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Home > Out of the Cage! > December 2004 > Featured Alliance Participating Organization: P.L.U.T.O. Rescue: Making Miracles Happen on Staten Island Featured Alliance Participating Organization P.L.U.T.O. Rescue: Making Miracles Happen on Staten Island
Lisa Rooney, the founder and driving force behind this small but potent rescue group, created P.L.U.T.O. Rescue in 2001. Her twenty-plus years of experience in animal rescue prepared Lisa for the challenge. She estimates that since she was 19 years old, she has found homes for 1,000 dogs. Each year P.L.U.T.O. Rescue (P.L.U.T.O. stands for Pet Lovers United Together as One) finds loving homes for approximately 150 animals. While the majority of P.L.U.T.O.'s placements are dogs, it also finds homes for cats, rats, birds, pigs — just about any animal who comes its way needing a home. P.L.U.T.O. does not have a shelter; all the animals are boarded at local vets' offices or cared for by four foster families. At any given time, roughly 15 animals are in P.L.U.T.O.'s care. Most are owner surrenders, and many are pure breeds.
P.L.U.T.O.'s recognition within the community has grown tremendously since the group's founding. Many area residents have come to know of P.L.U.T.O. either through the group's weekly Adopt-a-Pet feature in a local newspaper, the Staten Island Advance, or its consistent weekly presence at PETCO in Staten Island's Shopright Plaza (1756 Forest Avenue), where every Saturday between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., volunteers introduce potential adopters to the animals. P.L.U.T.O. also participates regularly in group adoption events, such as BROADWAY BARKS! and Mayor's Alliance events. This past September, the group co-hosted the Mayor's Alliance Pet Adoption Festival in Staten Island's Cloves Lakes Park, where APOs, including AC&C, ASPCA, The Husky House, and Neighborhood Cats, also participated.
Finding homes for orphaned animals, however, is only one of the ways P.L.U.T.O. is making miracles happen in its community. Attending to local feral cat colonies is another primary initiative for the group. Its TNR (trap-neuter-return) program is helping to reduce the number of feral cats in the area, and improve the quality of life for the colonies that live there. This year, P.L.U.T.O. coordinated spay and neuter surgeries for at least 150 feral cats. P.L.U.T.O. also offers an ongoing spay/neuter program for the community. Partnered with local veterinarians, it provides low-cost spaying and neutering for Staten Island animal guardians.
Raising the public's awareness of rescue animals as the first adoption option, the importance of spaying and neutering, and responsible pet guardianship also is high on P.L.U.T.O.'s list of priorities. Lisa explains that providing people with answers and options is vital to the well-being of the animals. "We want to be the public's first resource, not its last resort," she says. A registered nurse by profession, Lisa maintains her own large family of rescued animals, many of them senior canines. Her newest addition to the family is Lily, a four-pound abandoned Chihuahua that ended up at a local vet's office. Lisa took Lily home and nursed her back to health, Today, Lisa reports, Lily fits in well with all of her other dogs, and sometimes even takes charge of the household. Petey, another P.L.U.T.O. Rescue success, was adopted out six months ago, then returned because his former mom was moving out of the country. When P.L.U.T.O. took him back, Petey had changed. He was depressed. He didn't like being on a lead, and would leap at people, making it hard for potential adopter's to get to know him. Lisa considered seeking a sanctuary to take Petey. But then a call came from a woman whose dog had died and she was considering adoption. Petey turned out to be the perfect match for her, and today he is thriving, playing in a big back yard with his ball and having fun chasing the birds. If you'd like to learn more about P.L.U.T.O. Rescue and view their animals for adoption, please visit the P.L.U.T.O. Rescue web site.
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