Hearts Alive Village
Local animal rescue, Hearts Alive Village, works hard to keep pets and pet-parents together throughout the pandemic and the financial fallout that has ensued.
Hearts Alive Village is a local 501(c)3 non-profit, and non-breed specific animal rescue. Their mission is to nurture a compassionate society where animals are supported both in their homes and on the journey to find a home. With a particular focus on the most vulnerable, they care for stray kittens, senior animals, and sick or injured animals. This is because vulnerable animals have less chance of making it out of a shelter.
Sheryl Green, the Director of Communications at Hearts Alive Village, discussed how the rescue works to support the community, how the pandemic has affected the organization, and how the community can help them continue their work.
Green shared how the rescue is not technically considered a shelter, going on to say that the rescue instead is a combination of an “adoption center, pet supply store, a senior adoption center, [and] thrift store.” The rescue also works with two PetsMart locations to adopt out cats, and currently has “close to 150 foster homes where pets live until they are ready to be adopted and we find the right family.”
Hearts Alive Village Community Programs
HAV also has several community support programs that it provides, such as ‘Kendall’s Kupbaord’ – the organization’s own pet food bank, and the ‘Village Fund’ which provides community animals with treatment, assisting pet parents to cover the funds above what they could handle.” They’re also opening their very own veterinary clinic sometime by the early fall.
According to a recent press release by Hearts Alive Village from June 30th, their pet food pantry has now expanded to become “the Pet Food Disaster Distribution Center for the State of Nevada, thanks to food donations from GreaterGood.org and a grant for space and equipment from the Dave and Cheryl Duffield Foundation.”
The release goes on to state that “Since its expansion, Kendall’s Kupboard has gone from feeding 200-300 pets a month, to over 915 households including 1,894 dogs and 1,021 cats.” This massive increase in people needing the support of the rescue is in large part due to the pandemic and resulting unemployment.
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Impacts of the Pandemic
For some people who’ve lost their jobs in the midst of the shutdown, affording pet food and veterinary care can end up being an expense that some families are incapable of at this time.
Green shared how at the beginning of the shutdown, the local animal shelter saw a rise in surrenders in the first week of quarantine. To help take some pressure off the shelter, the rescue helped to get some of the animals there into foster homes – ultimately saving the lives of several pets in the process.
With the increase of animals at the shelter, Green said that Hearts Alive Village also saw a rise in people who wanted to foster or adopt, as well as people who started out as fosters and ended up becoming adopters. “The bonding was so intense during this time that it was nearly impossible to let them go!” said Green, sharing how she too ended up adopting a dog she fostered during this time.
Heart’s Alive Village’s Response to the Pandemic
In responding to the pandemic, Green discussed how the rescue prepared to take action and continue helping the community. “We made room in our adoption center to take in animals from the shelter and any animals with owners sick from COVID and been unable to care for them,” Green said. “We don’t want any animal surrendered over financial issues.”
As far as operations go at their locations, Green said that the rescue has “adopted all necessary safety protocols,” as well as offering a curbside pickup service to customers of their supply store. She went on to say that volunteers follow the same guidelines as the rescue staff.
Regarding volunteers, Green then went into more detail of how Hearts Alive Village changed their volunteer policy due to the pandemic.
“While we normally welcome everyone, including children volunteers, we are currently only allowing adults,” Green said. “We are being a bit more stringent on who volunteers, and how many, so we can keep everyone safe.”
#GetinMotion with Hearts Alive Village
Volunteer
Green went on to say that anyone interested in volunteering should fill out an application and the rescue’s volunteer coordinator will be in touch. Get more information on volunteering here: https://www.heartsalivevillage.org/volunteer/.
Fundraise
Another great way for people to help out Hearts Alive Village right now, according to Green, is to organize a supply drive, do a fundraiser on social media, and share our story.
Hearts Alive Village is currently running a veterinary supply drive to stock its new clinic. Donate items at www.heartsalivevillage.shop.
In addition to kitten food, the rescue always needs litter and other supplies for their adoption center. Check out their Amazon wish list here: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/LSEE9EPWJ5ZA.
Foster
And of course, being a rescue and managing so many community programs, donations are vital to the success of those programs. “We are forever needing kitten food,” Green shared. “We’ve got almost 400 in our care at the moment and they eat A LOT! Last year, we took in over 1,000 and we are suspecting this year to be higher.”
Other Ways to Help
Green then shared a shortlist of things that make the most impact in supporting the rescue:
- Shop in our store – there’s no sales tax because we are nonprofit, we keep our prices comparable to Amazon, and all the proceeds go right back into the rescue programs.
- Foster an animal – we can’t pull them from the shelter or take in a community pet in need if we don’t have a temporary solution for them.
- Adopt (DON’T SHOP!!!) – even if they don’t adopt from us, please give a homeless animal a family instead of purchasing from a store or Craigslist or a backyard breeder.
- Financial donations are always appreciated!
“We truly are a village and we couldn’t have saved more than 3,600 animals if it weren’t for all of the people involved,” Green concluded. “There’s a lot of work to be done in this valley to improve the lives of animals, and if everyone does a little bit, we’ll accomplish it.”
Hearts Alive Village is located at 1750 S. Rainbow Blvd #4, Las Vegas, NV 89146. They’re open weekdays from 10 am to 7 pm, and weekends from 10 am to 5 pm. The ‘Oldies but Goodies Senior Adoption Center’ is located at 1750 S. Rainbow Blvd #9.
Check out Hearts Alive Village on their website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You can also call them at (702) 870-0065, email them at info@heartsalivevillage.org, or fill out their contact form here.
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