Calendar with local photos helps Agoura pet shelter
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

A photo of Mount Boney covered with snow, a shot of a man surfing at a nearby beach and another of the Stagecoach Inn Museum, all captured by local photographers, are going to provide the gift of life to pets dropped off at the Agoura Animal Shelter, thanks to Starbucks barista Jan Romero.

The coffee server and animal lover came up with the idea of gathering the work of local artists, making a calendar and selling it to raise money for Malibu Pet Companions. The small desk calendar, expected to be on sale for about $6, will be sold at Starbucks at 421 S. Reino Road in Newbury Park, beginning in December.

“Starbucks is very involved in community outreach benefits, so I thought I’d get on their bandwagon and do something for animals, which is my passion,” Romero said.

She put up a flier at the Starbucks store and, through her customers, came up with 12 outstanding photos that include shots of Hidden Valley and the Conejo Valley Days carnival, she said.

The first printing will number only 250, so those who get there first can give the calendars as holiday gifts, she said. If she sells those, she can print more.

Not only will the calendars be useful, attractive and promote local artists, but they will save the lives of broken and sick animals dropped off at the Agoura Animal Shelter, she said. All proceeds from calendar sales will go to the nonprofit pet-saving organization.

The goal of Malibu Pet Companions is to bring the broken and ill animals found at the shelter back to good health so they can find new homes, said Robin Kahrs, a Malibu Pet Companions volunteer.

“Typically, when most animals in need of something beyond basic medical care are brought to an animal shelter, they are euthanized,” Kahrs said.

This is not the case at the Agoura Shelter, thanks to Malibu Pet Companions, who work with the shelter to provide necessary medical treatment to sick animals left there, she said.

The group covers the cost of medical treatment for dogs, cats, potbellied pigs, rabbits, reptiles, horses and other unfortunate creatures that find themselves ill and homeless.

The group offers a wide range of assistance, from treatment of ear mites to major surgery, said Cyndi Bays, animal control officer.

“If a dog comes in with a broken leg, it gets set. They’ve taken out tumors, removed eyes and provided medicines,” said Bays.

Animals with skin disorders are given lotions. Those with food allergies get special prescription food. If recovery takes a long time, foster parents are involved to nurse the animals back to good health. A knee operation, for instance, can take eight weeks’ recovery time, Kahrs said.

A puppy named Chelsea, who suffered from failure to thrive, took months of tender loving care from Kahrs and others. A vet fed her intravenously until she could finally eat on her own. Gradually she could eat and digest specially formulated food.

“One day, for the first time, she wagged her tail and gave a kiss. We all cried. She was a normal pup,” said Kahrs.

Now she’s grown and has been adopted by a kind man who takes her to the dog park every afternoon.

Old, fat cats left at the shelter, who often cannot handle the stress of leaving a longtime home, Bays said, present another serious problem.

“They stop eating and have to be force fed,” Bays said.

Malibu Pet Companions provide a cat hormone dispenser that emits a substance into the air inside the cat habitat to keep the cats calm, she said.

Sometimes nothing can be done when an animal is too old and sick. One such story involved a golden retriever abandoned at a pet store in Newbury Park, Kahrs said. The gentle old fellow had a heart condition and a vet gave him only two weeks to live. With a foster hospice home, he was able to live out his life happily, surrounded by love for six months, she said.

About five pets a week at the shelter get some care from this group, Bays said.

“Every donation will help,” Romero said.