Living in the Valley, you probably have heard of Valley Animal Partners (VAP) but haven’t been quite sure what they’re all about. Admittedly, even though I am a known animal lover, I wasn’t quite sure myself.
So, after seeing a lovely post about what they do on social media. I decided to find out more about this Valley Non-Profit.
The post was written by VAP board member and local resident Andrea Logan:
“It is easy to get compassion fatigue taking frequent calls from pet owners needing help with their dogs and cats.
Then there are days that make it so worthwhile. We have been working with Dr. Shahi in Fall City. An owner brought in a dog with a mass, and though Dr. Shahi (of Snoqualmie Valley Animal Hospital, a sponsor) greatly reduced his fees, the owner still couldn’t or wouldn’t pay for the surgery. Then a neighbor of the owner called Dr. Shahi and offered to help pay because he didn’t want to see the dog suffer any longer. VAP stepped in with our emergency fund and helped as well. I am so happy the dog won’t suffer any longer. Dr. Shahi is a wonderful person and vet!
Thank you to my friends who support VAP. We couldn’t help people and their pets without you. My heart is full.”
At first, I was going to go on their website and donate since it seemed like a cause I wanted to support. However, as I looked through the site, I realized that while I still will contribute, I felt the need to tell everyone about this wonderful Valley group.
Valley Animal Partners (VAP) was founded in 2005 and is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization whose members are local businesses and individuals interested in the welfare of local companion animals.
Their mission is to raise funds to help Snoqualmie Valley seniors, disabled, veterans and families with limited income, spay or neuter, vaccinate, microchip and provide veterinary care for their pets.
When I asked Andrea why and how VAP got started, she said it was started by a group of local pet and business owners who wanted to directly help pets and their owners in the Snoqualmie Valley.
The group believes that spay, neuter and veterinary care should be accessible to pet owners regardless of their income or financial situation. Logan herself comes from a nonprofit background, but the other members owned various pet-related businesses in town, such as Pet Place Market, U Dirty Dog, Pooch Play and Rover Exposures.
Since the group started in 2005, they have provided services to over 1000 dogs/cats. This includes free vaccines and low-cost ($5) microchips to 300 animals, funds to spay or neuter 700 animals. And since starting their emergency fund, VAP has helped with the cost of emergency veterinary care for 35 dogs and cats.
Valley Animal Partners held its first Free Vaccine Clinic on July 28, 2013. VAP continues to hold vaccine clinics twice a year, in the spring and fall. Their latest is coming up this Sunday, October 24, from 10 AM to 12 PM at the covered picnic shelter area at Si View Park, 400 SE Orchard Drive in North Bend. To find out more information on the clinic or if you need assistance with something else, click here.
If you want to help this wonderful Valley nonprofit, you can donate monetarily toward the VAP program fill out a volunteer application toward a future event (events are now on hold because of Covid) or one of their clinics. Any help is appreciated and is needed to keep this program going.
In addition, Valley Animal Partners is one of the charity options able to benefit from AmazonSmile. If you shop at Amazon, you can designate VAP as your charity of choice. A percentage of the things you buy will go to help our furry valley members, a worthy cause indeed.
Thanks for all you do, VAP!
