Emptying the cages at Petaluma no-kill shelter

In late September, Petaluma Animal Services hung a sign on its front door. "That's all, folks"

The nonprofit animal shelter had found homes for all of the dogs in its care, as it had several times before. But this time, said Valerie Fausone, director of the Dog Training Center, "We posted it to alert our customers. It turned into a media circus.

"It was sad. A shelter does what it's supposed to do, and satellite trucks show up. To us, it was Tuesday. To the world, it was a miracle."

But the reaction triggered an idea. Fausone, animal services manager Jeff Charter and cat care coordinator Kathy Sousa asked themselves, "If we can do this for the dogs, why can't we do it for the cats, too?"

And they set to work. Through Nov. 18, they have challenged themselves with the Empty Cat Cage Project, a month-long effort to find permanent homes for the 85 kittens and cats under their care.

The shelter's staff members turned to the same techniques they used to empty the dog kennels, relying heavily on social media (their Facebook page has more than 7,500 likes) and a corps of dedicated volunteers and donors they call the Army of Kindness.

"If we say we've got a problem, we need help, we get a response," said Charter.

The moment the project was announced on Facebook, Fausone said, the phone started ringing and people stepped forward to help. Within a few days, donors had stepped forward to sponsor the $70 adoption fees for all cats in the shelter, with one sponsoring 20. All that remains is finding people willing to take the cats home.

Toys were donated so kittens and cats can go home with goodie bags. Local veterinarians donated their services to families adopting cats, and Cinema West stepped forward with movie passes and on-screen promotions between features.

Thinking outside the box is the norm at Petaluma Animal Services, with no idea too preposterous, Charter said.

"I'm not a big fan of the status quo. I look at issues as problems, and then look for solutions to the problems."

Added Fausone, "Whatever wacky stunt we need to do, we'll do." Case in point: the Pajama Party.

"We told people they'd get a free adoption if they showed up in their pajamas. Jeff said it wouldn't work," she said, glancing at Charter with a smile. "But we did 26 adoptions." And yes, the staff also wore their jammies.

The shelter also offers a Foster to Adopt program, "like taking the pet for a test drive to see how they fit," Charter said. "It takes away the apprehension. And even if it doesn't work out, the pet's gotten out of the shelter for a week, had a rest."

Staff members also provide dog training and cat care advice, providing behavioral intervention if necessary.

The biggest key to their success, however, is their robust social media presence. They write 10 to 18 Facebook posts a day, 365 days a year, Fausone said. "We're telling the never-ending story of the shelter, what's going on with the pets, with us, our highs and lows. We're talking to the community."

Earlier this month, readers cheered when a male with feline immunodeficiency virus was adopted after spending more than a year at the shelter. And readers posted comments about their grief when an orange tabby that had been rescued from a drain at the airport didn't survive.

"It's scary to say, ‘She died,'" Fausone said.

"But it's critical for the public to realize we aren't hiding anything," Charter said.

Facebook fans have made the shelter an adoption tourist destination, with people coming from as far away as San Francisco, Ukiah and even Wisconsin to adopt from the no-kill shelter.

"People get involved with the stories on Facebook, they want to come see the animals," said Charter, "and when Facebookers come in, they point to the animals by name and know all about them."

As an open-admission shelter, it is required to take in all Petaluma animals, regardless of condition or breed. Last year, that was more than 1,600 animals, including some from other shelters. Fewer than 2 percent required euthanasia, only those deemed by a veterinarian as too ill or damaged to be saved.

Last year, when news broke that Petaluma Animal Services had run out of dogs, the phone rang off the hook, Fausone said, "with other shelters asking us to take in some of their dogs. No one called to ask how we did it."

If they had, Charter and Fausone would have told them that rethinking the problem is key.

"Our real competition is not surrounding shelters, it's the free cats," Fausone said. "We seek ways to make our cats free. Other shelters can charge $300 or more and then demand to see things like a mortgage or rental agreement. They have a dark ages, negative way of thinking."

"The shelter industry is built on can't and won't and ‘we don't do that,'?" Charter said. "We are, ‘Yes! We can!'"

Fausone also would have told them to reach out to the community, she said. "And maybe, if you have too many animals, the problem is that you're charging too much and have such stringent rules. Can you blame people for not adopting?"

Petaluma Animal Services is located at 840 Hopper St., Petaluma, 778-7387, petalumaanimalshelter.org.