When Madison resident Twonner suddenly found herself facing financial hardship, she wasn’t just concerned for herself. She was also worried for her beloved family members, King and Zulula.
“I didn’t think I was going to be able to feed my dogs,” she says. Luckily, Twonner remembered a program she had heard about but hadn’t needed at the time – a program run by Dane County Humane Society (DCHS) called Pets for Life.
At DCHS, we believe everyone deserves to enjoy the love of a pet regardless of financial or other challenges. Our team connects with community members through door-to-door outreach, word-of-mouth, and other methods to provide support and create long-lasting relationships.
“Everybody needs a little help sometimes,” Twonner says, “and everybody needs love, especially these animals.”
Both King and Zulula are DCHS alumni. Twonner adopted each of them when they were just two months old. King is now close to two years old, and Zulula is a little over one.
“King is more playful than Zulula is,” says Twonner. In fact, King sometimes annoys his sister a little. Twonner found a solution: the dog park. “He has a lot of other dogs to play with, and he just enjoys it so much,” she says.
Thanks to you, our generous supporters, DCHS can provide extra help to folks in our community when and where they need it.
When you give before September 30th, you can double your impact for animals at DCHS and in the community up to $10,000 thanks to a generous matching gift from Richard & Elaine Jaeke.
Twonner learned about Pets for Life from the outreach team. She says, “I found Pets for Life through workers running through the neighborhood, trying to sign people up.” She didn’t have pets of her own at the time, but she connected her daughter with the team. Later, when Twonner had pets of her own and needed some extra support, her daughter sent her the number to call.
Our outreach team builds relationships by visiting, listening, and treating people with respect and compassion. We have met so many wonderful people who are very welcoming, and we feel incredibly grateful to provide support to our neighbors.
Pets for Life currently serves the 53713 zip code and Allied Drive neighborhood, and the program provides our clients with many resources, including free veterinary wellness care, spay and neuter surgeries, flea and tick treatments, pet supplies (like food, litter, toys, pet beds, and more), pet medications, and information. DCHS’s Pets for Life team will deliver those much-needed supplies right to our clients’ doors, as transportation is often an issue in accessing these resources.
“One time, I was so exhausted, and they showed up and left everything on my porch for me,” says Twonner. “I was grateful to come home and see that they left the stuff. I was able to feed my babies, give them toys to play with.”
Twonner also appreciates the wealth of information she gets from her Pets for Life contacts. “Pets for Life has been very informational for me,” she says. “I call them on everything, like if I’m worried about something.” When Zulula had an odd bump on her forehead, Twonner called Pets for Life, and they scheduled a vet appointment for her.
“It’s not just about me having dogs,” Twonner says. “It’s about them being healthy and them being cared for and them being loved.”
Twonner’s love and connection with King and Zulula is obvious to anyone who meets this family. DCHS is proud to provide pet parents with support services as part of our mission to keep people and pets together and celebrate the human-animal bond.
The pets DCHS supports in the community have comfortable homes and deep bonds with their families. When we help those pets stay with their loving families, we reserve space in our shelter for animals who don’t yet have an advocate.
“I’m still fighting the battle of financial troubles,” Twonner says, “but I’m not worried, because Pets for Life has been there for us, and I know they’re not going anywhere. I pray that more people donate to DCHS, so that we can help other people with situations like mine during their times of need.”
Your generous support of DCHS ensures community-based programs like Pets for Life continue helping pets stay with the families who love them, and allows DCHS to provide care and comfort to animals in our shelter.
