The pilot episode of Rescue Shit- Pate and Jme's foray into the world of podcasting!
Who the *bleep* are Pate and Jme? They are the directors of Motley Zoo Animal Rescue based in Redmond, WA.
They have been working together (work spouses!) for almost 14 years- but between them have more than 30 years' of experience saving animals in need.
They have a lot to say to each other and to share with you, their shared passion: animals!
The pilot episode of Rescue Shit- Pate and Jme's foray into the world of podcasting!
Who the *bleep* are Pate and Jme? They are the directors of Motley Zoo Animal Rescue based in Redmond, WA.
They have been working together (work spouses!) for almost 14 years- but between them have more than 30 years' of experience saving animals in need.
They have a lot to say to each other and to share with you, their shared passion: animals!
Hi, this is our podcast, Pate. What's our podcast gonna be called?
Pate:I don't know. It should kind of have like a rock and roll thing, cuz that's kind of like our gig. Don't you think?
jme:I was thinking rescue shit.
Pate:How do you spell that?
jme:Well, why is it censoring me? Rescue shit.. You try and say it.
Pate:Rescue shit.
jme:I don't, is there like an automatic sensor? A swear sensor? What? The boop is going on.
Pate:It's gonna beep me all the time. No one's gonna even hear a fucking sentence of mine.
jme:Oh, that snuck through. That snuck. I have to beep that one in post. Anyway, I think our podcast should be called Rescue Shit.
Pate:I think you're totally right. That's totally us.
jme:So, yeah, so. Here we are. This is Rescue Shit. I'm Jme...
Pate:That's awesome. I was not expecting that
jme:I know, that's why I said you just gotta go with it. So, I'm Jme. I'm Pate. That's Pate. And we're from Motley Zoo Animal Rescue, and this is our podcast. Called Rescue Shit. boop
Pate:That's a late beep.
jme:We're gonna start out our podcast, talking about fostering and. We are a Motley Zoo, is a foster based rescue. We're gonna go into some detail about that in a different episode. But for now, foster based means that the animals stay in people's homes. So people volunteer, take in an animal, treat it like one of their own until a home is found. And Pate, what do you do in that part?
Pate:So I'm the foster coordinator, I control the intakes of the animals that come into rescue and outta rescue in the aspect that, the vetting. I make sure that the vetting is done and through communication with the Foster. So the foster will be responsible for taking them to and from our vets under my direction and guidance.
jme:And you also pick which animals go in which foster homes, and then therefore also through talking with the fosters, decide which homes they get adopted to. So we thought we would dispel some myths about fostering here and try and help people understand a little bit more about what it is about and why it's actually a really fun and amazing thing to do. So we polled our fosters and I was a little surprised to hear the answers. Pate, what did you think was the biggest reason people wouldn't foster in general?
Pate:Well, I thought it would be a time commitment for them and the fact that we're going back to work. The kids have school activities, so we're just really, really too busy to devote to a dog or, or cat. Especially if there are special needs. if they're really young. that's what I figured would be the hesitance in taking a foster on.
jme:So I thought the biggest reason would be that people would be afraid of getting, let's say, a dog that they couldn't handle, A dog that scared them, a dog that attacked their kids, a dog that attacked their dog, or something like that. Because I know, you know, when I first started, that was a worry of mine. I had my first little dog, and I, I thought, what if I get a dog that's gonna hurt my dog? I mean, the reality is, is that that dog isn't gonna come to Molly Zoo and it's certainly not gonna go to you. A brand new foster, a dog that's that scar or aggressive is not gonna make it out of the shelter. And. You know, Motley Zoo works really hard to match people and the animals so that that doesn't happen.
Pate:With your experience levels and things like that.
jme:Yeah. That's what Pate does, is assess people and animals and puts them together, whether it's temporary or whether it's permanent, Pate is working on that and we obviously being foster based can only take animals that our fosters can handle. So anyway, I thought that would be the biggest reason. What we found out in polling our fosters is that, yes, a few of them worried about that, but the biggest fear that people had was actually not being able to give the animal away.
Pate:Right. Following in love and not being able to let them go.
jme:So what do you think about that? I mean, I know when I adopted my first dog, I said to the foster mom,"So you just watched this dog for like six weeks and then you just give it away"? And famous last words I said,"I could never do that". Obviously I changed my mind, but what do you think about that? What is something that you want people to know about why that isn't quite as hard perhaps as they might think.
Pate:Well, I mean, if you go in with the mindset that you're babysitting, you know, pretend you are a pet sitter and you're gonna take care of this dog or cat and you're gonna love it and you're gonna help it, be all that it can be and just be a really good animal to go to their home. So if you have in your mind that you're a pet sitter, then you almost set up boundaries for yourself so that you don't fall head over heels in love and then have it be so hard to let them go. I know a lot of people are sometimes nervous with their kids because their kids will fall in love and not wanna let it go. And I know when Devyn, my daughter was like about four. She was really, really into kittens, and having her let the kittens go was a little bit hard, but it was a lesson learned to her. So much so that I had to keep her away from adoptions. After one adoption, she let her kittens go to a home, and the lady asked her,"Are you gonna miss these kittens? Are you gonna be okay"? And she's like,"It's all right. I got more coming". They do understand that there's a need. And they're good about letting their animals go eventually. It's a great learning lesson for the kids that people don't really understand. that's a great benefit.
jme:I think it's interesting because I've seen far more adults cry and have a hard time giving up the animal than any kids. Kids. New is novel. So they're like, who's coming next? Who's coming next? Let's see who's coming next. So kids they're resilient and mm-hmm. especially if you set it up with those expectations that this is not our, our dog or cat. This is an animal that we're watching. We just don't know who's gonna come pick it up or when, and that's how I usually set it up for people with kids. Frankly, the parents are gonna be the ones having a harder time. Because That's just how it's worked out. But all of the fosters that we polled that said, that was their biggest fear was how to give the animal away or whether they could, they have all said that their lives have been really enriched by the fact that they have done this, and they realize while it can be hard, and while every animal has a special place in their heart, they see who we're adopting to. And they have no worries or fears that these animals are not gonna be taken care of. And they do not worry that this animal is gonna go to a home that isn't right for them. And that's one thing that Motley Zoo does really, really strictly
Pate:Matchmake.
jme:Yeah. And specifically is the matchmaking.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:And so, Pate, why don't you talk about that and how that works and why Motley Zoo is so different.
Pate:Well, you know what I think is really funny about us and our matchmaking is, uh, do you remember when we were doing that Best Western or whatever the. The, the, the best Western top five or oh,
jme:The Best of Western Washington.
Pate:Yes, that one. And uh, and then we were, and we got to be, we were in the category, you know, the pet category, but then we were also in the matchmaker category, And we were winning. So we were like number one. And then, you know, like match.com, those types of places, like complained, and they're like,"They don't count. You need to get rid of'em". So we got booted out even though we were like, totally winning.
jme:Yeah. It was funny how people, our fans took over that matchmaking category that was supposed to be for dating sites and companies and Yeah. we totally took it over with Motley Zoo, overwhelmingly winning and yeah, they had to boot us out, so that, that was really funny. But that just speaks to how important it is for us to set people up with the right animals and that includes you know, temporarily.
Pate:So when we match make, we do have a thorough application process. And sometimes it can be lengthy, sometimes it can be really quick. It really depends, you know, like, can we talk to your landlord fairly quickly? Can we, you know, contact your vet and they get back to us, about your vet history and things like that. There's different factors into why the application may take longer or shorter, but nonetheless, the more information you put in your application, the more that we know what your lifestyle is so that we can fit you with an appropriate dog. We've had people that, you know, you look at a dog, you're like, look at that husky. That husky is gorgeous and I want it in my life. But you are not a hiker. You are not a jogger. You just wanna hang out and have a lap dog, and that husky just is not gonna play that way. you hang out and you don't take it for a walk or run or engage it physically, you're gonna be looking at destroyed furniture, walls and carpet shredded, that kind of thing. They will get destructive when they're bored. So we wanna make sure that your lifestyle matches the personality and the physical needs of the rescues and being in a foster home, we get to know these animals and we get to know their personalities. And when they're babies, we get to know not necessarily their personality because the babies don't have one yet, but what their needs are. Are they a little on the shyer side? Are they rambunctious? That kind of thing, so that we match them with appropriate families.
jme:Not every organization will do such diligent matchmaking when it comes to fostering. And so sometimes, you gotta really make sure that it's gonna be a good fit for you. Sometimes they'll just give you a dog, give you whatever dog you want. Do you remember when we had, that woman that she applied to foster and she was getting mad that we weren't giving her a dog fast enough?
Pate:Mm.
jme:But it was because we didn't have any dogs that suited her family.
Pate:Right.
jme:And she went out and fostered with a different organization and got a dog that was a total disaster and created chaos in her life. I mean, nothing terrible happened, but she did come back to us and say she was sorry because she realized why we didn't give her a dog right away. So these are things that you know, Would wanna understand as a foster is that sometimes the faster you get an animal, the, I don't wanna say the less likely it is to be a good match, but the faster it goes, I feel like the more chaos could ensue.
Pate:Yeah, that's correct. And just kind of like when we adopt as well, there are organizations that will adopt faster than us. The dogs may not be in foster care that long. They get off transport and they're right in a pet store and getting adopted that same day. We don't do same day applications for fostering or for adopting, because we, we wanna make sure that we do what we can to set you up for success again, based on your experience and your needs. We'll be there to hand hold. To an extent, any kind of medical emergency we're gonna be there. me personally, uh, for the dogs especially, and you know, we're fortunate that we have a cat team and we have, dedicated cat fosters who have the experience to help you, with your cat fostering needs.
jme:Going back to adopting right off a truck. That's something that I never really understood is people will tell us they can't foster, but they will be happy to go and drive up to a truck and take a dog that just got off it, that they don't know that no one knows. And this happens all the time and I can't understand where that comes from. So maybe if you're out there and you...
Pate:it's expectations.
jme:Yeah. You know why someone would do that? We'd love to hear from you, but people are resistant to the idea of fostering an animal temporarily.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:But they will jump on the idea of adopting an animal forever- and that I don't understand.
Pate:Because it's the picture. They fall in love with the picture. So, you know, it's that reality versus expectations.
jme:The reality is that we might take that animal away, but they don't even know it. What if they don't like it? When it's fostering? They're worried they're not gonna like the animal, or they're gonna be afraid of it.
Pate:Right?
jme:And when it's adoption, they are gonna love it, but we're not gonna take the animal away from them if they love it. And that's where things have changed in the last couple years, and we've moved to what we call Foster to Adopt. Why don't you explain a little bit about that?
Pate:So Foster to adopt is because we don't have a lot of fosters who can take in, for example, litters of puppies, right? And then now our puppies are staying in foster homes longer because of the vet practices that have changed since the pandemic. A lot of shelters will, neuter and spay a puppy at two months or eight weeks and our vets kind of push that back to three to four months, depending- which kind of keeps the animals in foster longer. As you can imagine, the longer an animal is in foster, that home is being taken up and another animal in need cannot go in that foster home. So we find a more permanent foster solution by foster to adopt so that you can enjoy your puppy, for example, before they're spayed and neutered, so you can enjoy them and have them for a month or so before they're ready to be altered. And then that also gets you, especially with puppies, lets you know, do you really want a puppy and all that it entails.
jme:Agreed. And when you were talking about the vet issue right now too, it's not just an age thing that's changed and when we're talking about the difference between shelter vetting and our vetting, it's that shelters typically have a vet on staff and so they create their policies and they do things the way that they want to do them. You know, for years and years and years, it's been eight weeks or two pounds. And that's been kind of the rule for the animals, for puppies and kittens. Motley Zoo currently relies on retail vetting, private vets that we go to their offices just like any other client would, and we're lucky that we get a slight discount. But I would like to clear up the idea that any vets do anything for free because they don't.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:No vets do anything for free and we pay retail prices with a discount.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:So our vetting does cost us more than, say, a shelter who can get any number of animals spayed and neutered in a full-time vet's salary, you know, that is one thing, but fostering to adopt has become more popular because we can't find the fosters to watch those animals temporarily and...
Pate:For extended periods of time.
jme:Yes. And by sending them home to their homes, those families get to bond with them at an earlier age.
Pate:They start training...
jme:They get to start training...
Pate:about one-on-one.
jme:Yep. They invest in the care of their animal, not just a stranger for a temporary period of time. So we found that, you know, this makes them even more invested and more prepared for having a pet. Or like Pate said, that sometimes they come to the realization that this is not at all what they can expect. And we've had a few puppies returned after a mere 12, 24, 18, 18 hours.
Pate:Yeah. And that same night, no, I can't do it. Yeah. And, and that's fine. Yep.
jme:But that's, that's why you foster
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:And you know, not only can you get to know the animal that you're gonna adopt, I guess fostering in general, can be kind of a dating process for finding the right pet for your family.
Pate:Well, yeah. And then a lot of people that don't have a lot of dog. Or, or pet experience, they can actually gain more experience with our guidance. So you can foster multiple dogs, multiple ages, different sizes, different breeds, things like that. And just learn more, learn more training because we offer training as well. More medical issues if there's any, because we're there to kind of guide you and help you learn more about the dogs and how to care for them properly.
jme:Yeah, I think that fostering is really great because even if you never wanted to do it again, or you know you're gonna be a chronic foster, you're gonna learn more about your own dog. or a dog that you want to have in the future, or a pet. We say dog a lot of times in lieu of PET because it's a little different than a cat. So, pardon if we say dog more frequently than cat...
Pate:Because we do a lot of cats.
jme:Yes. We do a ton of cats. We actually do twice as many cats as dogs.
Pate:Right.
jme:But when we say that, it's because dogs have a lot more specific needs and...
Pate:They're more dependent on you as well.
jme:Yes. So fostering can be a way to date those dogs and find the one that you really wanna marry, because how likely is it that the first dog that you meet is really the one that you're gonna marry? I mean, when you were dating, you expected to date a few people, didn't you, before you got married?
Pate:Well, I mean there are a few people that, their are high school sweethearts are who they marry. But I know that wasn't me
jme:No. I wanted to date a few. And you know, the fostering process can really allow you to do that. And it can allow you to determine whether an animal can actually fit into your family. Right. And so it's something we encourage, especially first time pet owners.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:That is something we really encourage because then you also aren't disappointed. You don't make a commitment to adopt and then have to give them back. But fostering is also not like trying on shoes where you're like, you spend a day or two with the dog and you're like,"Nope, this isn't the one", and then you give it back. That's not how it works. When you're fostering, you're committing to the animal and their needs until they don't need you, then you try again. Then you date a different animal, always based on what the animal needs. Fostering is not based on what is convenient for you. It is not based on your needs, your opinions, your emotions, and that is something that we'll talk about in a future episode, and I think that is the hardest part that we work with in fostering. It's rarely a fight or a bite or some medical crisis.
Pate:Yeah.
jme:It's human emotions and how we navigate them. That can be the hardest part of your job, especially. Pate and I have been working together for almost 14 years and,
Pate:Has it been that long?
jme:Yeah. And, I wanted to ask you about your first fostering experience with Motley Zoo. Like, what was that like for you and, what made you sure that you wanted to do it again?
Pate:I remember the first foster that I had signed up for, I did not get, which was totally fine because I got these lab golden retriever puppies and I had three of them and I named them after Smashing Pumpkin Song Pistol, Pete, that was a very easy litter. It was a large litter and I guess we finally got their parents altered. But it was the second litter that we had to help with and so we only got three of the litter, a little girl and two boys. And actually, Pistol Pete, the reason why I remember his name the most is because she actually came back and volunteered with us later, like...
jme:Mm-hmm.
Pate:Five years later or something like that. But anyway, so yeah, they were like super easy. I do remember that I cried when I let, Pistol Pete go because he was, he was my boy. That was the first time letting him go. That was a little bit difficult because it was my first ones here in Washington and I'm a dog person, so then it's like I can't be a hoarder. So.
jme:Well, and almost just as quickly there was another group that needed you.
Pate:Like the next day we had that hoarding situation. You're like,"Uh, can you take a mom and her babies from a hoarding situation"? And I was like,"Alright". The mom won't like look at me and I can't touch her. But yeah. And then one of the babies was a medical needs baby, a neuro little boy, but he was awesome. We called them schnockers they look like schnauzer and they said there was cocker in there too. So
jme:Well, and didn't the people who adopted the mom come back and foster for us?
Pate:Oh yeah. So multiple times. Yeah.
jme:Yep. So they were fosters.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:And then they had a kid.
Pate:Yeah.
jme:And they couldn't foster for a while. Cause we do have a rule about kids being over five to have dogs and then guess what? They came back Or they foster kittens.
Pate:No, the rabbits, the last ones that they fostered with us are rabbits with their daughter.
jme:It's been really great that a lot of people who adopted with us, you know, they got the right pet. They saw what we did and how we did it.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:And they believe in that matchmaking process. And so that's what we want you to know about Motley Zoo when it comes to the animals that we are making matches, not just finding homes for pets.
Pate:And hopefully we're establishing relationships too, cuz as a foster, you wanna know how your fosters are growing and thriving in their homes. And fortunately, we had that like with Pistol Pete and had that with Dolly.
jme:Yep.
Pate:Yet again, Smashing pumpkins song.
jme:We get more updates than we don't, so that's really great, and we pass those along when we get them in and...
Pate:And the fosters do meet the families.
jme:Yes. That is their choice. And that's something we can talk about how the adoption meeting goes.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:But typically, once the fosters meet the family, they are set and they are happy and they walk away happy and ready to foster again. So this is all the time that we have today, and we will see you again on another episode of Rescue...
Pate:Rescue Shit. Boop.
jme:Until then,
Pate:Rock on. Rescue on.