In Madera County, CA, pet license fees and donations are an important source for funding essential animal services. When you license your pet, know that you are doing your part to help your local shelter workers care for lost, injured and abused animals.
We are proud to call the Friends of Madera County Animal Shelter an official Safe & Happy Partner. We will always donate 20% of every designer tag sale to MCAS in an effort to provide additional funding for the community’s vulnerable animals and the staff that serves them. They are doing some pretty amazing things for local animals in need, read on to learn more about this great organization!
By The Numbers
2
Full time
staff members
75
Volunteers
4,000
Volunteer hours worked
(10k outside of COVID)
Q&A
Talkin' Shop
What is something you are really proud of as an organization? The level of care and services that we provide to the public with our spay/neuter programs, education and rescue (local and out of state)
What is something that makes your shelter unique? We are the only shelter in the area that has been doing this for 18 years and it has progressively gotten better with each year passing
Can you share a story of a specific pet you helped recently? A beautiful, misunderstood husky mix named Shyann. She first came into the shelter back in August 2017. She spent about 321 days with us - 284 days at Madera Animal Shelter & a total of 37 days between two different rescues she was transferred to & then returned back to us. After months of showing her off on social media, a few failed adoption prospects, & lots of reaching out to different rescues... an AMAZING Friends of Madera Animal Shelter a volunteer discovered Apex Protection Project & reached out to them! They’re a wonderful wolf rescue & sanctuary, but were more than happy to help our girl!
Pretty quickly they had the perfect adopter lined up for Shyann, & agreed to help our girl! She was transported by an FMAS volunteer to SoCal where she stayed the night before jumping in the car with Apex founder, Steve, & headed to Utah to meet up with her new dad. Once she got to Utah, she hopped in another car & made her way home to Colorado to start her new life. Here’s the most recent update from her dad, Kerry:
“So coming up on 2 years since Sheyenne joined our pack. She is a doll. So much fun! She’s been hanging steady at about 75-80 pounds, been very healthy. Loves snow and catching snowballs.
I’ve tried off leash 4 times to let her run. She came back twice, about 4-6 hours later, and the other two, had to pick her up at neighbors' houses. So I now have a 75 ft rope we bring to our neighbors 70 acre property and hook her up to that. Loves chasing squirrels and deer. She gets along great with the kids, adults and the other dogs. I love her to death! Yes, she has me wrapped! Thank you again!!”
Kerry — Utah
What is a program that you run that is really important for people to know about? Our homeless spay/neuter program and Community Cat trap and release.
How many donors do you have? We have thousands of Donors but we have about 25-50 that make regular donations monthly or a lump sum at the end of the year.
To what extent are pet license fees contributing to your overall budget? The money is put into an account for the Madera County Animal services specifically for medical.
What is something you are raising funds for today specifically? Spay/Neuter funding needed for county/city wide.
Do you have any specific advice for pet owners that you’d like to share?
THE RULE OF 3
3 Days: Your new dog is trying to figure out their new home.
3 Weeks: They've figured out they will live with you and start a routine.
3 Months: Your dog has become a part of the family. Welcome Home!
Most important: Give the dog a little time! Don't throw in the towel and enjoy your new best friend!
For more information about FMAS, visit
https://www.fmas.info/