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HPPL Fact Sheet |
Organization History:
HPPL was founded in 1989 by a group of individuals who were concerned about
the plight of homeless dogs and cats in the
HPPL is a registered 501 (c)(3) non-profit animal
welfare organization. HPPL has nine volunteers on its Board of Directors who
receive no monetary compensation. For administrative purposes, HPPL maintains
one employee on salary to serve as its Program Services Manager.
Organization Operations:
Foster Care - HPPL does not operate a kennel or shelter. Instead HPPL operates a foster care program. Each animal must be admitted to the program through contacting the HPPL Program Services Manager at 713-862-7387. Animals are then scheduled for veterinary visits and medical care. Most often, people who rescue homeless animals are the same people who volunteer to foster them until they are adopted. Foster parents are caring individuals who agree to provide food, shelter, transportation for veterinary work and to the adoption sites, and love for the animal while it is in their care. Foster parents are generally individuals who already have animal companions but cannot make the lifetime commitment to another animal.
Costs - HPPL covers the cost of every animal's
veterinary care while it is enrolled in the program. Sometimes foster parents
want to adopt their own foster animals. Should this situation occur, they
are expected to pay the adoption fee. Other foster parents
who do follow through the adoption program leave with the satisfaction of
knowing that they made a real difference in the life of a friend.
Because they find the HPPL program successful and appealing, some people choose
to work with the group time and again.
Organization Funding:
HPPL is largely dependent upon tax-deductible donations made by individuals,
families, and companies. The organization also depends upon profits garnered
from several group sponsored activities that occur throughout the year.
Activities such as raffle ticket sales, publicity events, live and silent
auctions, and T-shirt sales comprise the bulk of HPPL's
revenue each year.
Mobile Adoptions:
HPPL gets most of its public exposure through its Mobile Adoption Program.
After an animal has been through foster care and is certified as adoptable by a
veterinarian, it is placed into our weekend mobile adoption program.
Houston-area animal retail stores including PetsMart
have graciously invited HPPL to bring rehabilitated pets into their businesses
for adoption.
While in the stores, the animals are kept in crates with a towel, chew toys,
and some water. Generally, we bring a maximum of 10 adult dogs, 5 puppies, and
20 cats/kittens to each site, but this can vary from weekend to weekend.
Individuals who are interested in adopting a pet are asked to complete an
adoption application. An HPPL adoption counselor then speaks with the potential
adopter to make sure that the home will be compatible and appropriate for the
animal selected.
A fee of $100.00 is charged to adopt each pet. The fee provides the adopter with
a loving pet that has been vaccinated, dewormed, and
spayed or neutered. All HPPL dogs are heartworm free and on a heartworm
preventative. All cats have tested negative for feline leukemia. An HPPL
identification tag and a rabies tag are also included.
HPPL holds adoptions every Saturday at the Copperfield PetsMart
at the intersection of Highway 6 and 529, at the PetsMart
at 290 and Spring Cypress, at the Baybrook Mall
Village PetsMart at
Pet Overpopulation:
Statistics show that an unaltered dog and her pups can produce more than 65,000 additional animals in 7 years. Even more overwhelming is the fact that a mother cat and her kittens can reproduce 425,000 new cats in that same amount of time!!
HPPL is totally committed to putting an end to animal overpopulation which
results in over 100,000 animals being put to death each year in
Euthanasia:
HPPL makes every effort to successfully rehabilitate each animal with which it comes into contact. However, since the organization accepts stray animals regardless of their condition, it sometimes receives animals which cannot be saved. An animal is only euthanized if, after a complete medical examination and a recommendation by the veterinarian on call, the determination is made that euthanization is the kindest thing to do for the animal. Furthermore, any cat/ kitten which tests positive for Feline Leukemia or FIV, both of which are infectious, terminal diseases, will be euthanized.