Three years ago, Buzz Miller fulfilled a life-long dream when he founded PACT For Animals, a nonprofit organization that helps place animals of hospital patients and military persons in foster care until the person has recovered or returned from active military duty. All PACT services are free and are provided to give peace of mind for those who will be away for an extended period of time but have no other shelter options for their pets. Miller said he had been rescuing animals part-time for 20 years and full-time for 10 while working as an attorney before he decided to launch PACT. “I worked with all the shelters in the Delaware Valley area and found out a couple years ago that there was a need for what PACT does,” he said. “In my interactions with local shelters, I started hearing horror stories of people dropping their animals off at shelters only to never see them again. They were going overseas — some risking their lives — and didn’t know if they’d see their animal again. The people we help are people who have no one to take care of their animals, who don’t have the money to take them to animal daycare. There is a definite need both locally and throughout the country for this program.” Miller also said PACT has extended its programming to those who will be hospitalized for an extended period of time. Although the program started in the Delaware Valley, the need for it goes far beyond Philadelphia, said Miller. Initially, PACT required that foster homes be within 90 miles from its Gladwyne headquarters, but now accepts foster homes from as far as 1,000 miles away. Potential foster families and pet owners must fill out an application and, once approved, PACT performs an in-home visit and inspection before accepting them into the program. Last year, PACT helped foster 40 animals, and Miller expects to reach 70 fostered animals this year. The organization’s work is fueled by volunteers and donations. “Every placement we do is an animal that will go into a shelter if they don’t have a foster home. We save animals’ lives. We also give peace of mind to family, friends and kids. If you care about your animal, you don’t have to worry about your animal with us.” While PACT approaches animal rescue from that vantage point, Red Paw Emergency Relief Team works with at-risk animals in other situations. Red Paw is a nonprofit emergency-services organization that works with the Southeastern Pennsylvania chapter of the American Red Cross to provide emergency transport, shelter and veterinary care to animals involved in residential fires and other disasters. Out founder Jennifer Leary, a firefighter, was inspired to create the organization after witnessing firsthand the effect of natural disasters on animals; she proposed the idea of Red Paw to the American Red Cross to garner support for services offered by Red Cross for humans, only for animals. “I am a Philly firefighter and Red Cross disaster responder, and so going to fire scenes and disaster scenes for so many years and seeing there wasn’t a service available for pets once they were in these situations made me realize the great need for one,” Leary said. So far, Red Paw has worked with some 700 animals in Philadelphia, as well as in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties. Red Paw also helps adopt out animals that have been separated from their owners due to other unfortunate circumstances. “Animals are our children and the people we help lose everything, and at that moment when we first see them, all they have left — if they are lucky — are their animals,” said Leary. “We want to make sure those families don’t lose anything else. It helps with the rebuilding process and their mindframe and helps them get back on their feet.”
For more information on PACT for Animals, visit www.pactforanimals.org. For information on Red Paw, visit http://redpawemergencyreliefteam.com.