100,000 adoptions and still going strong! In May, PAWS adopted out our 100,000th companion animal. An amazing and heartwarming accomplishment, and only one of hundreds of significant milestones in PAWS’ history. PAWS was founded as an all volunteer animal advocacy organization that promoted spaying and neutering as a way to solve the euthanasia crisis in local shelters. Now 35 years later, still with hundreds of volunteers assisting an incredible staff, PAWS continues to improve the lives of all animals in Washington state through direct care of more than 12,000 animals each year in our wildlife hospital and companion animal shelters, through our humane education program which reaches thousands of fourth grade school children, through innovations like our foster care, seniors for seniors, and vet intern programs, and actively speaking out every day for those that don’t have a voice.

It is on that legacy of accomplishment and the dream of a more compassionate world for all animals, that I have the honor of taking the helm. While I’m new to PAWS as its executive director, I’ve been a part of the PAWS family since the early '80s when I adopted Mika, a black and white kitten, found abandoned at just a few weeks of age. Lucky for me someone cared enough to bring her to the PAWS Shelter.

My love of animals and my activism are life long, and most recently was expressed serving as the director of an organization helping ensure the preservation of a 95,000 acre ecological preserve that is home to an amazing number of wild animals, and building the watershed education center which will teach 30,000 schoolchildren each year about environmental stewardship, the wonder of the wildlife, and how our actions affect animals too.

Puppies, kittens, dogs, cats, bear cubs, fox kits and bald eagles …I have the best job in the world! The opportunity to help the animals is a privilege. Working with our amazing staff and volunteers just completes the package. I look forward to your continued support as we embark together on the next 35 years of PAWS.