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SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICAL
A place for orphaned pets
SPCA program places animals in new homes
Delfin Vigil, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, June 5, 2006
Most age-old questions -- Do all dogs really go
to heaven? Does a cat really have nine lives? -- may never be
answered.
But the San Francisco SPCA can answer one: What
happens to your pet if you die?
The Sido program, named for a collie-sheltie mix
who narrowly escaped a death sentence in 1979 after her owner
committed suicide and left a will demanding that Sido be put to
sleep, finds new homes for orphaned Bay Area pets.
"Apparently, this woman believed that no one
could possibly love or take care of her dog the way she could,"
said Katy Volz, an SPCA employee who coordinates the Sido program.
"Well, it turned out there were plenty of people here at
the SPCA who believed they could."
Richard Avanzino, San Francisco SPCA president at
the time, took custody of Sido and said he would defend the dog's
life "even if I have to go to jail."
Sido (pronounced like Fido) became the unofficial
patron saint of Bay Area pooches in 1980, after a probate court
judge denied her owner's wishes. Gov. Jerry Brown then signed
a special bill designed to take pets in similar situations off
of death row.
In the years since, Sido, who died in 1985, has
saved hundreds of other lives. Joan Donlon signed up her cocker
spaniel Dolly for the program last year, filling out a pet biography
that included tips on "favorite toys, games and activities,
reactions to new people." When Donlon died in December, she
knew the SPCA would put Dolly in a new home that would meet her
needs.
"I don't even want to think about what could
have happened to Dolly if it weren't for the Sido program,"
said Dolly's new owner, Robyn Paret. "First of all, she's
an older dog -- and she had a cast on her leg at the time. Dogs
like that don't get adopted very easily."
Robyn and her husband, Alexander, knew all about
Dolly's personality, with the help of the Sido notes. They knew
what she did and didn't like to eat and what her favorite toys
were.
"And we knew she loved music," said Paret.
"We also sing 'Hello Dolly' to her every day."
Small familiarities like that can make a big difference
to a confused and distraught pet, said Louisa DeRosa, Sido's animal
grief counselor. "Heathcliff here was so depressed when we
got him," she said of a Sido cat currently up for adoption.
"He'd put his face up against the wall and just stare at
it."
The Maine coon cat refused to eat, became anorexic
and had to be hospitalized; his lifelong friend Tang, a Siamese
mix, paced and cried, worrying about Heathcliff on top of dealing
with the same loss, said DeRosa.
Once she used the Sido tip sheets to ease their
pain, the two cats, who can only be adopted together, needed only
a few weeks to adjust to their new lives. It would have taken
much longer without that information, DeRosa said.
"They belonged to a doctor here in the city
who left us with instructions on exactly what each cat needed,"
said Volz.
Now open for cats and dogs, the Sido program has
saved hundreds of animal lives since the 1980s. Hundreds more
still don't make it because many pet owners don't think of their
animals when they die.
"I hear it all the time -- things like, 'My
auntie died, and she left us all these cats that we don't know
what to do with.' Well, now you know what you can do. Sign them
up in the Sido program, and we'll make sure they find happy homes,"
said Volz.
How to participate
The San Francisco SPCA Sido program helps Bay Area pet owners
include animals in their wills and ensure that the pets find a
new home. To sign up a cat or dog, the SPCA suggests a $25 annual
donation. Pets, who must pass health and behavior checks, are
limited to two per household. (415) 554-3000 or www.sfspca.org.
E-mail Delfin Vigil at dvigil@sfchronicle.com.
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