By Debbie Gardner
dgardner@thereminder.com
It all started with a dog named Kane. A big, blockheaded American Bulldog/American Staffordshire Terrier combo that a 40-something Kim George rescued from a shelter in Mount Vernon, New York, just four days before he was scheduled to be euthanized.
The year was 2011, and Kane wasn’t George’s only rescue. She’d also brought home a big-eared mix by the name of Tess from the Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Shelter. Both were considered pit bulls by anyone who saw them – a breed with what George considers an unfair reputation. Beyond the pit bull moniker, Kane’s size often scared people at first, but once they got to know the dog, his warm and loving personality would win them over.
“I was surprised at the attitude and the fear people had. I wanted people to see [pit bulls like Tess and Kane] were just dogs and make great pets,” George told Prime. She soon started a Facebook page to help promote the value of pit bulls as pets and connect with like-minded pet owners.
But her pit bull advocacy quickly morphed into something more when Tess was diagnosed with cancer just two weeks after she adopted Kane.
“It’s scary, more than 50% of dogs get cancer,” George shared. “I refinanced my home to afford the chemotherapy and [Tess] lived another great five years.” The dog passed in 2015.
“I was so grateful I had the equity in my home to be able to do this,” George continued. “But it got me thinking, what do people do when they can’t afford food, vaccines, simple vet care? That’s when we began to look at surrender prevention care and the homeless animal problem that can’t be solved by rehoming.”
The concept was to address the root causes of why people had to surrender their animals to “prevent pets from being homeless in the beginning [which] was better for everyone,” George explained.
She took her idea to, her friend Pam Peebles, who at the time was executive director TJO.
“She said, ‘that’s a great idea and I’ll help you, but you know, not enough is being done to help dogs in underserved communities,’ and basically that’s how C.A.R.E. Kits were born and we decided to focus on surrender prevention.”
Kane’s Krusade is born
“We actually worked for the first nine months to build the infrastructure of the nonprofit,” George said of the founding of Kane’s Krusade and the Pet Family Advocacy™. “I recommend that to anyone who is starting a nonprofit; you have to have your infrastructure in place so you can sustain it.”
George said she named the nonprofit Kane’s Krusade for the “alliteration factor,” even though Tess had inspired the work.
According to the Kane’s Krusade website, the nonprofit Pet Family Advocacy™ operates on seven principles: doing all they can to keep the pet at home; creating ways to see people as part of the solution, not the problem; directly engaging in communities and underserved neighborhoods; finding solutions, not fault; empowering people to create long-term solutions; recognizing that kindness is not mistaken for weakness; and collaborating and leveraging resources to maximize impact.
George’s nonprofit stared its work by focusing on providing supplies to help combat surrenders caused by income insecurity. Kane’s Krusade delivered its first C.A.R.E. – Canine Assistance Resources and Empowerment – Kits to its first dogs at the end of 2011. Those C.A.R.E . Kits included food – “it can be wet or dry food and treats,” George said, as well any necessary dog-owning equipment like crates, collars and leashes. Components for the C.A.R.E, Kits are amassed through donations – including surplus foods shared with the Krusade by local animal shelters – and fundraising. All the materials are sorted and packed, and later delivered, by volunteers, called Kane’s Krew. George readily admitted a “tremendous amount of work” goes into the fundraising and donation collection, not to mention the sorting, packing and delivering of the C.A.R.E. Kits.
“The point is we deliver them right to the homes. The people we are serving are the most underserved; these are people that can’t even get to the pet food pantry,” George said. Clients include elderly and disabled dog owners and veterans, most of whom live on a fixed income. Many clients have emotional support or service animals, some have dogs with special diets that require expensive specialty food for which the pet parent lacks the resources to purchase.
“For most of our people their dog is everything. It’s the reason they get out of bed in the morning, it’s the reason they take their medicine, and go for walks if they can. [Their dog] is essential to their wellness in so many ways,” George said.
This past January, the Krusade delivered two-month C.A.R.E. Kit packages to 35 local pet families, providing for approximately 90 dogs in total.
In the beginning their referrals came from animal control officers, other agencies and rescue shelters. But shortly it was word of mouth that brought pet owners to the Krusade for help. “The largest number [of referrals] is the people we serve, which is the best complement we can receive,” George said. “They see other people in their neighborhood struggling and we’ve built a great rapport trust and goodwill and there’s nothing better than having someone in the neighborhood vouch for you.”
The mission expands
In the beginning George said Kane’s Krusade also supplied custom-built dog houses, called Kondos, as many dogs were housed outdoors in 2011. The Krusade also hosted fundraisers called the doghouse build-off to raise funds to support the C.A.R.E. Kits.
But it wasn’t long before a need to help with more dog parenting issues became apparent, and Kane’s Krusade branched out to facilitating dog training and helping to arrange – and often pay for – basic veterinary services including spay and neuter surgeries. George said the Krusade added this area of advocacy in part because of the nationwide vet and vet tec shortage, and the increasing difficulty of people with limited resources, and transportation issues, to find even basic care for their animals.
“The vet fund is statewide,” George explained, while the C.A.R.E Kits are just Springfield-centric. “We do everything from vaccinations and basic exams to wellness issues, medications, diagnostics like X-rays and ultrasounds and we will fund treatments for ear infections, skin issues and we sponsor surgeries when funds allow.”
Last year Kane’s Krusade had $40,000 in its available veterinary care fund, all through donations.
By working with a network of veterinarians, clinics and hospitals, George can sometimes get a dog seen the same day a client calls, without having to resort to an expensive veterinary ER visit.
“Then I will work with the vet on the estimate and navigating what is the most essential care and kind of cost management so that we can maximize and leverage our donations.
“It’s not about paying a vet bill, I hope that comes across,” George continued, “It’s about advocating for someone with a sick pet.”
The Krusade also uses low cost and subsidized clinics to provide care for clients. “Dakin is one of our essential partners, and every week we have dogs at their health center,” George said.
Carl, a member of Kane’s Krew since 2014 who prefers his last name not be used, told Prime he found George and her nonprofit through Dakin.
“I had a pit bull named Tahge and I went to Dakin Humane asking about training. They gave me Kim George’s number,” Carl said. On disability due to medical complications, Carl also receives C.A.R. E. Kits for his dog – with George’s help he also took in a second rescue – and shortly after that had to euthanize his first dog due to cancer. “She paid for everything,” Carl said of the final vet trip for Tahge. George and Kane’s Krusade have also helped Carl with other medical care for his dogs.
Like the majority of Kane’s Krusade clients, Carl has become part of the Krew, helping to organize the monthly food donations, pack the C.A.R.E. Kits and assist with deliveries.
“I started doing it a couple of years back,” Carl explained. “As a member of Kane’s if you are able, you have to pay it back. I don’t mind doing that; my old motto is one hand washes the other.”
Carl said he volunteers his time as needed. “It all depends on how many people are donating food to Kane’s Krusade. Sometimes it’s twice a month, sometimes it can be more, sometimes less.”
Tackling the pet family housing crisis
“The work we do [at Kane’s Krusade] has multiple benefits. We’re helping the dog, we’re helping the family or person and we’re helping the shelter system which now has so many challenges,” George emphasized. ”And the final piece, which is clearly evolving, and we are putting a lot of effort into is our pet family housing initiative.”
She said the pet family housing initiative focuses on “advocating for people with emotional support animals, and service animals … even though someone may have a legitimate emotional support and/or service animals that isn’t respected in housing.” With the shifting real estate landscape of investors buying up rental properties and raising the rents and often, putting restrictions on pet ownership, many low-income and fixed-income pet owners are finding it challenging to find a place to live with their pet. Even for those who have documentation for their emotional and service animal from a doctor – which is protected under fair housing legislation – it can be challenging. And, George added, the majority of shelters that take the unhoused don’t allow clients to bring their dogs, even if it is a service animal.
“We advocate by working with the agency – shelter, housing source, we will work with landlords and staff, we provide crates – often a dog needs to be crated – we provide vaccinations, make sure [the pet] is up to date , and spay and neuter if necessary,” George said. “We will make the connections and make those appointments and sponsor those [health] services. It makes a big difference, that’s what advocacy means.”
When funds allow, George said that Kane’s Krusade will provide “a bridge of sorts” for an unhoused pet and pet parent, often a short-term hotel stay while they work to find a permanent housing solution.
The crusade recently provided that service for a disabled veteran and his emotional support dog. The veteran had lost his home in North Carolina and moved to Massachusetts to stay with relatives, and then in an apartment, but that situation became unworkable shortly thereafter.
“They saved me from losing my baby, my dog, and keeping me from being on the street,” the veteran, who asked to remain nameless when Prime spoke to him. He preferred that all the emphasis be put on George and the work she does. “They put a whole team together on the website.”
George said the veteran contacted her as he was on his way out to this part of the state seeking medical care from the Veterans Hospital in Leeds. Kane’s Krusade was able to “provide three nights in a hotel” before he found a short-term stay through people at a local VFW post. The Krusade also arranged to have his dog spayed and updated all her vaccinations. They then worked with the veteran and local housing sources to secure an apartment for the vet and his dog.
“She was like an angel to keep me from losing my only family member, which is my dog,” the veteran told Prime. “Kim is amazing.”
George said the Krusade has provided a similar service for several victims of domestic violence and their pets in the recent past.
More than just a pet pantry
“Anybody can give out dog food,” the now 54-year-old George told Prime. “But what we do is a whole other level. We’re the ones in the neighborhood, we’re working with the most vulnerable population in our community, and we do it in a nonjudgemental way.
“We’ve got the C.A.R.E. Kits, the vet fund that’s statewide, the pet family advocacy – that’s our model. It’s advocating, helping people get resources,” George said.
For more information about Kane’s Krusade, or to make a donation to their work, visit https://kaneskrusade.org/.
