SCOTTS VALLEY > Local nonprofit hosts upcoming dog adoption event
When volunteers found Rina wandering the streets of the Mexican island Cozumel in September, her paws were severely wounded, her fur was matted and dirty, and she was afflicted with an eye infection and a case of heartworm. Thanks in part to the Santa Cruz-based nonprofit Center for Animal Protection and Education (CAPE), the small dog is now happy, healthy and living with a foster mom in Santa Cruz.
CAPE works with local animal shelters to find homes for dogs that might otherwise go unnoticed. The organization removes the dogs from these shelters, places them in foster homes to restore their health and improve their sociability, and finally finds them permanent homes through their adoption program.
Their next adoption event will take place this Saturday, Feb. 4 from noon to 2 p.m. at the ACE Hardware store in Scotts Valley. Cruzans craving the company of a pup who can’t make it to this weekend’s event need not fret: CAPE holds regular adoption fairs to spread awareness and find homes for an increasing number of dogs. According to Shelley Frost, CAPE’s program coordinator, the nonprofit began hosting adoption fairs in recent years as it became more and more difficult to find homes for the pups.
“We try to hold them at least once a month, sometimes twice a month,” says Frost. “We never had to have these adoption events in years past, but when the recession hit, it has been so much harder to find home for our dogs.”
JP Novic, CAPE’s executive director, founded the organization in 1992 with support from her friends,. Frost, who is a longtime friend of Novic’s, remembers when the founder first became inspired to establish the organization.
“We’d been in the nonprofit animal world for several years, and we decided that when [Novic] was moving to Santa Cruz that we’d like to start our own organization,” Frost says. “We knew what wanted to do on behalf of animals. We wanted to change the world for the better for them.”
In addition to their animal rescue work, CAPE produces two television series that aim to highlight the plight of local animals. CAPE has also released documentaries, including Viva Los Perros!, which chronicles the work of Compassion Without Borders and their efforts to improve the lives of homeless dogs in poor areas of Mexico. CAPE works closely with Compassion Without Borders, helping to find homes for dogs removed from unsafe conditions in Mexico.
CAPE Dog Adoption Event, ACE Hardware, 218 Mt. Hermon Road, Scotts Valley. For more information about the dogs up for adoption or event details, contact CAPE at 336-4695 or visit their website at capeanimals.org.
