Animal-kind.org

Animal-Kind International Annual Report for 2012
(By Karen Menczer, Executive Director)
The 2012 Annual Report is organized in line with the AKI mission: to raise visibility of the work of AKI partner organizations with the aim of connecting people, and donating funds and supplies to our partners. During 2012, AKI kept the same partner organizations as we had during 2011. We added Animal Friends of Kosovo as a “special case”—see below. 1) Articles: We had two articles in widely circulated magazines, the American Foreign Service Association News/Foreign Service Journal and the University of New Mexico alumni magazine, Mirage. 2) Working with Deb Newman, I’ve kept our website up-to-date. In particular, we’ve added photo albums for each of our partner organizations. Deb continues to get our updates on the site within about 48 hours of receipt. 3) Social networking sites: I’ve posted regularly on the AKI Facebook page. At the end of 2010, we had over 1070 “fans,” and at the end of 2011, we had over 1400 “likes” (FB switched from fans to likes). At the end of 2012, we had about 1580 “likes.” We continue to raise money through Goodshop and Goodsearch, but Good Dining hasn’t brought in any funds in 2012. Julia A., a student who volunteered for AKI, started a blog for us with Tumblr. It’s not yet “synched” to the AKI website, so there’s no traffic/followers; we haven’t been keeping it updated; and we haven’t spread the word about it. 4) On-line Fundraising sites: GlobalGiving overlooked informing us of the 2nd campaign of 2012 (September 2012), so we missed that one, and we were only involved in two campaigns in 2012 instead of the usual three. Previously, we posted a project for the December 2011 campaign, for which funds arrived in 2012 (January 26)--$891.14. We posted an April 2012 project and raised $127.50 (received in May); and a December 2012 project, which raised $297.50, to be sent to AKI in 2013. There are so many more GG projects for each campaign than there were when we first began on GG, we are not getting the attention we used to. 5) We continue to use internet marketing company, Vertical Response (VR), at no cost for our newsletters. We’ve sent out newsletters approximately every two months, except in the fall and winter, I tried to send one out once/month, but missed October. I sent a newsletter September, November and December, during the holiday fundraising push. The newsletter also gets posted to the AKI Facebook page and to our website. 6) I gave a presentation about AKI to Walter Putnam’s University of New Mexico class, “A Question of the Animal.” UNM paid a speaker’s fee of $200, which I donated to AKI. 7) We have a new brochure. Jodi O. updated it. 8) Other online resources: We were successful at getting on the Great Nonprofits Best of 2012 list. We received 12 - 5 star ratings, and to get on the best of list you need 10. Great Nonprofits publicized this list to the media during the holidays. The Gay Lesbian Directory site sent a message as follows: You have had 359 people actually click through from seeing you in searches on our website to your Listing page. We signed up for Missionfish/Ebay, which gives us the opportunity to raise funds through Ebay auctions. 9) Other organizations/online sites that haven’t produced any results: As reported in 2011,Jessi’s Gift, which is a foundation started by owners of a horse supply company, named after their daughter, who died in an accident, accepted my application for AKI to be part of their charitable giving program. We expected this to begin in 2012, but we never heard anything Cars for Causes Amalinda (jewelry site), for which a % of sales can be designated to AKI Synflex (glucosamine for pets) Classy Awards (StayClassy) 1) AKI connected American Vet Bill to Mozambique Animal Protection Society (not an AKI partner organization, but one that I visited in 2012). Bill volunteered with MAPS for about 10 days. He did spay/neuter, other vet care, worked closely with MAPS vet, Sara, and gave lectures and demonstrations to the vet school with a focus on dermatology, his specialty. 2) Two school groups raised funds for AKI/AKI partner organizations. The Stop Injustice & Cruelty Club (SICC) in New York, as in previous years, designated AKI to receive funds from their fundraising activities; and a New Jersey-based school group did the same. 3) Amanda, an AKI donor, read our AKI story about Zooey in Uganda, who needed a wheelchair, and she contacted Red Flyer, who donated the chair to AKI for USPCA’s Zooey. 4) About the same number of people (60-70) has gotten in touch with AKI this year as in 2011 to volunteer when visiting our partner organization countries; to report an animal found on the street; to report a cruelty case; or to request help to get a dog or cat into or out of an AKI country. About 20% of the people who have gotten in touch to volunteer are vets, vet students, or vet techs. When possible, I linked them to our partner organizations. Most of the cruelty reports come from Bosnia with Ghana second, and Honduras in third place. 5) I received a message from an organization in Albania, dealing with the same problem as many of our organizations—municipalities want to shoot dogs for population control instead of implementing TNR. I referred them to the Kosovo group (Animal Friends of Kosovo), which is successfully implementing CVNR, and also to Heart for Animals-Macedonia, which has been using CVNR for much longer than Kosovo/AFK. 6) No results produced from last year’s effort to form a sister shelter relationship with the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society and Uganda SPCA/the Haven. 7) President Museveni asked Katia with Uganda SPCA to write a background paper on livestock transport and slaughter in Uganda, and Katia requested my input. So far, nothing has come of this. The highlights of our efforts to raise funds and supplies are: 1) We continue to get regular donations of suture material from our contact person (requests to remain anonymous). We received approximately 3500 sutures in 2012. We sent to our partner Malawi (LSPCA): 360 + 268 + 230=858 HHHH: 189 Save the Animals-Armenia: 230 Total=1758 TOTAL 3275 sutures sent to AW organizations 2) We received 360,000 chew sticks from Hartz as a donation to AKI. 3) Our Project VETS umbrella includes: Namibia (rural SPCAs), Malawi (LSPCA), Honduras (HHHH), Armenia (SA-A), and Uganda SPCA; and non-AKI organizations: Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. We received supplies for Namibia’s rural SPCAs, which we forwarded on to someone who traveled from Namibia to the US and was willing to carry the package back. Project VETS also sent supplies for TAWESO, which I carried to Dr. Kahema with TAWESO. 4) We also sent: LSPCA: gauze, 700+ rawhides, and syringes (approx 200) HHHH: 480 rawhides, prednisone, Rimadyl, flea/tick meds, and other meds. Namibia rural SPCAs: flea/tick meds and other meds KCAW: Amitraz, Panacur, Biospot shampoo, Clavamox (Biospot and Panacur are Joan S donation) Save the Animals-Armenia: rawhides, surgical instruments Animal Friends of Kosovo: 70 flea collars Zimbabwe SPCA: spay/neuter packs Gulu Big Fix: 1000 rawhides MAPS: scalpels, flea collars 5) We administered a grant from the Central Valley Coalition for Animals for the Uganda SPCA to implement community spay/neuter campaign for a total of US$300. With the USPCA, I wrote the final grant report, submitted on March 30. 6) Zina is continuing to raise funds for USPCA to purchase land to build a new shelter. She raised approximately $3500 in 2012. The money sits in the AKI account until the USPCA is ready to purchase land. 7) I am helping Ghana SPCA proposal to write a humane education proposal to WAN, at WAN’s request. 8) Ashley, an American who was living and working in Senegal this past year, is helping a Senegalese friend start an SPCA there (there’s no animal welfare organization in Senegal). I reviewed a proposal she wrote to get funding for some start-up activities. 9) Signe, our volunteer bookkeeper, organized our excel accounts sheet through December 2012. 10) I updated our fundraising priority list and sent to board members for their input and so they can take on some fundraising tasks. 1) We added an Animal Friends of Kosovo page to the AKI website under “contact us” menu, “Kosovo: A Special Case.” We are not trying to raise money for AFK, we are only serving as a conduit so AFK can receive funds through Paypal via the AKI page. 2) Site visits during 2012: Ghana SPCA, TAWESO, Animal Friends of Kosovo, and Mozambique Animal Protection Society. 3) Our idea to start an anti-poisoning and shooting campaign didn’t get off the ground.
The following are some of the things that AKI partner organizations have been able to do in
2012 because of AKI support (this does not include the last 2012 distribution, which was sent
to partner organizations in December 2012, and hasn’t yet been accounted for):
Save the Animal-Armenia put roofs on dog houses, fixed the drainage at the shelter, and bought food to keep the shelter dogs well fed during the winter. Bosnia Animal Foundation rented a vehicle, covered fuel, and copied humane ed material-posters, flyers, and puzzles for use during their spay/neuter campaign; and held a separate community s/n campaign specifically with AKI funds. Helping Hands for Hounds of Honduras bought dog food, veterinary medicine, spay/neutered sanctuary animals, covered veterinary costs of several animals Pilar picked up from the street (Molly, Bootsy, and others), and repaired the gate and fence in the yard so sanctuary animals can’t escape. Kingston Community Animal Welfare bought food for street dogs and cats, bought de-wormer and mange meds, and covered vet costs, including spay/neuter. The Lilongwe SPCA (Malawi) constructed puppy kennels, a cattery, and adoption kennels (timbers and labor were donated separately from AKI), and a water tower and 2600 liter tank at the shelter so the animals can have a source of water during droughts. Namibia rural SPCAs bought food, medicine, blankets, and covered spay and neuter costs for dogs and cats. Rural SPCAs assisted are: Keetmanshoop, Karasburg, Luderitz, Walvis Bay, Otjiwarongo, Tsumeb, and Rundu). Tanzania Animal Welfare Society helped 1567 donkeys in Mpwapwa district through trainings and purchase of halter material to make humane halters, covered cost of transport to Dodomoa region/Mpwapwa district for humane ed courses, covered costs of reproducing humane ed material and for other workshop needs, purchased antibiotics, de-wormers, multi-vitamins, and other medicines, and repaired their TAWESO vehicle. Uganda SPCA has covered the salary for one animal caretaker who provides care to dogs and cats at the Haven, covered costs for kennel repair and maintenance, bought cooking gas to cook dog food, covered transport costs so they can attend to rescues and follow up care, and so they can participate in education sessions, and purchased medicines, shampoos, and vaccines. Ghana SPCA is planning to use AKI funds for horse welfare and education activities.

Source: http://animal-kind.org/pdfs/Yearendreport2012.pdf