March 19, 2009

The North Shore Animal League America gave a formal send-off to its two adoption vans at its Port Washington, N.Y., location last week. (ZT Pet News Photo by Marcello De Luca)

Adoption 'Tour for Life' Sets Off Across U.S.A.: With hopes to give more than 700 animals new homes, North Shore Animal League's new initiative is hitting the road. Traveling cross-country, the nonprofit is rallying communities to adopt during the six-week trip.

NEW YORK -- The North Shore Animal League America likes shelter adoptions to keep moving, at a steady pace. So for the ninth consecutive year, the Long Island, N.Y., rescue shelter and welfare organization is taking that mantra to heart, sending four employees in two over-sized vans across the country to facilitate off-site adoptions.

But North Shore isn't set on advertising its own animals -- rather, it will help more than 100 animal shelters and rescue groups in 24 cities and 16 states keep their adoptions rolling.

It's the ninth annual Tour for Life, which officially launched this week and will run through mid-April. The program is co-sponsored by Purina.

"I think initially, it was just a concept to bring to the forefront the plight of homeless animals," said Joanne Yohannan, senior vice president of operations for North Shore, of the program's inception.

"This [off-site adoptions] was a unique way to highlight bringing animals to these high-traffic animal locations, because it was successful, and we began to see that same pattern of adoptions across the country."

Two vans, heading toward Florida and California, respectively, will set off today and tomorrow on the six week journey.

The goal is to boost interest in local shelters, as well as helping their animals, which can get overlooked when housed in drab, small cages, Yohannan says. She expects that the tour will help more than 700 animals across the country find new homes.

But North Shore's appearance is designed to have long-term effects, as well, rallying community support and media attention for unacknowledged and under-appreciated shelters.

"Some people just don't want to go to a shelter," Yohannan said. "They don't want to be in a place that they perceive as being sad. If we are able to get the animals out of what is perceived to be a sad environment, that helps facilitate adoptions."

When people see pets in more of a natural habitat -- or as organic as a parking lot, or mall can appear -- they are sometimes inspired to actually visit the shelter and see what else it has to offer, says Virginia Reeter, development director of Haven Humane Society Inc., in Redding, Calif.

"It's just about getting the animals out in public with the rest of the public," Reeter said. "People might not see exactly what they want, but then you refer them down to the shelter and they say, 'Well, we didn't even know you were here!' "

The first time the Tour for Life passed through Redding nearly four years ago, 56 animals from the Haven Humane Society got adopted in one day. Three hundred pets also got micro-chipped.

"It really gave us a boost," Reeter said. "56 animals was a major record for us."

This time around, Redding is one of the van's first stops, scheduled for March 25.

Reeter says that the Haven Humane Society does, occasionally, use its own vans to transport adoptable animals to and from a local mall, but that North Shore's official stamp brings the initiative to a new level.

Aside from being a "well respected organization with a lot of clout," North Shore also has a good looking van to boot, Reeter says.

"We can do a downsized version [of Tour for Life], but when they come, it is so impressive. Their van is so big and purple, and all those animals just draw in so much more attention," Reeter said.

The 50-foot long vans can transport around 30 shelter animals at a time; once stationed at a mall or any other public setting, the pets are outfitted with bandannas and given a chance to truly shine.

"Some of the animals show so much better when they are not in a cage," said Claire Balchumas, off-site manager for North Shore.

"It can be stressful for a pet to be in a cage, especially if they have been in a home. They don't know what is going on and they are confused.

"When they are out in the open like that, walking around on a leash, they show better. Their personality comes out and they can be seen in a better light."

Balchumas, of Queens, N.Y., is one of the four North Shore drivers traipsing across the country; for the seventh year running, she is completing the journey with her husband, Warren Dauenhauer, a musician.

After hitting California, Balchumas and Daeunhauer plan to journey to New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia and Connecticut, before looping back to New York in mid-April. They stay in hotels along the way, courtesy of Red Roof Inn, one of the program's sponsors this year.

The other tour will assist shelters in New York, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Florida.

Any shelter stands a chance to participate, Yohannan says, noting that some reach out to North Shore, and others are returning affiliates.

Though the journey can be "a little tedious at times," Balchumas said, for the most part, she "love[s] it."

"I mean, you get paid to see the country," she explained. "You get to work with different groups throughout the U.S., and that's a great feeling."

"You don't realize what a beautiful country we have until you are out on the road."

The tour has also taken on an emotional significance for Balchumas and Daeunhauer, who married mid-journey in Reno, Nev., five years ago.

They had been together for 15 years, Balchumas said, when the couple decided to officially seal the deal.

"He was like, 'Are you going anywhere?' " Balchumas recalled Daenhauer asking. "And I was like, 'No.' And he was just like 'Well, I'm not either, so let's get married.' "

It's a tour of love not only for Balchumas and Daeunhauer, but for the shelters and their animals as well, which are given that extra support they desperately need to get a new chance at life.

To fully track the Tour for Life and its participating shelters, visit NSALAmerica.org.

Amy Lieberman is a staff reporter for Zootoo Pet News. She can be reached at alieberman@zootoo.com.