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by Beth Reese Cravey, The Florida Times-Union.

Four years ago First Coast No More Homeless Pets invited Northeast Florida animal shelters and rescue groups to fill a huge Jacksonville Fairgrounds exhibit hall with adoptable dogs and cats for three days. About 900 animals found new homes at that first Mega Adoption Event.

Since then, 13,249 animals have been adopted at local mega events, which are sponsored by Petco and organized three or four times a year at the fairgrounds. The record mega adoption tally was 1,164 in July 2014, according to the nonprofit, which runs two low-cost veterinary clinics and leads Jacksonville’s no-kill effort.

Now First Coast No More Homeless Pets has begun to help other animal welfare organizations across the country stage their own large-scale adoption events, mentoring them on logistics, marketing and other issues. The first such out-of-town advice was for the inaugural mega in early December by Brandywine Valley SPCA in Chester, Pa.

Brandywine staff and volunteers did the work, while First Coast founder and CEO Rick DuCharme provided guidance and encouragement.

“I held their hand throughout the whole thing,” he said.

When Brandywine ran out of adoptable animals two days into its three-day event, DuCharme even mobilized the Northeast Florida animal rescue community to truck almost 100 dogs and cats from Jacksonville to Pennsylvania to fill some of the empty crates.

“Duval County is nationally recognized for our no-kill status and this is one more example of our communities’ passion for the mission of helping dogs and cats find new homes — wherever they might be,” he said.

Leading the Way

When Brandywine staff first pondered having a large-scale adoption, they knew where to go for advice. CEO Adam Lamb, who formerly worked in Lakeland, knew DuCharme and Denise Deisler, executive director of the Jacksonville Humane Society, a First Coast partner agency. He knew about their success with mega events and reaching no-kill status in Jacksonville, which means at least 90 percent of shelter animals leave alive.

“They are very big [in animal rescue],” said June Iv, Brandywine’s chief development officer. “Everybody in Florida knows them.”

Including the Northeast Florida animals, 886 dogs and cats were adopted at the Brandywine event, she said. The event went so well that Brandywine is already planning its second mega sometime in 2017.

“It was very successful. We were shocked by how successful,” Iv said. “We were thinking 500. That was crazy for a first-time deal.”

Pennsylvania is not exactly in First Coast’s service area, but DuCharme said helping shelters across the country falls in line with the nonprofit’s overall mission: ending the killing of shelter animals in Jacksonville, Northeast Florida and the nation, he said.

Jacksonville achieved no-kill status in 2014. Meanwhile, First Coast also helps neighboring counties work toward the no-kill goal through free and low-cost spay/neuter and adoption initiatives and programs that help struggling families keep their pets, among other things.

Also, many shelters and rescues across North Florida participate in the mega events. The mega concept was patterned after similar but smaller-scale events at Best Friends Animal Society in Utah, which is a national no-kill leader and has funded various First Coast initiatives. Initially, DuCharme, Deisler and Scott Trebatoski, then director of Jacksonville Animal Care and Protective Services, had joint adoption events at their three locations. Then they worked “hand in hand … to structure, refine, set up and carry out mega events” at the larger Fairgrounds venue and share the idea with other areas, Deisler said.

“Megas have benefited animal welfare through both marketing efforts focused on adoption and by providing additional adoption avenues — especially for some of the smaller groups,” she said. Also, they “provide great selection in one place for potential adopters,” Deisler said.

Brandywine’s Iv agreed. Many potential adopters are more likely to go to a “fair-type atmosphere” to adopt a pet than to a shelter, which some people find depressing, she said.

Adoption numbers at Jacksonville’s megas have declined in recent years — 668 animals found homes at the December event — but that does not necessarily indicate that fewer animals are being adopted in the community, Deisler said. Several factors are at work, such as shelters having more regular marketing efforts during the year.

“The novelty may be wearing off as well,” she said. DuCharme said local media outlets do not give the events as much attention as they once did.

But megas will remain “a very significant adoption program,” Deisler said. “That Jacksonville is considered a model community for mega and other progressive and successful animal welfare practices is a feather [in the community’s cap] for sure — a very positive statement about an engaged and compassionate community,” she said.

Committed to the Cause.

Now DuCharme is seeking additional funding to expand First Coast’s mega-reach to as many as 25 animal rescue organizations across the country. How First Coast and its local partner agencies responded to the animal shortage at the Brandywine event shows their commitment to the cause, he said.

“When I was first notified that they had been so successful, I knew it was an opportunity, but I also knew few teams could rally so quickly to make this happen in less than 10 hours,” DuCharme said, referring to the overnight transport of animals from Jacksonville-area shelters to Pennsylvania.

Such long-distance transport goes both ways at First Coast. Among the adoptable animals at the Dec. 16-18 mega event in Jacksonville were 28 dogs rescued four months earlier from floodwaters in Lafayette and Baton Rouge, La. The dogs were nursed back to health by volunteers at the Saint Tammany Humane Society, just north of New Orleans, and brought to Jacksonville for adoption. Each of them found new homes.

First Coast No More Homeless Pets To make an appointment or get more information, call (904) 425-0005. To donate or ask fundraising-related questions, call 904.520.7900. Clinics are at 464 Cassat Ave. and 6817 Norwood Ave., both in Jacksonville.

To All The Dogs We’ve Loved & Lost. And Those We’ve Never Met. A Journey Of Hope, Happiness, Heartbreak & Healing.

The 10-year anniversary edition of The New Barker is in distribution and being mailed to subscribers. It is hard to believe that ten years ago, December 2006, we produced the first edition of the print magazine during a time when 155 new magazine titles were created; a time when the demise of print was being predicted.

Our very first cover. December 2006.

While the decline of print continues to be argued (ironically in newspapers and business publications), a total of 862 new magazines were launched in 2013 “with a courageous repudiation to their critics,” said Samir Husni, Ph.D., also known as Mr. Magazine. Husni featured The New Barker in one of his 2016 weekly interviews.

“There is a tangible connection between myself and magazines. I don’t choose them, they choose me, so the living and breathing passion that I have felt for magazines over the last 30 years has instilled within me an innate ability to meld with ink on paper,” said Husni. He looks for a magazine’s ability to engage an audience through photography, undeniable style and noteworthy content. As the director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi, School of Journalism, he is widely considered to be the country’s expert on magazines.

Our editorial philosophy, here at The New Barker has always been to focus on feel-good lifestyle stories about people and their dogs. Unfortunately, one of the first harsh realities we faced while developing feature stories was discovering the number of shelters in Florida. The open intakes (many of which are high kill shelters), the limited intakes, the privately-run and/or county-run shelters. Look further, and there is a huge contingent of breed-specific rescue groups, SPCA and Humane Society organizations that are all independently-operated. There is no connection, other than name association, between the national organizations and the local shelters in our communities.

Someone once told me that a new shelter could open down the street from another, and within a week, it would also be full of abandoned, unwanted dogs and cats. Why? Why do more shelters keep opening and filling up? Why are so many adoptable dogs and cats euthanized? Where are the people who supposedly want to adopt them? With all of this presented before us, some people actually believe that the pet overpopulation problem is a myth, taking the No Kill movement’s information out of context. Pose any of these questions to a shelter employee and you’re likely to receive a cold shoulder. It’s a tough business, running a shelter, and understandably, some become defensive. Yet, the public shouldn’t be bullied into not asking important questions.

There are plenty of opinions on how to fix the problem, some extreme. While we’re arguing which solution is right, 10,000 healthy, adoptable dogs, puppies, cats and kittens are euthanized every day in this country. Extreme solutions or not, no matter how we get there, we all want the same things: to stop the needless killing of adoptable dogs and cats — and increase the number of adoptions.

Over the last 10 years, The New Barker has donated close to $200,000 in money, in-kind advertising, goods and services to Florida shelters, rescue groups and animal advocacy programs. This, and the magazine’s very existence, are made possible because of three very important elements: First, and foremost, our advertising partners. The New Barker is 100 percent advertiser-supported. Second, our wonderful team of independent photographers, graphic designers, and rover reporters who have been with us almost since our first year. And last, but certainly not least — you, our gentle readers. We love hearing from you — your opinions, your story ideas, your passion. Thank you to each and everyone of you, without whom this would not be possible. It has been an incredible journey.

The photo on the left, taken by professional photographer Laura Allen in 2006, was for the very first issue’s Editor Unleashed column. It ran for several years until we adopted Dougie, the Scottish Terrier, from Dunedin Dog Rescue. Laura, again, took the photo. We set up at Honeymoon Island in Dunedin. In the past year, we have lost Zoe (the blond Cockapoo) and Chloe (the black and tan Cockapoo). They each lived with us for 18 years.

10-year Anniversary edition of The New Barker dog magazine. Cover title: The Dog in Pink, by Myakka City artist Evelyn McCorristin Peters. Every cover of The New Barker has featured an original work of art by a different artist.

After serving two lengthy deployments in the Army during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Erik Babb medically retired in 2010. He lost a lot of friends during the war, and now struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury.  When he began working at the Warrior Transition Unit (WTU) at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Babb acknowledged he was broken. However, he did not seek help right away. Instead, he self-medicated with alcohol and energy drinks.

When the WTU shut down because of budget constraints, Babb accepted a position with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Alaska District’s Contracting Division. His concerned colleagues urged Babb to seek help through the VA. “The VA in Alaska has never failed me,” Babb said. “Even working with a guy like me. I chewed up their interns.”

Babb continued to harbor thoughts of suicide even after going through a 40-day inpatient program in Tacoma, Washington.  A former supervisor, Robin Norby, suggested Babb look into adopting a dog to help him deal with people, crowds and life. Stubborn, Babb refused to embrace the idea, until a defining moment. One day, on his way to an appointment, Babb was noticeably depressed. A coworker from the Corps stopped him, hugged him and reminded him that someone always cared.

Babb began researching service dogs through many resources and organizations. He was looking and hoping to find a dog that was hypoallergenic since his wife suffered from allergies. When he found out the cost of obtaining a service dog, he was discouraged, but refused to give up.

From Florida, Duke Snodgrass reached out to Babb via a telephone call after receiving his email. Snodgrass is the executive director and founder of 832 K9’s Deputy Dogs in Inverness. He and his wife Angela founded the organization 10 years ago in honor of their son Kody, a police officer and K9 handler with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. Kody’s badge number was 832.  In 2001, Kody died in a motorcycle accident.

“Kody loved Bloodhounds. Ever since he was a kid he wanted to raise them. We founded the Kody Snodgrass Memorial Foundation and began raising, training and placing Bloodhounds with sheriff departments in his honor,” said Snodgrass.  “Kody always used to say that there is no excuse for a child to go missing, not when there was a Bloodhound around,” said Snodgrass. 832 K9’s Deputy Dogs has placed more than 200 dogs with law enforcement agencies across the country. They provide the dogs at little to no cost to the agencies. It costs anywhere between $10,000 to $15,000 to raise and train the dogs, which includes working with the K9 officers.

Listening to Babb on the phone, Snodgrass knew he wanted to help him. “I could tell that he was genuine, and could relate to some of the things he was going through. On some of the work we do with the Bloodhounds, looking for missing or abducted children, I’ve had some nightmares too. Not as deep as Erik’s, but stuff that I do not want to remember,” said Snodgrass.

832 K9’s Deputy Dogs was able to donate a Portuguese Water Dog to fulfill Babb’s needs.

Babb flew to Tampa to meet Snodgrass and the dog, who instantly jumped to greet him. “I felt like it was Christmas,” said Babb. “I almost cried. What had I done to really deserve this? I know there are others who are in worse shape.”

Inspired by his wife’s ancestry, Babb named his dog Matai, which means “chief” in Samoan.  Matai is being trained to recognize symptoms of anxiety and tension in Babb, reminding him to be calm by tapping his foot or rubbing up against him. The dog will also wake Babb from nightmares. The pair is going through basic and specialized training.

“One thing Duke asked me to do was to pay it forward in life,” said Babb. “To take any opportunity to stop and listen to a young man or woman in need.”

Snodgrass has admitted that he had “a real problem with God” after his son’s death. He now realizes there was a bigger purpose in the tragedy. “It’s Kody’s living legacy. I come up to the cemetery to see him every day. He’s looking down at us and smiling,” said Snodgrass.