for these people who can't afford it. And high volume. How do you do it? What are you doing?
Teri Austin [00:27:41]:
Well, the mobile clinic we have was built by Laboiet out of Cleveland, Ohio. And they do a number of specialty vehicles for the government and human hospitals. And so our mobile clinic is a very state of the art, beautiful clinic that could easily serve as humans. So it's not just an animal mobile. And I'm really proud to say that the level of service we offer from the drugs that we use, from suture material, from the quality of veterinarians that we employ, it's top notch. And I tell people that their pet is going to receive as good service, if not better than any other hospital they would go to in the city because of the quality that we put into the mobile clinic. Because people do ask me, they say, well, if it's for free, do you have people who are learning? And I say, oh, no. The people that we have are high volume specialists.
Teri Austin [00:28:31]:
We do approximately 7000 free spay neuters a year, which include vaccines. And you figure if even half that number, if 3500 dogs or cats produce just one litter in a year, that's over 20,000 puppies and kittens that are not overproduced each year because of our speedmobile. And that's a conservative number. I'm saying if half had one litter, the case is truly that more than half would produce and they might have two litters and then their children would have litters. So I'm talking about a very conservative number and it's 20,000 a year. That's shocking numbers is the answer. And if people want to see the speed mobile, our website is Amanda foundation. Not Zoth, just amandafoundation.
Teri Austin [00:29:16]:
No space in the middle. And they can go on and see the spaymobile. If they want to donate to the spaymobile program or to our building fund, they can do that online as well. But there are pictures of the spaymobile and an explanation of what we've done. And I tell people whenever they ask me, and I have spoken to people all over the world, and I am very proud to say that there are other speedmobile programs that I've consulted on that are up and running. I am more than happy to speak to anybody and offer them whatever expertise or whatever I've learned. I'm happy to share it.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:29:45]:
Networking is so important. And thank you so much, Teri. This Amanda foundation is really making a difference in the Los Angeles area. And your generosity, your willingness to network with other folks who have the same kind of passion but not the experience, is really going to make a difference for those pets in the United States that need all of this love. Thank you so much.
Teri Austin [00:30:11]:
Well, thank you, Dr. Chris. Thank you so much.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:30:13]:
Well, I've had the joy of chatting right now with Teri Austin of the Amanda foundation. You can learn more by going to Amanda foundation and see what they're doing. If you need assistance you've heard, please feel free to give them a call. They can help you help other animals. This is Dr. Bernardine Cruz. You've been listening to the pet doctor on pet Life radio. Please tune in again next week.
Dr. Bernadine Cruz [00:30:36]:
We'll have more information on how to make you the best possible pet owner. Thanks for listening and take care.
Timestamped overview:
00:00 Animal shelters teem with hope, heartbreak, and potential.
05:32 Low-income areas need more animal control.
08:35 Adoption, reducing surplus animals, spay/neuter mission.
13:08 Clients support charity by choosing our hospital.
15:52 Rescues advocate for pet retention and donations.
18:25 Larry Hill, Mike Cornelius help pets for free.
22:30 Veterinary clinic offers valuable experience in medicine.
26:05 Grants, mobile clinics, fundraising for animal welfare.
27:41 Laboiet builds state-of-the-art mobile clinics.
30:36 More info on being the best pet owner.
Key topics and bullets:
Animal Welfare and Economic Disparity: "And we did find they were in the lowest income areas, where there aren't many services for animals, where there aren't veterinarians. And, for instance, one of the reasons we chose the community you mentioned, which is Watts, is there isn't a veterinarian who has the address, Watts, California."
— Teri Austin [00:06:15 → 00:06:31]
Animal Rescue Realities: "No, we started off as a rescue. And when I came to Los Angeles, as I say, the organization was fairly new, and it was a group of women rescuing as many dogs and cats as they could afford on whatever money they were raising. And when I got involved with the organization and I started visiting the shelters of Los Angeles, it was not too long a time. Like within a year. I said to my colleagues in the, said, you know, if all we're doing is rescuing, it's kind of a hobby. We're not really solving a problem and we'll never be able to adopt our way out of this problem. And I take issue with slogans like adopt them all and stuff, because that's just not a reality. If you do the math, if you took the number of animals that are sitting in shelters today, and if every household in the United States were to adopt five dogs and five cats, you still wouldn't empty the shelters."
— Teri Austin [00:07:47 → 00:08:35]
Animal Adoption Awareness: "So adopting is part of the answer and will always be an adoption organization. But we realized that we really need to get in there and try to lower the number, the volume of surplus animals that nobody wanted."
— Teri Austin [00:08:35 → 00:08:48]
Supporting Charitable Veterinary Care: "And our clients who are from Beverly Hills and the surrounding areas are people who could well afford to go to other hospitals that choose to bring their pets to us because they know we have excellent staff, truly excellent staff, and they want to support the charity."
— Teri Austin [00:13:08 → 00:13:22]
Innovative Nonprofit Animal Care Model: "So our thought of what our business model has been for our charity is that we have the spaymobile that is trying to prevent the production of surplus pets that will not have homes. We are rescuing the animals that are already here and need homes. And then we're trying to provide care so that people can retain their pets and they don't end up relinquishing them to the shelters because they feel that they can't afford the medical care. So we're trying to service an organic circle there, doing everything we can to help people retain their pets."
— Teri Austin [00:15:20 → 00:15:48]
Enhancing Nonprofit Sustainability in Animal Rescue: "But this last recession really taught me that nonprofits should try to have some other income source beyond just waiting for donations."
— Teri Austin [00:16:28 → 00:16:38]
Community Efforts in Pet Retention: "There's so many wonderful people in the animal community, and to me, I was so touched when I looked around the room and I saw everything from our dog trainers to boarded specialists, veterinarians who had given their Sundays."
— Teri Austin [00:19:07 → 00:19:22]
The Cost of Animal Healthcare: "They think that veterinarians have this huge profit margin, and, gee, they shouldn't be charging so much money. And they don't realize that animal medicine is as expensive as people medicine. Pfizer, Marie Albert, all the same companies that manufacture drugs for people are the same people who do them for animals, and they are not cheaper."
— Teri Austin [00:19:25 → 00:19:41]
Breaking Barriers in Veterinary Care: "So it was a wonderful, also learning experience for people to break that ICE between ever talking to a veterinarian and feeling comfortable doing that."
— Teri Austin [00:22:38 → 00:22:46]
Innovative Fundraising for Mobile Veterinary Clinics: "This is the sort of campaign that when people do have a support base, to have that brunch and get everybody in the same room and tell them what you're going to do with this money, that's the fundraising that has to happen."
— Teri Austin [00:26:33 → 00:26:45]