A-PAL History
In 1978, a group of animal-loving Amador County residents created A-PAL Humane Society with the goal of promoting the humane treatment of animals in Amador County. Over the years, A-PAL has been at the forefront of many positive changes, including the following:
The "Save the Kittens" program was started with kittens being removed from the shelter to foster,
spay/neuter, give age appropriate shots, deworm and place in retail locations for adoption.
2002
A-PAL actively promoted a certificate program whereby Amador County residents could obtain a
certificate for a reduced price to spay or neuter their cat or dog.
2003
A-PAL began offering the public free spay/neuter for feral cats. These cats were trapped by Amador
residents and taken to local veterinarians for their surgeries and ear notch.
2004
The Barn Cat program was established to facilitate the adoption, at a reduced price, of cats deemed
"unadoptable" due to their age, appearance or demeanor.
2005
Twin Cedar K9 began taking shelter dogs with behavioral problems from the shelter and providing training and socialization to improve their odds of adoption.
2006
The pit bull free spay/neuter program was initiated to offer residents breed-specific spay/neuter support as pit bulls were the most common breed entering our local shelter. This program has since been discontinued as we did not see significant results.
A-PAL worked with Amador County staff, the Chamber of Commerce and the Amador Community Foundation
to build a new county animal shelter. A-PAL was also instrumental in hiring new, animal-loving, professional shelter staff.
2008
A free dog and cat spay/neuter program was started for low-income, Medi-Cal recipients, and the county agreed to fund the program, with A-PAL administering and promoting it. The goal was to reduce shelter intakes. This program is now funded by A-PAL entirely through donations.
2013
The Community Cats program was created. Feral cats can be brought to the shelter in traps. They are then spayed/neutered, rabies-vaccinated, and either returned to their colony or, if appropriate, placed in barn or pet homes. Feral cats were previously held at the shelter for 72 hours and then euthanized.
2021
In February, A-PAL and Tri County Wildlife Care (TCWC) jointly purchased a former pet bed & breakfast and its adjoining one-acre lot. In doing so, we created PawsPartners, an alliance for the animals, both domestic and wild. It was the perfect setup, creating space for a bird nursery and cat adoption site.
A-PAL Humane Society has worked with county shelter staff and volunteers to move the shelter intake from 2,400
animals annually with a save rate of just 15 percent in 1988, to 961* animals in 2021 with a save rate of 88 percent. With
your help, we will continue to work to reduce shelter intake and SAVE THEM ALL!
*Note the Amador County shelter was closed due to COVID so numbers were unusually low in 2021. A-PAL stayed open and began doing direct intake of animals during this period.
- Volunteers are now allowed to assist county workers at the shelter with dog walking, and cat and dog adoptions.
- A certificate program was initiated to assist residents with spay/neuter costs.
- Animals are now transported out of the area to rescue groups to facilitate adoptions.
- The spay/neuter deposit program was discontinued and animals today do not leave the Amador County shelter or A-PAL without being spayed or neutered prior to adoption.
The "Save the Kittens" program was started with kittens being removed from the shelter to foster,
spay/neuter, give age appropriate shots, deworm and place in retail locations for adoption.
2002
A-PAL actively promoted a certificate program whereby Amador County residents could obtain a
certificate for a reduced price to spay or neuter their cat or dog.
2003
A-PAL began offering the public free spay/neuter for feral cats. These cats were trapped by Amador
residents and taken to local veterinarians for their surgeries and ear notch.
2004
The Barn Cat program was established to facilitate the adoption, at a reduced price, of cats deemed
"unadoptable" due to their age, appearance or demeanor.
2005
Twin Cedar K9 began taking shelter dogs with behavioral problems from the shelter and providing training and socialization to improve their odds of adoption.
2006
The pit bull free spay/neuter program was initiated to offer residents breed-specific spay/neuter support as pit bulls were the most common breed entering our local shelter. This program has since been discontinued as we did not see significant results.
A-PAL worked with Amador County staff, the Chamber of Commerce and the Amador Community Foundation
to build a new county animal shelter. A-PAL was also instrumental in hiring new, animal-loving, professional shelter staff.
2008
A free dog and cat spay/neuter program was started for low-income, Medi-Cal recipients, and the county agreed to fund the program, with A-PAL administering and promoting it. The goal was to reduce shelter intakes. This program is now funded by A-PAL entirely through donations.
2013
The Community Cats program was created. Feral cats can be brought to the shelter in traps. They are then spayed/neutered, rabies-vaccinated, and either returned to their colony or, if appropriate, placed in barn or pet homes. Feral cats were previously held at the shelter for 72 hours and then euthanized.
2021
In February, A-PAL and Tri County Wildlife Care (TCWC) jointly purchased a former pet bed & breakfast and its adjoining one-acre lot. In doing so, we created PawsPartners, an alliance for the animals, both domestic and wild. It was the perfect setup, creating space for a bird nursery and cat adoption site.
A-PAL Humane Society has worked with county shelter staff and volunteers to move the shelter intake from 2,400
animals annually with a save rate of just 15 percent in 1988, to 961* animals in 2021 with a save rate of 88 percent. With
your help, we will continue to work to reduce shelter intake and SAVE THEM ALL!
*Note the Amador County shelter was closed due to COVID so numbers were unusually low in 2021. A-PAL stayed open and began doing direct intake of animals during this period.
FOR YOUR TAX RECORDS
A-PAL's Tax ID is 94-2462789
A-PAL's Tax ID is 94-2462789
