BLOG

Blog

EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY WORKS! PART IV BY CLAUDINE VASS

The stress level that pet owners faced towards the end of Hurricane was very high post Hurricane Harvey. A controversy of number of days for stray hold in municipal animal shelter arose from the community with a mix of joy and fear. Fort Bend Pets Alive! supported the efforts put

Read More

Effective Advocacy Works! (Part III) by Claudine Vass

Our advocacy work gets more intangible and appears to be immeasurable at times. What I am referring to is the release of information of the federal PETS Act 1  on social media by Fort Bend Pets Alive! on Sunday, August 27th 2017 afternoon. After different local authorities announced that household

Read More

Effective Advocacy Works! (Part II) by Claudine Vass

The blog “Effective Advocacy Works” (Part I) was published during city elections in April because the community finally saw the change that they had been hoping to see. It took a while but it happened. Advocacy is definitely long and arduous. It has also been proven to have an intangible

Read More

The Problem with Breed Discrimination by Mara Hartsell

Breed-specific discrimination and the restrictive laws inspired by it profoundly impact innocent dogs and responsible pet guardians. Simply because of a dog’s appearance, he may be labeled as aggressive and dangerous by an apartment complex, a local neighborhood, or even an entire city. His caretaker is then met with a

Read More

Let Compassion Rule to Unmask Status Quo By Claudine Vass

  While our community was getting ready for fireworks, special food and festivities to celebrate freedom and the birthday of our great nation, an act at the base of all core values was retaliated in a mall in Katy, Texas. A responsible and level headed teenage employee at a famous

Read More

“Shelby’s Story” by Alicia Levin

In June 2015, my husband and I adopted our first dog, a lab/pit mix puppy we named Shelby. Two years later, we still ask ourselves: who rescued whom? We moved to Houston during a terrible flood over Memorial Day weekend 2015, the same storm that swept Shelby and her sister

Read More

Virginia Mayor Sets Example for All Municipal Shelters by Mara Hartsell

Levar Stoney, Richmond’s youngest mayor, actively transforms the potential many see in government animal shelters, elevating them from simple “animal control” agencies to effective animal adoption facilities. In 2016, Stoney’s leadership enabled Richmond Animal Care and Control in Richmond, Virginia to reach an 89 percent save rate, up from its

Read More

Effective Advocacy Works! (Part I) by Claudine Vass

Fostering, adoption, donation cannot replace advocacy! How do we strive to be the change that we wish to see in the world? There are many ways to be the change. Relating it to our companion animals, how can we as animal lovers be the change we wish to see in

Read More

“The Bond We Share” by Sarah Travis

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened” Anatole France. The bond we share with our pets is hard to describe. I was lucky enough to discover this secret joy at a young age with Cocoa, our family’s black Labrador. She celebrated my childhood delights

Read More

You Can Do It! by Claudine Vass

Two years following its inception, Fort Bend Pets Alive! has received an invitation to be a guest on a radio show for the first time. Considering the increased attention from our community, public officials, and media friends in the recent months, I, Claudine, was nicely surprised to have the opportunity

Read More

The Unseen Destruction of Compassion Fatigue by Mara Hartsell

What is “compassion fatigue?” Even if you’re unfamiliar with the term, you’ve likely witnessed or experienced it first-hand. Compassion fatigue may best be defined as the emotional withdrawal one experiences after working in the animal care field, whether one is a veterinarian, an animal control officer, or a rescue volunteer.

Read More

Why We’re Here

Czech and French writer Milan Kundera once said, “Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring–it was peace.”

Read More

NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP

For upcoming events and volunteer opportunities