Behind the Leash: A Day with Heather Allen
Heather Allen is the president & CEO of Helping Animals Live On (HALO) Animal Rescue
7:30 A.M. >> PUPPY LOVE
Veterinary medicine is my love. My little piece is being a doggy doula. I foster about 150 moms and babies per year in my backyard casita, so my day usually begins and ends with cleaning and taking care of them. I do this by myself seven days a week, including three to four loads of laundry a day, depending on how dirty they are!
10 A.M. >> THE HALO EFFECT
My mother and I started HALO 30 years ago. My position has morphed to where I oversee all the financial and operational aspects of the business. I take care of all emails that come in and direct them to the appropriate area. This keeps me grounded and focused on the community’s needs and why they come to HALO. I make sure we provide excellent customer service by addressing any concerns because, at the end of the day, we’re here because we love animals. You’re not here for 30 years if you are not providing excellent care to your community. Fundraising is a large part of my job. I spend a lot of my time writing, including copy for our direct mail pieces, our newsletter and thank you notes to our donors so they know how much they’re appreciated.
11:30 A.M. >> A HISTORY OF PARTNERSHIP
HALO shared space with Maricopa County Animal Care & Control from 2013 to 2017. During that time, we helped them increase their life-saving rate from 55 percent to 85 percent by changing the standards of care for the animals and establishing new protocols. When this partnership ended, we moved into our own location, where we take in 3,000 to 4,000 dogs and cats a year. This move gave us the opportunity to expand and be a valuable partner to other organizations by accepting large volumes of their animals because there are too many in that area, and the animals are at risk for euthanasia. I forge relationships and communicate with partner shelters locally as well as in New Mexico, California and Mexico.
1:15 P.M. >> COMMUNITY FOCUSED
It has gotten harder for animal welfare in Arizona and across the country. There were 10 years where things were horrible, and we created strategies to save more lives, such as bottle-feeding programs and trap-neuter-return programs for cats that weren’t adoptable. The economy taking a turn for the worse over the last two years impacts the animal population. People have to move in with family or downsize from a house to an apartment where pets are not allowed, or there are breed or size restrictions. This, coupled with the usual life events of a family member who passes away and doesn’t have a plan in place for their animals, has left families scrambling. It takes longer for animals in our care to get adopted, which means that we cannot save as many because they stay in our care longer. HALO is focusing a little less on taking animals from our partner shelters and accepting more animals from the public due to an increased community need.
2 P.M. >> REMAINING PAWSITIVE
An important part of my job is to set the tone for the team on who we are and what we’re here to do. We try to find the positive in things and look for ways to help where we can, because it’s hard to see all these stressed animals that want to go home and don’t understand. It can be overwhelming for your heart. I accept the sad parts of seeing people in really difficult situations. Our job is to help people with their pets, remain compassionate and understand that they don’t tell us their whole life story. We shouldn’t expect them to. We should always come from a place recognizing they need us and don’t need our judgment.
3:30 P.M. >> DOING WHATEVER IT TAKES
I considered becoming a veterinarian, but there was no vet school in Arizona when I was in college. I love the medical aspect because it keeps my heart happy. At HALO, I have the opportunity for hands-on work and am involved in making medical decisions for treatment and intake. Two years ago, nine Goldendoodle puppies were abandoned in a crate behind the shelter. We learned they had Parvo, and I decided to take them and worked from home for six weeks. I created a Parvo ICU and set catheters, ran IV fluids and gave thousands of injections over the six weeks. Two didn’t survive, but I am still in contact with the families who adopted the puppies. Seeing my babies grow up is pretty awesome.
6 P.M. >> COMING HOME TO THE PACK
I take care of mom and the babies I’m fostering when I get home. I have two human children, but they are 17 and 21, so they are self-sufficient. I joke that I raised my kids as part of the dog pack because they were always surrounded by animals, including seven dogs, four cats, two parakeets, two chickens and a snake. The thing that makes HALO unique is that we’re 30 years old, and the founders are still here. Our passion and drive have not changed, and we haven’t lost sight of the mission. We’re still the same people who started HALO because of our love and desire to help, and we’re still here doing it.
To learn more, go to halorescue.org.
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