Realtors raise $7,000 for Valley’s abandoned pets
EL CENTRO — A local group of Realtors has raised $7,000 for two non-profits that help the Valley’s homeless and abandoned pet population.
The Imperial County Association of Realtors on Wednesday presented the Humane Society of Imperial County with a $4,025 check and Dee’s Rescue with a $2,975 check — all of which was generated through ICAOR’s Pins for Paws bowling tournament held June 22 at StrikeZone IV.
Surpassing its original goal of $5,000, the event raised just over $6,500, which was rounded off to the final amount thanks to pitch-in donations from ICAOR members, association President Amy Volmer explained.
“A lot of people think that because you’re a Realtor, it’s just houses,” Volmer said. “And it’s not just about that. Real estate is just a part of it — we like helping out the community and helping people.”
The bowling tournament generated revenue through team entry fees, T-shirt logo and lane sponsors. Teams of four players completely filled StrikeZone’s 36 lanes.
At the event, Humane Society set up a viewing pen with about seven puppies — some of which went home with new owners — up for adoption.
“That was really cool because people were actually able to go and pick up the puppies,” Volmer said.
As HSIC was on site during the event, ICAOR decided to give it half of the event’s 50/50 drawing prize money, which created the 60/40 split of donation money between the two organizations.
It was the seventh year ICAOR has had a bowling fundraiser. Each year, it benefits a different local entity of the association’s choosing, Volmer said.
“Sometimes we do it for the Food Bank, the VA or WomanHaven,” she said. “Either way, it’s good to just help wherever we can.”
Tugging at the heartstrings of ICAOR Realtors this year was the recent struggles and summer heat the Humane Society of Imperial County has had to deal with. The organization was also the primary beneficiary of ICAOR’s 2015 bowling event.
Dee’s Rescue, an El Centro animal rescue that provides low-cost spay and neuter services, works closely with the Humane Society, and was chosen as a second beneficiary this year.
“It’s sad because people just don’t seem to want to spay and neuter their animals,” Volmer said. “Then they think it’s OK to just not do that and then they have puppies and they dump them off. They don’t get the funds like [rescues] in other counties do. This year, we thought it was really important to give to them.”
Human Society Executive Director Devon Apodaca said this time of the year is always the hardest time for the shelter.
Along with receiving stray and lost pets from the Fourth of July holiday, the shelter also receives pets from local residents who, instead of paying for a caretaker, abandon their pets to go out of town for vacation.
This creates the largest number of pets in the shelter’s care during the year, which means more mouths to feed and air conditioning use.
Apodaca said the funds from the bowling tournament will go toward the shelter’s electric bill and paying down a running tab of veterinary bills, as a majority of animals the shelter receives need some sort of medical treatment.
Apodaca said that, although the Valley is further behind than most communities in terms of animal welfare, he has notified a significant shift in community involvement within the past five years.
“I think Imperial Valley is on its way to becoming a pet-friendly community,” he said. “There’s still a lot to be done, but I believe that there are individuals and groups that are assisting in making those necessary changes.”
Among those assisting in the change is ICAOR, Apodaca said.
“These are people that are very well-known, well-connected and they’re somewhat influential,” he said.
“When people see what ICAOR is doing with these types of fundraisers, they’re getting the word out there and letting people know, ‘Hey, this is what the homeless pet population needs. They need our love and our support, and we need to step up to the plate.’”
Neglected pets are something Realtors come across frequently, Volmer said.
“I’ve gone to houses where people have already moved, and they’ve abandoned their animals,” she said. “You get this house, maybe it’s a REO and it’s a bank-owned property, and there’s been animals living there in the backyard. And how are they surviving? From the neighbors throwing food over the fence or something.”
These frequent experiences by Realtors make donating to animal rescues especially compelling, Volmer said.
“You don’t really relate it to real estate, but we see that and it’s a big impact,” she said. “And where do those animals go? They go to the Humane Society. And so it’s like, we want to help them, too, because a lot of people do that, and it’s hard for us to see that, so it kind of hits home.”