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A Helping Hand

Animal rescue program gets new direction.

JUDY GREENWALD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

T

wo years ago, as part of her
desire to help animals, Sheri
Snover found-
ed Second Chances
Animal Rescue
(SCAR), a program
designed to find fos-
ter homes for pets.
The Berkley animal
lover and Temple
Emanu-El member
still has rescue dogs
Stash and Chloe, and
a cat joined her home
this past January.
Her love for animals
hasn’t wavered, but
her organization
has changed direc-
tion with “Helping
Hands,” a new effort
designed to help keep
pets in their homes.
“Since we were having trouble find-
ing volunteers to foster, we knew we
had to try to help animals in other
ways,” Snover explained. “We’re still
known as Second Chances, and the
new mission of our Helping Hands
programs is to help those in need and
educate them regarding more humane
treatment of animals. As important as
it is to help rescue animals from shel-
ters, it’s also important to help prevent
animals from being surrendered to
shelters.”
Snover said the first Helping Hands
program began about one year ago,
when SCAR partnered with Gleaners
Community Food Bank to raise money
and awareness about the problems that
befall people and, subsequently, their
four-legged companions.
“Sometimes there are circumstances
beyond a person’s control that make
them fall on hard times. It’s a horren-
dous decision to think about surren-
dering your pet because you don’t have
money to feed it. Second Chances
wants to help keep people and their
pets together.”
This help is a pet food bank, where
SCAR collects unopened bags of dog
and cat food and Gleaners distributes
them to needy families. One collection
bin is at Royal Oak’s Pet Supplies Plus
(29042 Woodward). Snover hopes
this will lead to a bigger community
outreach assistance program designed

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November 22 • 2018

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to help other organizations. Recently,
a very successful bake sale at United
Shore (Snover’s employ-
er) helped raise funds for
Dog Aide supply straw
to help Detroit dogs
that aren’t in homes stay
warm. She said Second
Chances is always look-
ing for more supporters,
and the SCAR board
is currently discussing
hosting a fundraising
event.
“We truly believe if we
all work together, we can
make a bigger difference
in the animal world,” she
said.
Monies raised will
support
other Helping
Sheri Snover
and Stash Hands programs:
• Harness Exchange
Program — SCAR has partnered with
K9 Turbo Training and veterinary clin-
ics in a pilot program to educate clinic
staff on the benefits of the Freedom
Harness, a more humane pet restraint.
• Senior Pet Assistance Program/
SOS Fund — Again, in conjunction
with veterinary hospitals, SCAR offers
this program for people with older ani-
mals who are financially unable to pro-
vide necessary medical care for their
pets’ life-threatening illnesses.
“For those who qualify, Second
Chances will contribute up to $1,000
for medical care,” Snover said. “In fact,
we’ll be providing financial assistance
to our first applicants in this program
for their dog, Lily, whose surgery is
scheduled for early November.”
This type of assistance is just one
example of how Snover’s dedication to
caring for animals continues to grow.
“All these animals want is to be
loved,” she said. “They don’t have con-
trol over their circumstances, so if they
wind up in shelters or in situations
where they aren’t provided the food,
shelter and medical care they deserve,
it’s up to us who are active in the ani-
mal welfare world to do whatever we
can for them.
“The reward is the amazing feeling
you get when you see them transform
into happy dogs and cats that are well-
loved.” ■