Paws for thought on animal adoptions

Pet rescue and adoption worker DiAnna Pfaff-Martin believes that a furry friend in need can make a fun friend indeed for kids and senior citizens alike.DiAnna Pfaff-Martin got into the business of animal rescue by accident.

Her son had spotted a stray cat in the front yard of their Newport Beach home. The animal was bald in patches and covered with scabs.

“I told my son not to touch it because it probably had diseases,” Pfaff-Martin said. “That wasn’t good advice, knowing what I know now.”

The animal was clearly in need of medical attention, so Pfaff-Martin took it in. Some $240 in veterinarian bills later, she set the healthy cat free to wander back to its home.

She was unaware at the time the cat belonged to a man with leukemia; his family no longer could afford to care for the animal.

Before long, the cat returned to Pfaff-Martin’s home with a note attached asking, “Do you want to adopt me?”

The cat they called Butterscotch inspired her to begin the Community Animal Network in 1996. The organization was designed to link people and pets through volunteer work and adoption.

Pets With Seniors -- a program within the animal network -- places volunteers with seniors unable to take their animals to veterinary health exams and needed treatments.

During the weekend, volunteers also take the animals to Russo’s Pet Experience at Fashion Island, where they hope to convince people looking to buy a younger animal to adopt a more mature four-legged companion.

“People need to come forward and adopt animals over 5 years old. They make the best pets because they are calm and have the best house manners,” Pfaff-Martin said. “I always say one kitten has the energy of 12 cats.”

Pfaff-Martin said her job often involves helping people in need, not just their pets.

Most of the calls, Pfaff-Martin said, come from people who are physically or financially exhausted in caring for their pets, people like Florence Freund and Fred C., who asked that his last name not be used.

Ninety-year-old Freund offered to care for her grandson’s black and white cat Spot when the family moved a year ago. The green-eyed feline immediately posed a problem for Freund, requiring constant attention and physical demands that she couldn’t fulfill, according to her in-home caregiver.

“She did not understand that the cat should not go outside,” the caregiver said. “It’s demanding to care for the cat. It talks all the time ... and if you don’t get its food fast enough, it bumps its body up against you. Neighbors across the street have to come over and clean up after it.”

Fred’s C.’s schnauzer, Auggie, used to have his own room with a dog door. Now that Fred lives in an apartment, he said taking the dog outside three times a day for a walk has become too physically tiring.

“I regret it very much because these dogs become a member of the family,” Fred C. said.

He said he hopes the program will help find his dog a nice home.

According to Pfaff-Martin, many of the people seeking her help, like Fred C., waiver back and forth about the decision to give up their pet.

“They love something and are afraid to give it up,” she said.

Unfortunately, lack of money and volunteers keeps Pfaff-Martin from helping as many seniors as she’d like.

“The program could be very successful if we had more participation from the public to help drive animals to and from the adoption and to and from the vets,” she said.

Meanwhile, Spot the cat needs a new home and will be in front of Russo’s Pet Experience from noon to 4 p.m. today and Sunday. To see other animals available for adoption visit www.animalnetwork.org.20060211iuhxt0ncJAMIE FLANAGAN / DAILY PILOT(LA)DiAnna Pfaff-Martin who runs Pets With Seniors holds her cat Bebe, formerly known as Butterscotch, which was rescued as a kitten.