PAWS - Pets Are Great Support

Yesterday at the Pride festival I ran across an organization called PAWS. I hadn't heard of them before, but what a great cause. PAWS stands for Pets Are Great Support, and they assist those living with HIV/AIDS in caring for their pets. Both the financial and the health consequences of the disease can make pet ownership difficult, but it's been well documented that pets provide many health and emotional benefits. PAWS helps people keep their pets during a difficult time. They also provide assistance to low income elderly folks and the disabled.

PAWS accepts volunteers who can:

• deliver food and supplies to clients once a month
  
• walk clients dogs
  
• change cat litter for clients
  
• provide transportation to and from veterinary and grooming appointments
  
• provide foster care for pets when a client is hospitalized for a short time
  
• assist with clerical and office tasks

Of course they also take donations so they can provide basic pet care necessities, assist with visits to the vet, and offer other needed services. In 2006, PAWS obtained and delivered over 75,000 pounds of pet food, litter, and other animal care supplies county-wide. They also subsidized nearly 600 veterinary visits.

I was touched by the story the volunteer at the booth told me about how PAWS helped him care for his dogs as they themselves became aged and needed extra care that he wasn't able to provide, and the support the organization provided to him after he lost the pets he'd had for many years.

I think PAWS sounds like a great group and I wanted to share it the work they do. Contact them if you'd like to lend a paw hand.