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Susan Brandt, co-founder of Rational Animal, inspects the damage caused by a vandal at the animal shelter on Freeman Lane in Grass Valley. Rational Animal had raised the funds for the sign to be placed on the property in 2023. A replacement has been ordered and should be set up within a month.
As part of their efforts to help spruce up the animal shelter in Grass Valley, Rational Animal hired famous puppet company Swazzle to paint this mural which features dogs owned by donors to the nonprofit. The small white dog in the bottom right corner is Rodney, who was owned by singer Chris Isaak. Rodney also made a friend in singer Stevie Nicks, who would often take him on tour with her.
Tundra is just one of several puppies looking for a new home at the animal shelter in Grass Valley. While Tundra and his litter mates still need to complete their round of vaccinations, they are being cared for by shelter staff and will soon be put up for adoption.
Susan Brandt, co-founder of Rational Animal, inspects the damage caused by a vandal at the animal shelter on Freeman Lane in Grass Valley. Rational Animal had raised the funds for the sign to be placed on the property in 2023. A replacement has been ordered and should be set up within a month.
As part of their efforts to help spruce up the animal shelter in Grass Valley, Rational Animal hired famous puppet company Swazzle to paint this mural which features dogs owned by donors to the nonprofit. The small white dog in the bottom right corner is Rodney, who was owned by singer Chris Isaak. Rodney also made a friend in singer Stevie Nicks, who would often take him on tour with her.
Tundra is just one of several puppies looking for a new home at the animal shelter in Grass Valley. While Tundra and his litter mates still need to complete their round of vaccinations, they are being cared for by shelter staff and will soon be put up for adoption.
On the morning of January 21, employees of the Animal Shelter on Freeman Lane serving Grass Valley and Nevada City arrived to find its sign had been vandalized the previous night.
“We just came in that morning and the sign was damaged, broken all the way from one end to the other,” said Jessica Patrick, Shelter Specialist. “Pieces of it were laying on the ground.”
The sign, which was donated by nonprofit Rational Animal, was placed at the location in 2023 after years of not having obvious signage for the shelter, which currently is occupied by 20 animals—dogs and a few cats—who are all up for adoption. According to Patrick, this is a higher number than usual for the shelter, which is much smaller than a facility like Sammie’s Friends.
Rational Animal organizes people and projects to help at-risk animals in Nevada County as well as New York City, from where co-founder Susan Brandt hails. She and co-founder Marney Blair head the organization and host Critter Chat on local radio station KVMR.
“We were pretty bummed,” Patrick said. “That sign was donated by Rational Animal and they have done really good things for our shelter. They raised funds and built our Catio and they wanted to have a nice sign made so people knew we were here. And it’s just really a shame that somebody thought that sign was not of value.”
“It was the first thing we did to help the shelter,” said Rational Animal co-founder Susan Brandt. “They only had those (small) blue signs. When I started volunteering here I was like, there really needs to be a sign so people know. And they told me once the sign went up more people were coming in, like ‘I didn’t know there was a shelter here.’”
Patrick said there is a security camera in place at the shelter, however a tree on the property blocked the camera’s ability to capture any images that would be helpful in finding the culprit of the sign’s vandalism.
“We fundraised, we did that Critters & Cocktails at The Center for the Arts and raised the money,” Brandt said, adding that the cost of the sign was $1,355. “It was not cheap. Rational Animal’s graphic designer Miko Graphics did the look of it and the approval—it is a Grass Valley/Nevada City shelter; Nevada City pays for it too. It’s a city shelter. And it only hurts the animals if you don’t have a sign up.”
Patrick agreed that the temporary loss of the sign is detrimental to the shelter, which is constantly looking to draw the public in to meet the furry friends that are looking for homes.
“Yes it has been helpful,” said Patrick. “I think when we get the replacement we are going to make it a lighter background with dark lettering. We want that sign to stand out. We want people driving by to see we’re here; we want it to catch their attention so we’re going to toss around some color ideas and see what we can come up with that kind of catches peoples’ eye.”
Patrick added that she thinks there are perhaps some misconceptions about the shelter in general, and is eager to educate the public on what takes place there.
“I want people to know we are a no-kill shelter,” she said. “It’s vastly different from how it used to be long ago. Our euthanasia rate is way below the threshold for what would be considered no-kill. It’s extremely minimal. We have a behaviorist here, we have a dog trainer that comes and volunteers her time here, we utilize all resources in terms of finding rescues for dogs that might have behavioral issues where they can be rehabilitated versus other options.”
Owner surrenders aren’t uncommon, Patrick said, with many people relinquishing their pets due to financial situations or just the responsibility of caring for another living creature. Currently, there are a number of young puppies at the shelter, alongside other dogs who are entering their golden years. Other people simply didn’t realize a cat, for example, can live up to 20-plus years, a significant chunk of time in one’s life.
“It’s sad because all shelters everywhere are in crisis mode,” said Patrick. “We like to offer people resources to benefit their situation. Say, for instance, if they call us wanting to surrender a dog there are things they should try before resorting to a shelter. The shelter should be your last option. Because it’s stressful; there are unfamiliar people who come in. We want that, but it can be stressful for animals who aren’t used to that.”
Within the month, Patrick said, the sign will be replaced and it will be business as usual. However the need for adopters is ongoing, sign or no sign.
“I am working on that,” Patrick said. “Susan from Rational Animal gave me the information on who made the sign so I contacted the same company. They are going to get to work on another one. Hopefully we’ll have the replacement in about a month.”
The Grass Valley-Nevada City Animal Shelter is at 556 Freeman Lane, Suite B, in Grass Valley and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information please visit www.cityofgrassvalley.com/post/animal-adoptions or call 530-477-4630.
For more on Rational Animal and its services please visit www.rational-animal.org. Critter Chat can be heard on 89.5 KVMR on the first Wednesday of every month.
To contact Staff Writer Jennifer Nobles please email jnobles@theunion.com.
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