Darla Barnes Smith sees the best of people, and the worst of people. And she sees the saddest of sad situations that only sometimes have a happy ending.
The saddest thing she’s seen in her entire career either volunteering or working in animal rescue happened in December, when a woman with four dogs died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a Salinas motel room. One of the dogs also died and the other three were in bad shape when they were finally rescued.
“They were really sad and we didn’t know if they were going to make it,” Barnes Smith says. “These three little dogs could barely lift their heads. We took all three of them, they spent time at vets getting treated and they all survived.”
And in a happy ending for this most tragic of situations involving the loss of human and animal life, two of the surviving dogs have found their “furever” homes and one, a 22-pound terrier mix named Lucky, is in foster care and awaiting her new family to find her.
“We get some really, really sad cases that break my heart and then we try to make them better,” Barnes Smith says.
Barnes Smith spoke to the Weekly about the ins-and-outs of running an animal rescue nonprofit during a pandemic, and what she hopes for the future of animal rescue post-pandemic too. Note: AFRP is a participant in the Weekly’s annual Monterey County Gives! fundraising campaign for local nonprofits, and in 2020, 562 donors gave a total of $268,425 to AFRP.
Weekly: How did AFRP get its start and where did you come in?
Barnes Smith: Animal Friends started in 1998 in a garage in Pacific Grove. A group of four friends got together and were talking about how to help animals in the community, because so many were being euthanized. It was just four people talking and they started their own nonprofit focused on helping at-risk shelter animals, the ones that would be euthanized for no reason other than lack of space.
I was not one of those four. I had been a volunteer for them for 17 years, and I was a foster for them too – I’ve probably fostered over 100 animals in 17 years. Then I became a board member and from there, the director position opened up and I became the director in 2018.
What were you doing before?
I left a job that I loved more than anything in the world. I was Don Chapin’s assistant for 16 years and I would have never left. He was the best boss and a really good man. Over the years I worked for him, I was a volunteer for AFRP and I would call and say, “Mr. Chapin, I have a litter of five German shepherd puppies I need to keep warm with a light and feed every two hours, can I bring them to work?” and he would say yes, every single time. He had no problem with it.
How has the past year gone for you, running an animal-centered nonprofit during a human pandemic?
Covid has changed a lot of things. What we used to do is take the animals from the shelters who were at risk, those with behavioral issues or medical issues. We’re one of the only rescues where we take a lot of big medical cases that cost thousands of dollars. Since Covid, one of the silver linings is there’s been a reduction in the number of shelter animals, so we’re taking in owner surrenders as well. If they can’t afford medical care for their animals or if they’re moving – there’s a lot of reasons we take animals from owners if they need help.
We used to have 20 cats in our adoption center. When Covid started, I said, we have to get all the cats out of here because I want staff to stay home. So all the cats and dogs are in foster homes, where people teach them to be good animals and we provide all the care for them.
In normal years, like in 2018, we adopted out 906 animals. In 2020, we only adopted out 523, but that had to do with not as many animals coming into rescue.
What does Animal Friends need right now?
We always need fosters. The more fosters we have, the more animals we can help. Since the adoption center isn’t currently open, fostering is something people can do and we provide everything the animal needs, such as food and veterinary care. The foster provides the home, the love and the training.
Also we could use help just spreading the word, liking us on Facebook and sharing us with their friends, because word of mouth is how we end up with more supporters.