A New Leash on Life: Humane Angels Deserve Their HALOs
By Shannon Willoby
Michel Herstam and Heather Allen, cofounders of the local Phoenix charity HALO (Helping Animals Live On), are true angels to the countless dogs and cats they save from euthanasia each year. Through HALO, the mother-daughter team rescues animals awaiting euthanasia on “death row” in various shelters and places them with foster “parents” until their forever homes can be found. In 2007 alone, HALO found homes for 603 dogs and 1,697 cats who otherwise may have never been given the chance to live.
HALO is a no-kill nonprofit animal organization that Herstam and Allen cofounded in 1994 after they had been cat foster parents for Kitty Love, another animal organization. They saw firsthand just how many homeless animals there were, how few foster homes were available to them, and what their grave fate would eventually be. As a result, HALO Animal Rescue was formed. The two women began fostering animals in their own homes and working closely with local animal organizations to provide the public with low-cost or free spay-and-neuter opportunities.
Many of the HALO team’s good works are funded out of their own pockets. On any given week, HALO cats and kittens are housed in adoption centers at seven different PetSmart locations and one Petco. Every weekend, Herstam gives up her free time to bring some of HALO’s rescued dogs and cats to the PetSmart at Seventh Avenue and Bell in the hope of finding them loving families. To make sure that pets go to a responsible home, a member of HALO will talk with the family members to ensure that the match will be a perfect one for both the animal and the new owners. And, of course, no animal leaves HALO without first being spayed or neutered and microchipped.
To help fund their work, HALO opened a volunteer-run thrift boutique in 2006 where 100 percent of the profits go to the organization’s animal rescue efforts. HALO is always accepting donations of quality home furnishings, jewelry, shoes, clothing, and home accessories. If you feel something rubbing against your legs while you’re browsing the racks, it’s just Mister and Basil, the boutique’s rescues-in-residence, happily visiting with customers while they shop.
Although Mister and Basil are content to live at the boutique until their permanent homes are found, many other animals aren’t as lucky. In this spirit, HALO is getting closer to making their dream of opening a no-kill shelter a reality, as they have purchased a 1,000-square-foot building in Phoenix. They estimate that it will cost $400,000 to get the shelter up and running, and they have currently raised $25,000. HALO is in desperate need of cash donations, supplies, and labor that will go toward creating a safe place for unwanted pets to live until they can be adopted. Allen sees an overwhelming and undeniable need for such a place. “Between April 6 and April 12, 875 cats and dogs were euthanized at two shelters in Maricopa County,” she says, sadly.
Even more necessary than the need for a no-kill shelter is responsibility on the part of pet owners and animal lovers. Allen urges the public to spay and neuter not only their own pets, but also any homeless animals they may be feeding. This will help stop the flood of animals coming into shelters. Help is available through HALO to anyone who is unable to get their pets spayed and neutered because of financial reasons.
An unwavering passion drove Herstam and Allen to use their own money, turn their homes into shelters for animals, and give up their free time to establish HALO Animal Rescue, but they wouldn’t have it any other way. Allen says that she and her mother have the same goal: to save as many animals as they can in any way possible, and as far as their resources will go. “We do a phenomenal job using the funds that we have, but we can all do so much more with more hands and money,” Allen says.
If you would like to donate your time or dollars to HALO Animal Rescue, please contact HALO at (602) 971-9222 or visit halorescue.org.
HALO Thrift Boutique is located at 4630 N. Seventh Ave. in Phoenix. Call (602) 274-3444 for information.