the INTERVIEW - PAWS with Pat Cheek, Bud Jenkins & Holly Myers

by Karen Lee Hall

Vida Pacifica:  Good morning. Thank you all for taking the time to talk about the animal rescue organization PAWS.  Could you just quickly introduce yourself and let us know your involvement with the organization.

Pat:  Hi, I’m Pat Cheek. I was one of three people that started Paws in, I believe, 2009.

Bud:  I’m Bud Jenkins and I volunteered to work at the adoption center and then was invited to be on the Costa Rican nonprofit board.

Holly:  Hi, I’m Holly Myers and Pat conned me into coming on board at the beginning. I started just volunteering on Saturdays down at the feria and it's evolved into being one of the people that takes care of a lot of the cats for PAWS.

Pat:  And you were president for a time too.

Bud:  And chairman of the board too, right? Both of you were.

Pat:  I was president, but Holly took over after John Newley left as president.

VP:  What is PAWS?  Can you describe the organization?

Pat:  PAWS started out as three people who thought we needed to do something to help all the animals that were running the streets of Quepos. We were not the first; that was Los Amigos de Animales run by – I think – Jim and Valerie Phillips, Adrienne and Lance from Cafe Milagro, and Bobby and Pam (I can't remember their last name). PAWS was started by me, Teresa Bueno and Christian Kirsch. We met for 3 weeks at Soda Blanca in Barrio Los Angeles to work it all out. We designed the bylaws and whatnot and were aiming for a no kill shelter where we could spay and neuter strays. The Los Amigos de Animales group had spay and neuter clinics with people that came – for free – from a San Jose group called SASY!. It was at one of these that PAWS was introduced to a full blown spay and neuter clinic. That day one doctor came with three of his assistants. It was at the fire station. We had tables and everything set up and whatever they needed we provided.  And 12 hours later this one vet and his 3 assistants had done 104 animals! He said it was his personal best. The rest of us were like “Oh my God!”  After that, the objective was to get the community involved, including the vets.

VP:  How responsive were the local vets to your plan?

Pat:  They really kicked us in the butt. They sent a letter to the university of veterinary medicine complaining that by bringing in SASY! we were taking money out of their pockets. So, we met all three of them together, Dr. Desiree, Dr. Martinez and Dr. Cordoba, and set a price that we could handle. Something like c5,000 or c7,000. Them sending that letter was the opening to our conversation to bring them all on board with PAWS

VP:  So then with an ongoing vet bill, you had to raise money?

Pat:  We had our first fundraiser in 2009 at Matapalo at one of the beach hotels and Ben Jammin was there. We didn't really call it a Battle of the Bands at that point. We prepared food and had about 100 people, right, and we probably made a couple thousand dollars.

VP:  From when you started to now, is there a difference in the number of strays in the town? Do you feel like you've made an impact on that front?

Pat:  I definitely think we've made an impact and continue to make an impact. There are fewer stray dogs and better taken care of dogs. Before, most dog owners never thought to put them on a lead or walk their dogs, now they do that regularly. Before, dogs were just out in the yard chained up and now, increasingly, they are part of the family.

VP:  That's a major cultural shift

Holly:  Yeah, it really is.

VP:  Do you think that’s because PAWS represented care for animals? Or is it because with more foreigners here with pets they introduced a different attitude to pets?

Holly:  I personally think that PAWS had a lot of influence in the community. Particularly in realizing that there was value in spay and neutering. A) so that you didn't end up with a bunch of unwanted animals and B) making their animals healthier. It introduced people to veterinarian care, and I think the veterinarians appreciated how it helped the community understand how important it is to take your animals in for vaccines. We've developed a good working relationship with our veterinarians in the area.

VP:  Since there is a law against abusing animals, is there government support for programs like PAWS?

Pat:  Early on I was invited to a meeting at La Mansion. There was a woman from government (it could have been the mayor) and some other businesspeople there. Harry Bodan was a huge supporter of PAWS, always had a cheque for us, and he invited me. At that meeting I asked, “since I understand there's a certain amount of money in the Costa Rica budget for animals, PAWS is a worthy organization that could really use some government help.” And she looked at me and said, “oh, so now instead of trying to save the children I also have to save the dogs and cats?”  OK, I’ll shut up now. And just so you know, I'm not one to shy away but I did on that one.

VP:  Everybody working at PAWS is entirely volunteer, is that right? There's not one paid position?

Holly:  Everyone is a volunteer.

VP:  I imagine it’s challenging to find people to foster animals and help with events?

Holly:  Yes, it is. We are always in need of volunteers. Helping with our events is how we use them mostly. However, people who are willing to foster, to take dogs or cats into their homes until they are adopted, providing a place that's secure and safe for them to be, is a need we always have.

VP:  How do you find people?

Holly:  It's pretty much word of mouth or people will stop by the adoption center on Saturday morning and show interest. One of the things that we need to really focus on in the future is bringing new people in a way that is meaningful.

VP:  You talked about the adoption center. Can you tell us how that works and what you consider a success?

Pat:  I'll start it but then you finish it OK Bud? A few years in we got in contact with Cindy Brewster and her husband. They had a place in Naranjito. Cindy is a lawyer in Colorado and we were throwing around how we could get a 501-C3 not-for-profit status. Well, she got started on that and it was quite a project. Jan Blackwell and I prepared the application. We put together this packet with advertised events, handmade signs, photographs from all those events, posters and stuff like that. We had to hand write essays on what we did and how we did it. It was about an inch thick and looked like a kid’s school project. Cindy took that back with her to Colorado and we waited three or four months before we got a response. When she finally called, she said, “You're not gonna believe this but you got it!” Now I'm going to start crying, but it was the greatest single thing I think I’ve ever done.

Everyone:  That’s amazing!

VP:  Once you were a registered charity, was that how you got the building in Quepos where the Adoption Centre is?

Holly:  The woman who originally owned the building in downtown Quepos decided to sell it. When she realized how much tax she was going to pay if she sold, she said, “I would rather you guys have it for your nonprofit. I’ll give it as a donation, use it as a tax write off and you guys can have a space.” So now, at least once a week, they do a spay neuter clinic there. And we use it every Saturday as our adoption center.  We rent the upstairs out and that's an income stream for us.  It's been a real gift.

VP:  Every Saturday you hold an adoption center and everyone knows if they want a dog or a cat that's where to go. How do you select which animals to put forward?

Holly:  Any of my kittens that are old enough to have been spayed and neutered come that Saturday. I bring them all. The adults are a little harder to get adopted but I usually try and bring one or two each time as well.  

VP:  Only animals that have already been fixed go to the adoption center?

Holly:  Right. The puppies are a little bit harder to bring. Really, it's about the amount of space versus the size of the puppies and the dogs. And some need that face-to-face with people. Wendy is a volunteer who takes care of most of our dogs and puppies. I take care of most of the kittens and cats, and Isabelle takes overflow when she can. And Kat Evans and John Williamson and their daughter Sophie also foster kittens for me on a regular basis. Sophie is becoming the cat whisperer in town.

VP:  How many animals do you think you're fostering at any one time?

Pat: (chuckles) Have you counted lately?

Bud:  Between cats and dogs – and I don't know what the mix is – we adopt out , and we castrate up to 3000 animals per year in each of the last 3 years.

VP:  How do you acquire the dogs and cats in your care?

Holly:  Usually WhatsApp. No, seriously, phone calls …

Bud: …the neighborhood contacts us about a cat with kittens…

Pat:  …and businesses do the same.

VP:  And they have they have all your numbers, or they know how to get your numbers?

Pat:  Everyone definitely has Holly’s number

Everyone laughs.

Bud:  She was accosted by the gas pump guy this morning. He just walked right up, and she said, “ Give me ‘treinte mil’ of gas” and he says “give me a cat “

Holly:  Yeah, I get a lot of people on the street asking “do you have kittens?”

VP:  And in that case do you say, “come on Saturday” or do you say “come on over and I'll give you a kitten right now”?

Holly:  It really depends on my schedule. On Fridays we post pictures on Facebook of the animals going to be at the adoption center the next day, so people can see them. And it's amazing, because as soon as I post, my WhatsApp and the Facebook page start going crazy with messages. And for the rest of the day into the night I'm sitting there answering.  I just want to say, because of our nonprofit status and because of the success of our program here, we raised enough money to add vaccines to the care we give our animals pre-adoption. I think that's been one of our real successes as well

Pat:  The charitable foundation is Dominique’s end. She lives primarily in the States but she does the grant writing, and she has found groups of vets from Canada that come every year them and stay like two or three weeks and do spay and neuter clinics here. They bring all the vaccinations and stuff with them, so yes, it's pretty amazing.

VP:  Clearly, it's a labor of love for everyone involved.

Pat:  Oh boy.

Holly:  She thinks I'm crazy.

VP:  What are you thinking about going forward and for the next phase?

Pat:  We just need more money. That's the key, we need more money.

Bud:  And young people.

VP:  If just having more volunteers is not the way to go…

Bud:  It is the way to go.

Pat:  It is the way to go. But what I see, and I know other people see too, is that we need to find a more sustainable income stream.

Bud:  I'm ready to speak on that one. On a local basis we do 2 fundraisers each year. I think that might be a little too much for the small volunteer group that we have. And we seem to always go back to the same wonderful and gracious corporate donors each time and they are all fantastic. Yet what I propose we do is have 1 PAWS fundraiser like Battle of the Bands, something that just gets everybody together and everybody knows about and loves. Then convert the fundraising energy that usually goes into the second event, turn it into a donation drive of, you know, a c1000 a day or what you can afford. Transform those patrons of the second event into regular monthly, or quarterly donors to create a steady income stream that’s a form of sponsorship, patronage really.

Pat: … for sure patrons of PAWS because … we're getting older, you know?

Holly: Boy, are we.

Bud:  Monthly donations and young people.

VP:  Can you tell us about your upcoming fundraiser when and where it is?

Bud:  Oh, yeah – that’s me. It’s on September 7^th, in the afternoon, exact time yet to be determined, at Ronny’s.  There’s going to be music and we're going to have raffle tickets. It's the same event people know and love.  

Pat:  One thing is for sure this community always turns out.

Holly:  I think we're going to get a great turnout.

Bud:  I mean we had to turn people away the last time.

Holly:  That was a bit of confusion with the parking guys, we didn't turn anyone away and we won’t this time for sure!

VP:  Is there a message that you'd like to get out to the community?

Pat:  Donate, donate

Bud:  Volunteer to foster animals.

VP:  So, donate and volunteer, I love it, and come to our fundraiser.

Holly:  And if I were going to say one thing to people it is treat your animals as you treat your family members. And vaccines are an important part of an animal's health, and don't let them reproduce!

Everybody laughs.

[1] https://www.facebook.com/sasycostarica/