Dixie: 00:00:02

Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the

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people and rescues, making a

difference in the lives of animals.

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Today's guest is Jessica with ARNO.

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Hi, Jessica, thanks for joining me today.

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Jessica: Yeah, thank you for having me.

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Dixie: Sure.

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To start, could you tell our listeners

a bit about yourself and your role

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with Animal Rescue New Orleans or Arno?

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Jessica: Yeah.

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So my name is Jessica Vaccaro and

I'm the shelter manager of Animal

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Rescue New Orleans, or Arno for short.

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I oversee our day-to-day operations,

help shape long-term strategy, manage

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our team of staffing volunteers.

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And stay pretty involved with, the

rehabilitation and medical of the

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animals within our organization.

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No two days is ever the same at Arno.

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Dixie: And what inspired you to

get involved in animal rescue?

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Jessica: I grew up surrounded by animals.

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My grandparents showed boxers,

so I grew up in the show world.

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And then when I was 18, I joined the Army

active duty as an animal care specialist.

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And so I worked with the military

working dogs and also with the

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clinics and shelters on bases.

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So just from an early age, started

working with them, fell in love with

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the work, and when I got out of the

army, I, continued on this path.

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Dixie: How did you get involved with doing

the animal care specialist to begin with?

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I've never heard of that before.

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Jessica: Yeah, it's very small MOS,

and they actually only have it in

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the army the DOD executive, that

position, and we cover all branches.

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And I just was lucky that

one of those was open.

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I had not heard of it either.

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I was 19, and I didn't even really

understood everything I would be doing.

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But it just, worked

out because I loved it.

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Dixie: I knew they had animals, but I've

never heard of anybody say they were

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an animal care specialist in the army.

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So that's pretty cool.

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Jessica: Yeah, it was really cool.

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Besides people who I know from

serving with, I have never,

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randomly met another veteran who

had this job either it's very small.

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So yeah, it was just very lucky.

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It was definitely kismet.

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Dixie: And thank you for serving too.

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Jessica: Oh, thank you.

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Dixie: What makes Arno's

mission important to you?

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Jessica: We have a couple of things.

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Arno is really multifaceted

in the work that we do.

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So we take in, behavior cases,

medical cases, we work closely with.

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open intake shelters in the area.

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We also have a community assistance

program that helps us, provide

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food and veterinary services

for low cost individuals, to

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help keep animals in homes.

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And we also assist on

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natural disaster and neglect cases.

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I like that.

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Arno, to me, really encompasses what

rescue is about, which is helping our

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community in a lot of different ways that

are impacted, in the animal rescue field.

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Dixie: I was always familiar with Arno,

'cause I'm of course from New Orleans,

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so after Katrina they were really big

and involved in rescuing animals here.

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So for those that are unfamiliar, can you

give us an overview of the organization's

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history and also the primary goals?

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Jessica: Absolutely.

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So ARNO was born in the

aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

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It was started by animal lovers who saw

the thousands of animals who were left

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behind in the city, and they started

doing triage work here in the city.

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They just all came together.

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They had a passion to, help these

animals and that passion never faded.

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And it turned into this kind of grassroots

organization that still is going on.

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And actually, August, we'll

make our 20 year anniversary

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from where it all started.

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Yeah, it's a really neat

kind of origin story.

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And our still core goals are to,

rescue, rehabilitate and rehome

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animals, especially those who are

sick, injured, and overlooked.

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And we do all of this without any

sort of government funding and we

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do this, mainly volunteer driven.

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Dixie: How many volunteers

does your organization have?

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Jessica: I think that's a really hard

number to encapsulate just because

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we have, a turnover of volunteers,

but long term dedicated volunteers

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who do, higher end task for us or who

have been with us for a long time.

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At least 50 to 75 individuals.

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But, for the people who come and help

with animal care on those shifts each

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day and all the other things, likely

we have, a hundred to 150 volunteers

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at any, one in a month's time.

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Dixie: You said, you do have a

quick turnover of volunteers.

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What do you think the cause for that is?

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Jessica: A lot of people just come for

different types of service hours, so

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for schooling, for different programs.

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So a lot of people are just coming for

a set amount of hours to volunteer.

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We get fortunate that, we do get

people who come for limited time who

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do end up sticking around, but it's

just the nature, especially, we have

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a lot of college students that come.

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Who, don't stay in the city when

they finish their degrees and stuff.

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So I just like those kinds of

girls we see high turnover in.

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Dixie: 'Cause I know a lot of other

organizations, they always say they

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have a hard time getting volunteers,

so that's why I asked the question.

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I didn't know if it was something

where, people show up and they think

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they're gonna play with puppies or

kitties all day and then they actually

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find out they have to do some cleaning.

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Jessica: I'm quite sure that is

definitely part of it as well.

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It is really hard work.

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And we certainly do get volunteers who

thinks it's gonna be just hanging out

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with the animals and they don't realize,

that it's walking the dogs, cleaning the

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kennels, doing dishes, doing laundry.

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Also that kind of work, the kind of

behind the scenes stuff that a lot

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of people don't see and don't always

realize that, that's part of it.

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Dixie: Are you doing the rescue

work only in New Orleans or do

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you go out to other areas as well?

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Jessica: We go out to other areas as well.

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We pull a lot from our community.

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So we pull a lot from Orleans

Parish and Jefferson Parish.

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We also pull a lot from Terrebonne.

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From St.

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John.

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We will help wherever we

can, we used to go up to St.

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Landry quite a bit, so wherever we can

accommodate, shelters that need help, we

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try and help, but we do, try and maintain

Jefferson Parish and Orleans Parish

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as kind of some of our top priorities

just because they are our community.

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Dixie: How many resident

animals do you have?

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Jessica: We can house and shelter

45 dogs and probably about 50 cats.

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And then in foster we typically

have about 75 animals.

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In summer kitten season, that number

can certainly go up in Foster.

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Usually we have about, between

Foster and in shelter, about

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150 to 200 animals in our care.

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Dixie: How old is the oldest

resident or how long has the

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oldest resident been in your care?

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Jessica: Our oldest resident is

Carol and we have had her for

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unfortunately five years now.

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Dixie: And is she a cat or a dog?

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Jessica: She is a dog.

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She is a beautiful little

squatty body pit bull.

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She needs to be an only child.

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And it takes her a minute to warm

up to people which has been what's

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made it difficult placing her.

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But she does warm up to

people pretty quickly.

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And she has a lot of friends and a

lot of new friends who are always

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working with volunteers, getting her

intro to more people, so she just has

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more walkers and people on her team.

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Dixie: And has she gone to any like

trial homes and it just didn't work out?

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Jessica: No.

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She has had a couple, like

handful of people apply to adopt

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her, come meet her, and just.

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haven't followed through, she has not

gotten even a chance at a trial adoption.

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She's been in foster, like short term

foster with some of our volunteers.

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And she did well.

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Like they didn't report any issues.

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They just weren't in positions

where they could keep her long term.

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Dixie: That's sad.

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But I'm glad she's with y'all

because at least she's okay.

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Jessica: Yeah..

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And we're so lucky for the volunteers

we have because we just have so

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many truly amazing humans who go

above and beyond for our animals.

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And Carol, is one that tugs at all of

our heartstrings, she gets multiple

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car rides every week, pupccinos, lots

of like special outings and trips.

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Just because so many of our

volunteers do, love her so much.

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So we do try and do the

best we can for her.

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Dixie: And what about CAT resident?

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What is the oldest CAT

resident that you have?

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Jessica: Oh goodness.

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Nowhere near that I don't even think

right now we have any cats that

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they've even been with us for a year.

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We don't have any like very long

term cats right now, honestly.

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Our cat adoptions have been wonderful.

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Dixie: That's great.

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Jessica: Our cat adoption team who

are all volunteers are amazing.

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And they've been really successful in

helping to place like a lot of our kitties

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with, medical or behavioral issues.

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Yeah, I think like maybe six to eight

months, maybe one of our long term kind

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of ongoing medical cases right now.

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But that's it.

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And that's baby . He has just actually

had an abdominal ultrasound today.

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'cause we're trying to figure out some

issues that have been ongoing with

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him.

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Dixie: Yeah, that, that's wonderful though

that you're doing so well with the cats.

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'cause usually it's the cats

are little harder to adopt out.

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Jessica: Yeah, absolutely.

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Yeah, knock on wood, they've

been doing a great job.

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Dixie: Do you do any transports?

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Jessica: We do not do

transport from our shelter.

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There, honestly, we just have

never really had a need to do it.

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Typically, transport's kind of

come into us so yeah, that's just

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not really part of our mission.

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Dixie: And I do understand

y'all have a new facility.

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Jessica: We do.

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It is amazing.

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It was a labor of love for sure

and many years in the making.

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We spent years fundraising and

checking properties out until

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we were able to purchase a.

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Property.

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And then we spent, a few more years

fundraising and campaigning to do all

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of the construction and to, get all

the equipment and everything we need.

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So we just moved in this year,

the second week of February.

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And we will actually be having our

grand opening on June 28th from 2:00

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PM to 5:00 PM and that will be open

to the public for us to do tours

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and show everyone our new space.

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Dixie: After the grand opening, are

you open to the public if somebody

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wants to go in, or do they have

to make an appointment with you?

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Jessica: People from the public

have to make an appointment with us.

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Our adoption team is all

completely volunteer, so we do

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everything with an appointment.

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Dixie: You mentioned some of the

programs that you're involved with.

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You said that you do disasters,

neglect cases, and you help out

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individuals to keep their pets.

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And you mentioned the low cost program.

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So what are the qualifications

for the low cost program that

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help people keep their pets?

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Jessica: Yeah, so our community

assistance program is income based.

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So we have a vetting process that

is done by one of my directors.

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But typically it's just based

off of income is how we do that.

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And that helps to provide food

preventatives and then necessary

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medical care for these animals.

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And.

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We are always taking in, new

people into this program.

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So if there's anybody you know that

needs assistance or wants to see if

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they qualify, they can contact us at

info at animal rescue new orleans.org

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that will connect them with our director

who oversees this program and she

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can get the process started for them.

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Dixie: Is that like a long

term or a short term program?

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Jessica: Either or.

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It depends on the needs of the individual.

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So we have some people

that we help long term.

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We have some people that just need

help, for a short amount of time.

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We do both just dependent on

the needs of the individual

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Dixie: For the neglect, cases that you

work, do you house the animals for the

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authorities or how does that work exactly?

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Jessica: Yeah typically it's with

national groups when they ask

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us to assist with any cases that

they're working on or situations.

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Most recently we just assisted Animal

Rescue Corps this past Friday in

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Bienville Parish for a criminal.

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case, which was a cruelty case

involving over 30 animals in a home

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that was running itself like a rescue.

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And we've worked on several cases like

that with the Animal Rescue Corps,

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with Bissell Foundation, and with

Best Friends and other organizations.

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As situations have arisen in

our community or in the area.

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Dixie: Do

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you

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physically go out to the property to

help or do you just take in the animals?

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Jessica: Yeah, so we

physically go out to help.

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We usually go out to help with handling,

extraction behavior, assessing if

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just because everybody has to be

vetted, before being transported.

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And then in certain situations we take

animals, if that's what they're asking

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for, help with the case on Friday.

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They had placement for

all the animals with them.

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So they all were all transported

back to their facility in Tennessee.

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But we worked other cases where we've

taken animals from the site , it's

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probably more typical that we're

there working support during the

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case and that we typically will also

pull and leave with the animals.

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Dixie: Can I ask how the national

groups get involved with that?

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Cause I, usually here, it's like a local

authority that would go in and take

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care of that or like a local shelter.

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Jessica: A lot of times it's that.

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Either the police department or the

shelters are reaching out to them.

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Typically it's because it's something

outside of like the capacity of

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what that local shelter can handle.

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For this case on this past Friday,

I believe one of the shelter

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managers in the area is who

contacted the group that came down.

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And connected them with the sheriff's

department for them to take over the case

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or to take the animals from the case.

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Dixie: I'd like to talk a little

bit about natural disasters too.

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What are the more recent

disasters that you have worked?

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Jessica: Hurricane Ida was really the

last kind of big thing in this area.

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Dixie: For disasters, do you

typically just stay in Louisiana then?

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Jessica: Typically we shelter

in place for our animals here.

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We've provided support.

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We've driven out supplies and different

things out to and there's been other

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hurricanes outside of New Orleans.

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But yeah, when it's here in New

Orleans, we typically will shelter

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in place and take care of the animals

at our shelter and help deal with.

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Strays and found animals which is

very frequent during these situations,

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especially when there's extended power

water outage like there was with Ida.

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I think we were at 12

days in our area with out.

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So yeah, we just help as we can within

our ability with that kind of stuff.

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We also, had people black water

certified with the parish.

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So we'll work on call or with

LSART if needed for like water

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rescue and state response as well.

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That is all really based on

just like personnel though,

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sometimes we have times where.

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we have enough personnel, that we

can help, other times we don't have

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enough and we just have to focus,

on our own shelter and our own

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needs.

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Dixie: And what certification was that?

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I've never heard of that.

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Jessica: Black Water Rescue.

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It's a type of water rescue,

specifically for animal rescue

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responders, so for animal water rescue.

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Dixie: Hurricanes, of course, you just

touched on this a little bit, that we

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have power outages do you have a backup

generator for the shelter, or how do

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you combat these power outages with all

these animals that you're sheltering?

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Jessica: Yeah, so we do

now, which is so exciting.

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We have a natural gas

generator at our new shelter.

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That was one of our big,

non-negotiables when we moved in.

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Like we're designing, this new shelter.

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But before that we had gas run

generators, and we typically had

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five to six to run the whole shelter.

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Whenever anything weather related, that

we had notice on, we would always put

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out like a lot of posts and emails to

try and move as many of our animals into

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foster as possible just to try and keep.

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The amount of animals in the shelter

as low as possible, which has also

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been our saving grace with some of

these more extreme weather conditions.

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Dixie: Can you tell people what

should they have for hurricane

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season coming up for their own pets?

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Can you go over what, a good disaster

kit would be to have, or a hurricane kit?

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Jessica: Yeah, absolutely.

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What I keep for my personal animals

every year is I always make copies,

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updated copies of their vaccine records.

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I put those in.

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Ziploc bags.

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I also take a picture of those.

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So I have it on my phone as well.

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Easily accessible.

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I make sure I have about a week's

worth of food for each of my animals,

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a month's worth of any medications for

'em, and then a week's worth of water.

310

: 00:19:32

I also keep on hand some over the

counter, calming supplements for 'em.

311

: 00:19:38

And then, of course, I always keep

marked collars on my dogs because those

312

: 00:19:42

are the anti-slip collars and leashes.

313

: 00:19:45

I also keep a roll of dog bags in their

go bags, and I also keep popup water bowl

314

: 00:19:52

and food bowls for them both as well.

315

: 00:19:55

So I have a little.

316

: 00:19:56

Go bag for my animals for disaster

stuff and I repack that, every

317

: 00:20:03

year usually at the start of June.

318

: 00:20:06

Dixie: That's great.

319

: 00:20:07

And why do you do the copies

of the vaccine records?

320

: 00:20:12

Jessica: Yeah, just in case

anything ends up being more

321

: 00:20:14

catastrophic than we realize.

322

: 00:20:16

And we have to evacuate or if I need

to go stay with a family member out of

323

: 00:20:22

state, I just wanna make sure that I

have, proof of their vaccines, their

324

: 00:20:26

rabies vaccine and their microchip

on hand and ready to go, especially

325

: 00:20:29

if I'm moving them over state lines.

326

: 00:20:32

Dixie: Yeah, that's definitely

a great thing to have.

327

: 00:20:34

Everybody should have that.

328

: 00:20:37

Jessica: Absolutely.

329

: 00:20:38

Dixie: And everybody should have some

kind of go bag, like you said, ready

330

: 00:20:41

to go that you can just grab and take.

331

: 00:20:42

And get out the door if you have to.

332

: 00:20:45

Jessica: Yeah.

333

: 00:20:46

I do like my own, disaster kit

for my animals every year in June.

334

: 00:20:51

And I just find too, I it just gives

you a peace of mind when things happen.

335

: 00:20:56

You don't have to scramble,

you don't need to be stressed

336

: 00:20:58

because you know you're prepared.

337

: 00:21:00

And that way, you can

focus on other things.

338

: 00:21:02

And I'm sure that's kinda

like the military in me.

339

: 00:21:05

I'm a big, planner, being

prepared is very important to me.

340

: 00:21:09

Yeah, I highly recommend

to everybody out there.

341

: 00:21:13

Dixie: Yep.

342

: 00:21:13

And hurricane season is coming up, so

343

: 00:21:16

Jessica: Yes.

344

: 00:21:17

It is

345

: 00:21:18

Dixie: not fun.

346

: 00:21:19

Jessica: No, especially not with animals.

347

: 00:21:23

It definitely adds on some more

layers there when you have animals

348

: 00:21:26

or kids, just when you have

any sort of dependent, right?

349

: 00:21:31

Dixie: Yeah.

350

: 00:21:31

And it, it's stressful, especially

for me 'cause I have cats, so like

351

: 00:21:36

it's different with cats and dogs too.

352

: 00:21:38

Jessica: Yeah.

353

: 00:21:38

It's tough.

354

: 00:21:39

Dixie: I try to keep 'em in their kennels.

355

: 00:21:41

I don't take 'em out of their kennels

until we get to the destination

356

: 00:21:45

and then I'll have these bigger

popup things that they can go in.

357

: 00:21:50

Jessica: Nice.

358

: 00:21:50

And do you use the the

feliaway spray at all?

359

: 00:21:54

Dixie: I will for the ones I have

that get a little bit stressed out,

360

: 00:21:57

luckily most of mine are, okay.

361

: 00:22:00

They might meow for maybe 15, 20

minutes and then they calm down.

362

: 00:22:04

Jessica: Okay.

363

: 00:22:04

So they're like, we've been through

364

: 00:22:05

this before.

365

: 00:22:08

Dixie: They're not too bad.

366

: 00:22:09

But I know there's people that

have to sedate their cats,

367

: 00:22:12

Jessica: oh, yeah.

368

: 00:22:12

Dixie: What strategies have proven

to be the most effective in terms

369

: 00:22:17

of successful animal rescues

370

: 00:22:19

Jessica: I would say probably, building

trust with people in the community,

371

: 00:22:25

with other organizations, with the

shelters we're pulling throughout

372

: 00:22:29

from I think, fostering community

building those relationships within

373

: 00:22:35

our community is key to anything that

we do in animal rescue because when.

374

: 00:22:41

People know that they can trust

you when they know that you're

375

: 00:22:44

gonna do the right thing.

376

: 00:22:45

When they know that you're,

you will offer, support.

377

: 00:22:48

I think it just makes everything easier

because other open intake shelters know

378

: 00:22:53

that you're resource that they can contact

when they need help with certain animals.

379

: 00:22:57

Members of the community, know

that they can reach out for help.

380

: 00:23:01

When they need it.

381

: 00:23:02

And, even other rescues, know that if

they, need help in a situation or, maybe

382

: 00:23:08

there's an animal that needs help and

they don't have space at the moment.

383

: 00:23:12

They know that we're a

resource that they can call.

384

: 00:23:15

So I think yeah, that's probably been

one of the biggest, parts of our success.

385

: 00:23:20

Helped us to, stay successful doing rescue

is just fostering those relationships and,

386

: 00:23:26

building trust like within the community.

387

: 00:23:29

Dixie: And on the flip side, have there

been any approaches to rescue that

388

: 00:23:32

haven't worked as well as anticipated?

389

: 00:23:36

Jessica: I think a lot of things

are trial and error just in general.

390

: 00:23:40

Like with anything.

391

: 00:23:41

Maybe the things that are the

least successful for us is

392

: 00:23:45

when we overextend ourselves.

393

: 00:23:47

Just in general, being

mainly volunteer driven.

394

: 00:23:51

Having enough people to do all the things

we wanna do and to do all the things

395

: 00:23:55

we wanna do well can be challenging.

396

: 00:23:57

Maybe overcommitting ourselves, to events

and different exposure things, which,

397

: 00:24:03

ideally would be a great thing, but

when you don't have enough volunteers

398

: 00:24:07

to, man the event, bring animals to the

event or, to the, these things, then

399

: 00:24:14

they ultimately are not successful.

400

: 00:24:16

So I think that would be probably the

biggest thing is just over extension.

401

: 00:24:21

Dixie: Could you discuss your process for

screening potential adopters to ensure

402

: 00:24:25

animals go to safe and loving homes?

403

: 00:24:28

Jessica: Yeah, absolutely.

404

: 00:24:30

So it starts off with our

application which is on our website.

405

: 00:24:35

Once an application is filled in,

that's gonna go over to one of our

406

: 00:24:38

volunteer adoption team members.

407

: 00:24:40

They are gonna read through that, which

the application really just covers

408

: 00:24:45

lifestyle experience and kind of the

person's expectations for pet ownership.

409

: 00:24:51

Then we're gonna do a virtual home check.

410

: 00:24:53

This is mainly we're, checking the

yards for, issues with fencing,

411

: 00:24:58

poisonous plants, that kind of thing.

412

: 00:25:00

And then if the person has owned

a pet before, we are going to,

413

: 00:25:04

call the vet just to verify, that.

414

: 00:25:07

Vaccines were done, preventatives

were done, that kind of thing.

415

: 00:25:10

And then lastly, if they rent, we do

always call the landlord to ensure

416

: 00:25:14

that, the tenant has spoken to them

and gotten approval for the animal.

417

: 00:25:19

We do try and make our process

more kind of a conversation

418

: 00:25:24

as opposed to a checklist.

419

: 00:25:25

And one of the things I think is really

neat about our adoption process is

420

: 00:25:30

that you get paired with an adoption

counselor and their whole job is just to

421

: 00:25:36

help find you, the perfect pet for you.

422

: 00:25:39

And they really go above and beyond,

in doing that, which I think is

423

: 00:25:43

really special and really cool.

424

: 00:25:45

Dixie: And are people open to that?

425

: 00:25:48

When you help them find the pet

for them as opposed to just

426

: 00:25:52

picking out the one that they want.

427

: 00:25:55

Jessica: Yeah, certainly.

428

: 00:25:56

Some people they see a picture, a video,

or they meet an animal at an event and

429

: 00:26:00

they fall in love and that's totally fine.

430

: 00:26:03

We have other people that, maybe

the animal they chose or have an

431

: 00:26:07

adoption application and goes home,

or, maybe the animal they chose after

432

: 00:26:12

they meet them isn't the right fit.

433

: 00:26:14

And in that case we have, our

staff who our staff does playgroups

434

: 00:26:19

every weekday at the shelter.

435

: 00:26:21

So the majority of all of

our dogs in shelter are

436

: 00:26:23

playgroups every day with them.

437

: 00:26:25

So that team really knows

the behavior for the dogs.

438

: 00:26:29

Best.

439

: 00:26:30

So they'll work with dog adopters.

440

: 00:26:32

We have these questions we go through

with them about what they're looking

441

: 00:26:35

for, their lifestyle, this, that,

size, any of those preferences.

442

: 00:26:39

And then our slate group team will

help pair 'em with they'll make a short

443

: 00:26:43

list of dogs that they think match what

they're looking for and will do meets.

444

: 00:26:47

And then we do the same

thing on the cat side with.

445

: 00:26:51

Our cat leads who will we don't play here

for the cats, but we have, cats in our

446

: 00:26:56

cat condos who are, co housed with other

cats and some different things that'll

447

: 00:27:00

help us determine best fit for people.

448

: 00:27:03

Dixie: What about first time adopters?

449

: 00:27:05

If they've never had a vet,

450

: 00:27:08

Jessica: We just usually ask

for a professional reference.

451

: 00:27:11

Or typically we'll ask them to call a

vet and just get an estimate for some

452

: 00:27:16

of the basic services for the year,

just so they have an understanding

453

: 00:27:19

of what they're looking to pay

out of pocket with pet ownership.

454

: 00:27:24

Dixie: Do you offer any kind of

post-adoption support or resources?

455

: 00:27:28

Jessica: Oh yes.

456

: 00:27:29

We do a ton.

457

: 00:27:31

So we always check in and we

provide a lot of resources and we

458

: 00:27:36

always make ourselves available.

459

: 00:27:38

We will help with, training.

460

: 00:27:41

We'll follow up if there's any

medical issues and help with that.

461

: 00:27:44

If there's any supplies that we think,

will help the animal adjust better, help

462

: 00:27:49

cope with any issues, we'll supply those.

463

: 00:27:51

So we really always wanna make sure that

our adopters feel very supported and

464

: 00:27:56

they don't feel like they just got stuck.

465

: 00:27:58

And if something doesn't work out,,

we always take our animals back.

466

: 00:28:02

No judgment.

467

: 00:28:03

Whether it's been a week or a year or five

years since adoption, and that is part

468

: 00:28:08

of our contract that if it doesn't work

out, our animals always come back to us.

469

: 00:28:14

Dixie: Do you have any successful

adoption stories that you could share?

470

: 00:28:19

Jessica: Yeah.

471

: 00:28:20

A ton.

472

: 00:28:22

I will I'll talk about one that's.

473

: 00:28:25

Close to my heart.

474

: 00:28:26

And that is about our black lab

in a wheelchair named Titan.

475

: 00:28:31

He was found when he was about 10

weeks old, dragging himself down the

476

: 00:28:34

side of the road out in Lafourche.

477

: 00:28:36

They didn't know if he was, truly

paralyzed or if there was just

478

: 00:28:40

inflammation that was causing like a

temporary paralysis in his back legs.

479

: 00:28:45

We ended up taking him, not knowing

what his future was gonna look like,

480

: 00:28:48

but we just knew that we had to try.

481

: 00:28:51

So we took him, put him through,

physical therapy around the clock here.

482

: 00:28:54

He needed multiple surgeries.

483

: 00:28:56

And now he's doing great.

484

: 00:28:58

He is thriving, zooming around

in his wheelchair goes to a

485

: 00:29:03

dog park multiple times a week

is out and about all the time.

486

: 00:29:06

And why it's close to my heart is

because I'm the one that adopted

487

: 00:29:10

him after I fostered him for a year.

488

: 00:29:13

Yeah.

489

: 00:29:13

So I wasn't looking for another

dog, but he was just, the right one.

490

: 00:29:18

So I have.

491

: 00:29:20

Two kind of special

needs dogs at my house.

492

: 00:29:23

My other one is also an ARNO alum.

493

: 00:29:27

And her name is Brynn.

494

: 00:29:28

She's nine now.

495

: 00:29:30

I adopted her eight years ago.

496

: 00:29:34

She was found, dumped in a plastic crate

with her mom in the middle of the night.

497

: 00:29:39

And she was about 11 months old.

498

: 00:29:41

She had really bad neuropathy, which is

like a nerve disorder and semi feral.

499

: 00:29:45

So it was actually when I first

started at ARNO and she just

500

: 00:29:50

hugged up my heartstrings and

I started working with her.

501

: 00:29:52

And once I built up, her trust,

I took her home to foster

502

: 00:29:55

her and I just fell in love.

503

: 00:29:57

So those are my two foster fails.

504

: 00:30:02

Dixie: I think everybody in

rescue has some of those, and I

505

: 00:30:05

always say I have the reject cats.

506

: 00:30:08

Jessica: Oh yeah.

507

: 00:30:08

Dixie: I mean they're not really it's

like the ones that nobody else wants.

508

: 00:30:12

Like I have one, she doesn't

have any eyes, so she was born

509

: 00:30:15

completely blind, no eyes.

510

: 00:30:17

And then of course we have a tripod.

511

: 00:30:19

And he doesn't know that he's

missing an arm and she doesn't

512

: 00:30:22

know she's missing eyes.

513

: 00:30:23

Jessica: It's amazing how they

adjust so quickly, like they're

514

: 00:30:28

animals are just so resilient.

515

: 00:30:29

It's just truly amazes me,

516

: 00:30:31

Dixie: It does.

517

: 00:30:32

And it's a shame that the special need

ones are overlooked because I think the

518

: 00:30:36

special need ones, they're absolutely

amazing when you spend time with them.

519

: 00:30:41

Jessica: I agree.

520

: 00:30:42

Yeah I agree wholeheartedly and I think

they just make your life so much richer.

521

: 00:30:47

I know, my two over here I couldn't

imagine my life without Now.

522

: 00:30:51

If you'd asked me, five years ago

if I thought I would have a dog in

523

: 00:30:55

a wheelchair, I'd probably be like.

524

: 00:30:56

What, so it's funny, with doing this work

does make us I think, more amenable too

525

: 00:31:03

to giving these special guys a chance,

526

: 00:31:06

Dixie: Yeah.

527

: 00:31:06

They're amazing.

528

: 00:31:07

Absolutely amazing.

529

: 00:31:08

The things that they can do.

530

: 00:31:10

I think everybody should see

531

: 00:31:12

it.

532

: 00:31:12

It

533

: 00:31:12

really is amazing.

534

: 00:31:15

Jessica: Yes,

535

: 00:31:16

I agree.

536

: 00:31:17

My one's staring at me right now.

537

: 00:31:19

Yes, we're talking about you.

538

: 00:31:21

Dixie: So how does Arno engage with the

local community to raise awareness about

539

: 00:31:25

animal welfare and promote adoptions?

540

: 00:31:29

Jessica: So it is a lot of,

social media these days.

541

: 00:31:34

We post a lot on our Instagram,

our TikTok, and our Facebook.

542

: 00:31:38

We try to post the kind of work

we're doing, the kind of things we're

543

: 00:31:42

seeing, the things we need help with.

544

: 00:31:44

What I enjoy about the way that we

do this is that, we don't do a lot of

545

: 00:31:49

angry or shaming posts, I think we do

a pretty good job about, staying like

546

: 00:31:54

upbeat and honest and letting people

know and like the ways that we need help.

547

: 00:31:58

And we also do, a lot of events as

well where we're out in the community,

548

: 00:32:04

showcasing ARNO and the animals and

talking about the work that we do.

549

: 00:32:07

We also have, our needs out on like

volunteer match with kind of the

550

: 00:32:13

help that we need to for, this.

551

: 00:32:17

And yeah, I think that probably,

encapsulates it of what we

552

: 00:32:22

do the majority of for that.

553

: 00:32:26

Dixie: What message would you

like to share with our listeners

554

: 00:32:28

about the importance of animal

rescue and animal welfare?

555

: 00:32:34

Jessica: Ooh, so

556

: 00:32:37

rescue ultimately is about second chances.

557

: 00:32:42

And not always, just for the animals.

558

: 00:32:44

Adopting and fostering and

volunteering I think can be

559

: 00:32:49

transformative for the people as well.

560

: 00:32:52

Doing something that matters, caring for

those who can't care for themselves is.

561

: 00:32:58

Really special and important.

562

: 00:33:01

And I think it, changes something within

us making the world a better place.

563

: 00:33:06

So yeah, I think it's, really special

all around for us and for the animals,

564

: 00:33:10

Dixie: For those who wanna

support Arno, what are the most

565

: 00:33:13

impactful ways they can contribute?

566

: 00:33:16

Jessica: Yeah.

567

: 00:33:17

Volunteering.

568

: 00:33:18

Volunteering giving your time is

always the best way to help ARNO.

569

: 00:33:25

There are so many ways you can help

by coming, helping with animal care

570

: 00:33:29

events, volunteering or fostering.

571

: 00:33:33

We have other volunteer positions

like administration ones as well.

572

: 00:33:37

And then of course, if you're able to

donate, especially monthly support really

573

: 00:33:43

helps us plan out and respond quickly.

574

: 00:33:46

Every little bit helps us truly.

575

: 00:33:49

And then, helping to promote us.

576

: 00:33:51

If you see one of our posts, on

social media, please share it.

577

: 00:33:54

Please like it, please interact with it.

578

: 00:33:56

That helps us, if you have a friend

or family member looking to adopt

579

: 00:34:01

or volunteer send of our way.

580

: 00:34:03

So those are probably some of

the most impactful ways that

581

: 00:34:06

people can help support us.

582

: 00:34:08

Dixie: And what is your website too?

583

: 00:34:11

Jessica: It is

www.animalrescueneworleans.org.

584

: 00:34:17

Dixie: Thank you.

585

: 00:34:18

And before we end the call, is there

anything else you would like to add?

586

: 00:34:24

Jessica: Oh, for anybody in the

immediate area, we would love to see

587

: 00:34:27

you come out for our grand opening.

588

: 00:34:29

That is going to be on Saturday, June 28th

from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM we will have a lot

589

: 00:34:35

going on, including we'll be giving tours.

590

: 00:34:38

And if you do come by,

please come meet me.

591

: 00:34:41

Again, my name's Jessica and I'd be

happy to give anybody who comes a

592

: 00:34:45

tour of the new facility and talk

to you about Arno more in depth.

593

: 00:34:50

Dixie: That sounds like fun and

congratulations on the grand opening too.

594

: 00:34:53

It's very exciting to

have that in the area.

595

: 00:34:56

Jessica: Yeah.

596

: 00:34:57

Thank you so much.

597

: 00:34:58

Dixie: All right.

598

: 00:34:58

Thank you for taking the

time to speak with me today.

599

: 00:35:00

I appreciate it.

600

: 00:35:02

Jessica: Yeah, thank you for having me.

601

: 00:35:03

It was a pleasure.