the rescue report: Final Report for Pepsi Grant

The $10,000 grant that we earned in September 2011 from Pepsi for MickaCoo Pigeon & Dove Rescue helped a great deal to keep us intact and functioning through a time of challenging transition. We are very grateful for this support!

The project goals were defined as:

1. Create a sustainable organization (through staff, volunteer, fund and organizational development) that can continue with or without my personal involvement

2. Expand the success of the Gorgeous & Life-saving Aviaries Project to generate greater awareness and inspire more adoptions of homeless birds

3. Support and sustain MickaCoo's Foster Care Network so that injured, ill, shelter-timed-out and unwanted domestic pigeons & doves in the SF/Bay Area can have a chance for compassionate rescue and responsible adoption

Progress was made in each of these three areas though there still remains a great deal to be accomplished!

In support of #1- creating a sustainable organization, I led MickaCoo to apply and become approved as a project of Community Initiatives which in turn allows us to further develop as an independent rescue (separate from the parrot rescue within which we began), to continue without needing to invest in becoming a stand-alone nonprofit and to employ a paid Executive Director as of 8/1 (ensuring that my 60+ hours/week of work can continue on behalf of MickaCoo, at least for now). The fundraising has been very challenging and we are running behind what our original budget required but we have cut/limited expenses to stay balanced and we are gradually mobilizing more volunteers and expertise to help increase fundraising effectiveness. Organizational development is also moving forward though also slowly and behind schedule. Critical goals included forming an Advisory Committee (achieved), developing our own website (PigeonRescue.org- in progress) and database solution (still on the drawing board). We definitely are seeing an increase in volunteer involvement and community awareness and we feel positively with the direction that MickaCoo is going. The social impacts that we are making are that we are increasing humane, compassionate treatment of animals to include a previously neglected and underserved population- domestic pigeons and doves; we are empowering people to respond to the sick, injured and abandoned birds that they find (but previously were unable to locate support with which to help); we are increasing humane education and awareness about the cruelty of "releasing" domestic birds (whether in misguided efforts to save them from slaughter or for ceremonial use) and we believe that increasing compassionate, respectful treatment for one increases it for all. Pigeons are common but they are worthy of our mercy and, we believe, that can be transformative not only for the birds, but for people and their communities as well.

Goal #2- to increase aviary-building to save domestic pigeons and doves- is incredibly important and has been very, very challenging. While we have succeeded in inspiring and supporting the creation of several wonderful (safe, comfortable, non-breeding) new aviaries for rescued pigeons and doves, the majority have been small in scale- accommodating an average of 6 birds- rather than the larger 12-24+ bird size aviaries that are really needed to meet the rescue demand. (Pictures attached.) We were terribly disappointed when two (big, important) promised-aviary-partners backed out after months of saying "yes yes yes" as well as being turned down by several potential partners that seemed to have been ideally well-suited to participate. This effort continues and we are working hard to reach out to more and more potential partners (including wineries, gardens, farm sanctuaries, spiritual and recovery centers, etc. etc.) While the quantity of aviaries that resulted has been lower than we aspired to, the quality of the design, safety and care provided has been very high and we are happy to have met this goal. The social impact we made is to save the lives of many innocent birds that otherwise would have been killed for want of adopters. We engaged and delighted volunteers, Good Samaritans, partners and adopters who in turn created safe, charming and much needed homes for birds.

And fulfilling goal #3 continues to be the heart and soul of what MickaCoo does. It is by providing what would otherwise be unavailable time and care that we save the lives of birds that are facing death in shelters- when they are ill, injured or have "timed out". MickaCoo has a network of around 13 different foster homes at any given time, ranging from intensive, indoor medical and supportive care for one or two birds all the way up to big aviaries for as many as 24 healthy, active birds. Every foster receives assistance and monitoring to ensure the highest quality of care and exceptional outcomes. Through the foster network, birds lives are saved, community awareness is increased, shelters are supported and able to kill fewer animals and ultimately learn and build their own willingness and capacity to treat the injured and ill pigeons and doves just as they would dogs and cats. MickaCoo's birds and adopters benefit from the time and care in our foster system because it ensures that the birds that we place with adopters have been assessed and are ready for adoption. Most of the birds that arrive in the shelters are sick, weak, injured and/or ill ("unadoptable") and by seeing them through until they are healthy and vital, MickaCoo ensures that the birds get the expert care they need and that adopters receive healthy birds ready for the transition. The Pepsi grant funds helped MickaCoo to support and sustain this foster care network (spread across 7 counties) and we have had a very successful year. We've cared for an average of 100 foster birds at any given time and, to date, placed 77 as direct MickaCoo adoptions (which makes room for new fosters) and facilitated at least 20 more through the ever-improving-bird-service of our partner shelters. You can see the transformation of just one of MickaCoo's foster birds, Peppermint, adopted this year at this link- http://www.rescuereport.org/2009/07/peppermint.html

As one friend of MickaCoo's so eloquently stated, "Their lives are no smaller than ours."

The Pepsi grant made a huge difference in MickaCoo's ability to stay afloat as we develop our organization, support and funding streams. We thank you! And we still need support. Are there ways that Pepsi can continue to help us help birds that otherwise would be overlooked and underserved?

MickaCoo has received very positive feedback which can be seen at Great Nonprofits-

http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/mickacoo-pigeon-dove-rescue-a-project-of-community-initiatives

Further details (and pictures) about MickaCoo's activities and social impact can see seen in stories at the following links:

http://www.rescuereport.org/2011/10/sustainability-mickacoos-next-steps.html

http://www.rescuereport.org/2011/11/community-initiatives-says-yes-to.html

http://www.rescuereport.org/2011/12/thank-you-we-did-it.html

http://www.rescuereport.org/2012/01/peninsula-humane-society-spca-is.html

http://www.rescuereport.org/2012/03/great-big-news.html

http://www.rescuereport.org/2012/04/mickacoo-volunteers-pigeons-work-krcbs.html

http://www.rescuereport.org/2012/04/pigeons-on-catwalk.html

http://www.rescuereport.org/2012/05/garage-sales-support-mickacoo-pigeon.html

http://www.rescuereport.org/2012/05/never-buy-release-birds-please-share.html