Charity Miles Champion, Pippa!

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Today’s Charity Miles Champion is Pippa. Pippa’s parents Patti Tempio-Wilson and Chris Wilson are Charity Miles Ambassadors who fearlessly advocate for animals, and are very active in local efforts to help dogs and cats to find their forever homes.

In March of 2015, Pippa was found pregnant and emaciated by a group that works specifically rescuing pregnant dogs from kill shelters in CA, she gave birth to 7 puppies in foster care, but only 2 survived, her adorable healthy puppies found forever homes as soon as they were old enough! Pippa was still skittish and although she was in a loving foster home, they were helping other animals and that was a bit overwhelming for her.

As part of a Mother’s Day initiative, Pippa was transferred to our local shelter, where we are active fosters and volunteers, at Petaluma Animal Services. We got the call and went immediately to go pick her up!

She had not been eating, was scared, shaking, and pinned to the floor.  She calmed down and started to trust us thanks to our dog Bacci, who put her at ease and let her know she was in good hands!  She ate some chicken and curled up and fell right asleep.

Over the next week, she got very comfortable and made herself at home! We were all pretty smitten with her and although she had a few meet-and-greets with potential adopters, they fell through for one reason or another. We took this as a surefire sign that she was meant to be with us forever and we became official “foster fails” on Father’s Day!

When she first came to stay with us she could barely walk ¼ mile before she needed to rest, she’s now a full-fledged Charity Miles Ambassador Dog and can run a 10k with ease! We’re thrilled to have Pippa join Bacci as our training coach and help us prep for several half marathons.

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Pippa has since helped us successfully foster many dogs and kittens for Petaluma Animal Services Foundation (PASF). PASF has pioneered the Foster to Adopt program, allowing pets and their people the chance to get to know each other in their new environment. This method produces excellent results with no pressure and no judgment if things just don’t work out. The staff stands by their animals and is always there to ensure training and transition success! PASF also helps our large transient community provide food and vaccinations for the pets of our homeless humans. In gaining their trust with compassion, respect, and care, if/when these people in a housing crisis decide to relinquish their pets, they do so knowing that PASF will make sure they are adopted into the right home!

You can support PASF through our booster campaign here. And of course, you can help animals in need all over the country by dedicating your Charity Miles to the ASPCA. Get started with the ASPCA SHELTER DOG CHALLENGE!

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