Weekly Update: It's Cat Time!

Hi Volunteers and Fosters!

I’m back from the polar vortex- hope everyone is enjoying the sun! Thanks all of you for your update on foster preferences and interest last week- it’s not too late to let me know if/what you’re interested in fostering (it never is!).

This week I’ve got a special ALL CAT email, but that doesn’t mean you dog people can/should tune out- lots of stuff to share around, and hey, cats have four legs, too!

First, our two beautiful buff girls, Zoli & Ooli are looking for a foster home. These two sweeties are a pair of six year-old kitties that came back to Hopalong after their family lost their home. They’ve spent time in a couple of our adoption sites and have hung around the office charming the staff and volunteers to no end. They’re still looking for their furr-ever home, but in the meantime, they’d love, love, LOVE to find a foster home who will spoil them rotten for a month or so. If you’re looking for an awesome pair of companions to temporarily brighten up your life, please email or call Trisha and let her know if you’re interested. Zoli and Oola would prefer to be the only kitties in your home, but if you have cats and can keep the girls in a separate area, that would work.  These ladies aren’t big dog lovers. The girls would be great first time cat fosters- they’re tidy and self-entertain (and they entertain people, too).

Second, one of our long term kitties, Bootsy, was adopted last week. This volunteer favorite has found the furrever home we knew was waiting for him!

Finally, we’re partnering with Berkeley Animal Care Services again in a Foster Orientation for potential adult cat fosters- we did this last spring with kittens- and would love to have a great turnout. We love working with BACS on moving adoptable kitties into foster homes and eventually permanent homes. If you can make it or know someone who might be interested, the orientation is Saturday, January 25^th at 10:30 am at BACS, 1 Bolivar Dr, Berkeley. Register and more information here.

Thanks again, everyone, 

Thursday Email (What?)

Hi Everyone,

I know it's weird, but I don't want to miss my chance to say "hi" and "thank you!" this week, or to tell you about all the cool stuff that's coming up!

Thanks to everyone who came to the First Ever Hopalong Volunteer and Foster Social last week at Hive Cafe! I know I had fun and it was a great chance to hang out with you guys in a more informal setting. If there's interest, we'll get these going more regularly. Feedback welcome!

We have a lot of really cool opportunities coming up, some in September and many many more in October. I've posted them here with details, but to give you a rough idea, we get to boost ice cream sales at Fenton's in Oakland (YUM!), adopt out a bunch of animals in Marin, sell wine in Emeryville (woooo!) and then host a gala event! There is literally something for everyone here, so check out the dates and details and let me know what sounds good. We'll also be holding extra cat mobiles in September and all of our normal dog mobiles. If you're still interested in getting trained for cat mobiles, it's not too late!

Thank you to all of the fosters that have been doing such a great job with puppies and kittens! These little guys are so cute to look at but there's just a LITTLE more to puppies and kittens than that... lots of pee and poop and cleaning and socializing and yeah, you get the picture. These animals are getting into great adoptive homes with the help of our awesome volunteers which means we're pulling more and saving more lives which means we need more fosters! If you're free or have a friend or neighbor, send them our way. You guys are wonderful, thank you!

That's all for now- and don't forget, even though this is your Wednesday email, today is really Thursday. Back at your regularly scheduled time next week!

Yours,

Lauren

Wednesday Update

Hi Everyone,

First, a thank you for being so fabulous. This week you’ve eaten pizza, moved furniture and supplies, made copies, handled dogs, screened adoptions, fostered dogs, puppies, cats and kittens, driven animals hither and thither, cleaned up massive amounts of poop, entered data, ran mobile adoption events, made movies and did a whole lot of other things. I’m tired just thinking about it!

We’ve got another fun thing coming up in addition to pizza: We’re participating in the New Parkway’s Karma Cinema month. Go to the New Parkway in Oakland, watch a movie and help out Hopalong! Details here. This is also your last chance to vote for your preferred time for the upcoming Foster and Volunteer social here. We will be picking a date this week, so vote now!

 

Cat news: the long term cat, CATelyn (yes, with the capital letters) was adopted this week! The cat crew will also be hosting two cat mobiles coming up: this Saturday at Your Basic Bird in Berkeley from 12-3 and next Saturday at Berkeley Animal care Services, time to be decided (we’ll keep you posted). Tell your friends!

Dog news: Erica has asked me to ask you to return any unused dog supplies, if you’ve got them. The cute puppies at left are also begging for a foster home. They love their foster mom but their foster mom says that 6 weeks is a long time to have two puppies. If you can take them, even for a weekend, or one or both for longer, everyone will appreciate it. They’re crate trained!

Coming soon: 20^th Anniversary planning. Some of you have told me you’re interested, and I’ve made a note, but if you haven’t, and you are, now’s the time!

Okay, all, you’re wonderful.  Have a good afternoon,

Many Animal Wednesday!

Hi Fosters and Volunteers and Volunteers who Might Be Fosters Soon,

Hope everything is well with you! If you haven’t heard, we have lots and lots of dogs and puppies who need foster homes. If you’ve thought about fostering in the past, this is a great time. If you know anyone who might want to foster a dog or puppy, send them this way- we’re very welcoming! We’ve got small adult dogs and medium/large breed puppies, and foster-to-adopt is a-ok with those guys. Spreading the word is also a great help: we have an ad on Craigslist that’s an easy way to get the word out.

This is also a great time to adopt a kitten- it’s that time of the summer when kitten adoptions slow down. All of you have done a great job fattening up these kittens and socializing them, now we need to remind people that the kittens are out there. Tell your friends to check out our website, visit our petfinder or “like” us on Facebook.

Spreading the word takes just a minute but is an enormous help and we really appreciate it. Another thing that doesn’t take too long (and tastes good!) is eating pizza! Tomorrow (July 25^th) is our first FUNdraiser with California Pizza Kitchen. You and your friends (and acquaintances) can print out and bring in this ad to the California Pizza Kitchen in Emeryville on Bay Street and eat away. For every diner that brings in the ad, Hopalong gets 20% of the check! (Make sure and say “hi” to the Hopalong volunteers while you’re there!)

After you eat at CPK, you might want to burn off some of the cheese and dessert: We’re moving stuff across the parking lot from our storage unit to our office on Saturday, July 27^th and really need some help. We got very short notice about this move and there is a LOT of it. If you’ve got an hour to spare, we’d love if you could move a load or two!

A quick thank you to the people who have brought in dry kitten food- the kittens have already eaten it and say thank you! We asked them to slow down, but they’re still asking for more! Sheesh! Also, thank you to the great volunteers who came in on Saturday to learn how to screen prospective dog adopters. This promises to be a giant help. More classes in the works! As always, opportunities on the blog including a bunch of drives. Also coming soon, our first volunteer & foster social- I have a meeting tomorrow with a potential host. Yay!

Thank you, all, for everything.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Lauren

Opportunities

• Driving! We've got dogs and they need rides! For sure we will need drives Thursday, July 25th, Friday, July 26th and Monday, July 29th. Please let me know if you're available. Minivan available!
• Weekend moving party: This Saturday, July 26th, we are moving our storage unit back into our office. We need a few gung-ho people to shuffle stuff around (some heavy, some not). Even an hour helps!
• Cat Cuddling: Both of our sites (PetSmart in Pinole and PetCo in Emeryville) have shifts available. If you live close to either of those sites and want to pick up a weekly shift for kitten love, let us know!
• Fostering! We have *so many* dogs that need fostering, it's kind of ridiculous. The puppies are included below, but there are adults, too. And if you like kittens better, well, we've got those, too! Have some summer fun with these guys! Contact me or Erica.

Wednesday! Wednesday! Wednesday

Hi Fosters and Volunteers!

I hope you are well and this weekend is speeding by for you! Thank you all for participating in the “do you want to hang out with Hopalong Fosters and Volunteers” survey- if you haven’t, here’s your shot! Preparations are underway and I’ll have updates for you soon.

I’ve got some long term dogs to talk about today: first, congratulations to Maddie (the tripod) for leaving the building! Thank you to Kris and Lanie for keeping that sweetheart for so long. Second, please take a second to check out and share Chico’s profile (pictured, left). Chico is a really wonderful guy whose adoption donation has been reduced for the simple reason that he’s getting overlooked.  He’s a good hiker, a fast study, and crate trained. Like Maddie, this is one of those dogs leaving us shaking our heads and wondering why the best ones stay with us for so long!

I know it’s a little early to plan your dinner for next Thursday, but we’re partnering with California Pizza on July 25^th, August 22^nd, September 26^th and October 24th. Any diner who presents this flier will have 20% of her check donated to Hopalong! You can help even if you can’t eat at CPK those days- spread the word by passing out fliers, forwarding this email or linking it on your social media sites. The flier is also available right from our homepage if you want to direct someone there. This fundraiser only works if a) you bring the flier and b) you eat at CPK on one of those days so spread the word and bring a friend and an appetite!

Speaking of eating, the kittens say thank you for the yummy grub that you’ve donated! It seems that this batch of kittens came with bottomless pits for stomachs, though, and they’re now asking for even more dry kitten food. Anything you’ve got helps, at least until we figure out how to get them to California Pizza Kitchen!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Jack London Square adoptathon this weekend. It was a great success!

Thanks all, and as always, have a great afternoon/evening!

Best,

lb