Long Beach native Beth Zimmerman has always had a deep affection for animals, in particular homeless dogs and cats. And despite the fact she didn’t grow up in a military family she was raised with a strong appreciation for the military. It was what Beth calls a “glimmer of an idea” last summer that started her on the path to bring these two worlds together. A year later this “glimmer” is a vibrant non-profit called Pets for Patriots.
We met for breakfast outdoors at a restaurant near her home in Point Lookout on an idyllic Long Island day where she described how her vision came together. Though hailing from Long Beach, Beth has a distinctly sophisticated New York City air about her. When I asked her what made her decide to launch her own non-profit she recalled thinking, “why not just do it now?” As the owner of Cerebellas, a business-strategy company, she was able to efficiently craft a business plan and assemble an advisory board to help her concept come to fruition.
According to Beth, 4 million dogs and cats are euthanized every year. “Let’s call it what it is,” Beth says emphatically. “They are being killed. At the same time, we have a population of veterans in this country, many of whom suffer from physical or emotional challenges, or are widowed or alone and want the companionship that having a pet provides.”
Beth founded Pets for Patriots as a non-profit organization dedicated to helping veterans adopt adult dogs and cats, saving their lives. Veterans who adopt animals from shelters participating in the Pets for Patriots program also receive access to reduced-cost veterinary care for the life of their pets. Beth’s goal is to help the person and the pet form a lifelong bond of friendship, loyalty and love.
“A big part of the Pets for Patriots mission is to find sustainable adoption. We want to make sure the adoption sticks,” Beth says. “The person has to be at the right stage of recovery for whatever they’re going through.”
Pets for Patriots will launch nationally this October in the Denver and Colorado Springs areas before spreading to the East Coast. In the meantime, Beth has been signing up networks of shelters in smaller communities like Long Island. She explained that if you don’t see a shelter listed in your area on the Pets for Patriots website, her group will do the legwork for you and find a shelter and a vet who is interested in participating. “We can’t make a pet affordable, but we want to help lessen the financial burden.” To qualify for the program, applicants must provide their military ID or DD214 separation papers. Shelters have to be non-profit, and cannot be breeders or retailers. Town shelters are eligible as long as they’re non-profit.
One thing Beth learned from getting Pets for Patriots off the ground is that there are some similar organizations, but they have different missions. “There is room for all of us,” Beth says. “Ours is the only one that I found so far that deals exclusively with adult-shelter pets that are not meant to be service animals. We are sensitive to working with slightly wounded veterans, and we are open to military members at any stage of their career,” she says, adding, “If a family was looking for a dog or cat and the parent was in the military, they could get a pet.”
Beth has been traveling across the country to further the cause of Pets for Patriots, and has achieved success with several military organizations. The National Resource Directory, an online partnership for wounded, ill and injured service members and their families, has just listed Pets for Patriots as one of their resources. She also met with the managers of the U.S. Army’s AW2 Wounded Warriors program that helps severely wounded soldiers who are in transition from active military service to civilian life. Beth said they were intrigued by the Pets for Patriots idea because many veterans do not qualify for service animals, but they can benefit from a pet friend. “We were recently asked to be one of the national partners for RealWarriors.net because they felt that our mission was compatible with theirs,” she says. “Once we get the approval from the Army from the national level, that will be the cog in the wheel and with the validity of these respected organizations behind us, it will make other conversations easier.”
Beth has been working diligently putting all of the pieces in place that will take Pets for Patriots to the next level. She feels that it’s a “no-brainer” for shelters to become involved because the service is free and they get the benefit of having search-engine optimization for their website, printer-ready flyers, posters and kennel badges awarded by the organization. Beth explained that the kennel badges are put on the cages of eligible shelter pets to denote them as Pets for Patriots’ candidates. To be eligible for the program, the cats and dogs must be at least two years old and dogs must weigh more than 40 lbs. Special needs dogs or cats that have a chronic condition are also eligible.
“It’s a win-win situation,” Beth says. “We’re new and untested, and that’s a challenge. But I would think that given the statistics, it’s a good community value that supports adult-pet adoption and supports the men and women who served in the military and are responsible for our way of life.”
To find out more go to www.PetsforPatriots.org or call 1-877-4-PETCADET or email [email protected]
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