Shelter Spotlight: PAWS Chicago
From the start, founder Paula Fasseas has focused on the solution to ending euthanasia in shelters and addressing the reasons why pets end up on the street. Through her advocacy and her team's innovative and humane approach, PAWS Chicago has led the reduction in homeless pet euthanasia in Chicago by 89% and helped change people’s attitudes about animals in need of adoption. We spoke with Paula about the organization's mission, its Oprah moment, and what it means to be a no-kill community.
PAWS Chicago has such a great origin story. Can you walk us through it?
I started PAWS accidentally. We adopted a stray dog from Greece on a vacation, and we were so in love with him that we started reading about homeless animals in Chicago. I was horrified to learn that over 42,000 cats and dogs a year were being euthanized – just in the city alone. I love animals, and I had no idea this was happening. I realized the general public didn’t either; the community had no idea how bad it was.
My daughter was in high school at the time, and she was doing community service at a shelter. She kept saying, “Mom, you’ve got to do something. There are animals being marked for euthanasia every night. The next day they’re all gone.” It was kind of a big, dirty, dark secret in animal welfare, so I thought, how can we raise awareness?
We decided to do an event. I got wonderful stores on Michigan Avenue, like Barneys and Neiman Marcus, to support us and host an adoption event with all the local shelters and rescues.
We took 26 dogs out of Chicago Animal Care and Control for the day, which they had never allowed before, and they all got adopted. It showed everyone that these were highly adoptable, wonderful animals. They just weren’t being seen, and the public wasn't being driven to adopt because they didn't know that these animals were being euthanized. The next day I had 50 calls from people saying, “What's the name of your organization? We want to help.”
I had just intended to do an event, but we had space where we could open a little cat adoption center. Within a few months we had a seven day a week operation, all volunteer run. And on the weekends the city would let us take the dogs out of the shelter and get them adopted. So that was how it grew.
That was in 1997. PAWS Chicago has grown exponentially since then. Was there a turning point in the early days when you realized this was going to become a major operation?
I went around the country, and visited the founder of the no-kill movement, Richard Avanzino, and he told me, “You're never going to adopt our way out of the problem. You have to do spay/neuter.” So I decided to open a spay/neuter clinic. We realized that the majority of stray animals were coming from under-resourced communities where folks couldn’t afford to spay or neuter their pets. It was a very costly procedure back then, and even more so now. So we opened a facility providing free and low cost spay/neuter services. That was definitely a sea change moment for us.
Oprah was an early advocate of your work. What’s her connection to PAWS Chicago?
After we opened the spay/neuter clinic, we decided to open an adoption facility. We toured the country to find the best facilities and the best practices, and we took everything we learned to open a state-of-the-art facility in Chicago's Lincoln Park community. The animals aren’t in cages but in rooms with music piped in; the dogs get four walks a day. It's a great location where people can easily see the animals and learn about them and want to adopt them. The facility became popular, and Oprah heard about us. She had us on her show several times, which was hugely effective – not only for the Chicagoland community but also for the country at large. She really encouraged America to rescue and told people, “You’ve got to adopt and spay/neuter.”
Then she came to our adoption center and fell in love with a little cocker spaniel puppy, Sadie, who she adopted, and who recently celebrated her 16th birthday. Oprah was transformational to the adoption movement. People started saying, “Wow, why should we be buying a dog? We could save a life."
The PAWS Chicago Medical Center is the first stop for homeless animals when they arrive at PAWS. Is being able to provide in-house care a total game-changer?
Once we had the adoption center open, we realized we really needed a major medical center. Animals coming from Chicago Animal Care and Control – animals that were being abandoned – had a lot of medical problems.
So we opened a huge 30,000 square foot hospital, and we're able to take in hundreds of animals every week. This has really been a change factor for us. We have all the equipment there to do whatever the animals need – ultrasounds, orthopedic surgeries, you name it. We have a wonderful vet staff, all fully paid.
It's a very robust operation. When animals come into our program, they start there. We see about 25,000 animals a year; that includes homeless animals and animals in the community – folks who need help with low cost vaccines, or low cost and free spay/neuter treatments. We also have some community outreach programs where we provide medical care in really underserved communities that need more support.
PAWS Chicago is committed to building “no kill” communities. Can you explain what that means – and why that mission was considered radical when you first started this work in 1997?
When I first got involved in this work, traditional shelters would euthanize any animals that were sick or injured. Our model as a no kill facility is to take any animal, regardless of the condition it’s in. If it’s sick or injured, as long as it's a treatable illness or condition, we will absolutely help them.
No kill doesn't mean never kill. We believe in humane euthanasia – if an animal has multiple illnesses and it's not going to live long and it's going to be very uncomfortable, then of course we would put them down, just as you would with your own pet. That’s humane. But we feel it's inhumane to euthanize an animal because of lack of resources or space or other external factors.
That’s what makes a no kill community. As we continue down this path, we're seeing tremendous strides. We’ve reduced the euthanasia rate in the city of Chicago by 89%. Shelters across the country are really problem solving now, and not just using euthanasia as a managing tool.
What makes a good foster home for a dog who’s young, healing, or needs help with socialization and behavior?
"People who are willing to learn make the best volunteers and foster parents."
Patience, education, and flexibility. People who are willing to learn make the best volunteers and foster parents.
And on our end, that means follow through. Making sure we're there as a resource after the adoption – not just up to the adoption – but for life. Once a PAWS animal, always a PAWS animal. We will always take a PAWS animal back, no questions asked. We are there to help that animal through its life.
What's the most surprising thing you've learned from doing this work?
Never underestimate the power of a community. It's astounding. People want to help.
Photos courtesy of PAWS Chicago
Where my dogs at?
