♪ robert handa: hello, and welcome to "asian pacific america." i'm robert handa, your host for our show here on nbc bay area and cozi tv. today, we address an issue that is an issue for all communities, finding homes for animals through pet adoption as nbc bay area and our sister station, telemundo 48 clear the shelters. "asian pacific america" is proud to be a part of this community-driven, nationwide pet adoption campaign that just keeps growing. in 2015, more than 25,000 pets were adopted nationally. in 2016, more than 50,000 pets were taken home nationally. and on august 19, nbc and telemundo stations across the country will join with hundreds of animal shelters to help families find and adopt a pet. participating shelters will waive or reduce pet adoption fees.

we'll help you get ready for the big day with our guests, humane society silicon valley, the east bay spca, and east bay spca adopters. now, i've had the pleasure of doing many stories with humane society silicon valley. and for full disclosure, my family has adopted quite a few dogs from the facility, so i can speak firsthand about how they conduct the process. joining us once again is dr. cristie kamiya the chief of shelter medicine at humane society silicon valley. she is one of only a handful of residency-trained veterinarians in the specialized field of shelter medicine, completing her training at uc davis, and now, not only oversees shelter and medical operations at humane society silicon valley, but provides support and facilities worldwide. oh, and she also fosters underaged shelter kittens, and loves spending time with her adopted shelter dogs. welcome to the show. welcome back to the show. great to see you again. dr. cristie kamiya: good to see you too. robert: well, okay, first of all, let's talk about the special guest here. okay, you told me, it's maggie.

cristie: yes, this is maggie. she is about 2 months old. she was transferred to our shelter from another shelter, and she--we don't know what happened with her. she was found by herself, brought in as a stray, and then transferred over to us. robert: somewhat typical of the animals? cristie: that's pretty typical. and we do transfer quite a bit of animals from other shelters, and she was just one of them. and most of the time, we'll get these puppies, we have no idea what happened to them prior to showing up. robert: right, makes a great advertisement though for clear the shelters. cristie: sure, yeah, absolutely. she is ready for adoption, and she will get surgery tomorrow, and she will up on the website, hopefully soon. robert: maybe not as great as promoting, but i know that you named three animals after me, as well as our two producers, lance lou and joachim castudio. first of all, that's me, right? that's robert? cristie: that's you, that's robert. robert: and that's a lab? cristie: that's robert, yes, he is a yellow lab. robert: okay, they can change the name, though, if they wanna--? cristie: oh, absolutely, yeah.

robert: all right, let's take a look. okay, and this is-- cristie: that's lance. robert: this is lance, lance, okay, that's very flattering for him. and this is joachim. cristie: that is joachim, yes. robert: okay, joachim, yeah, that pretty much looks like him, if you know joachim. both: [laughing] robert: you know, we do actually focus a lot on dogs and cats. what about bunnies? they're also very popular. cristie: absolutely, so, bunnies make great pets. they're just like little dogs. they're part of the family. they have individual personalities too. and we do adopt them, and we will have bunnies up for adoption during the clear the shelter event on saturday. robert: pretty much the same process? cristie: same process, yep. you will come in and pick out a bunny, speak to one of the adoption counselors. they will come--as part of the adoption package, they'll get a vet exam. they will have been spayed and neutered, just like our dogs and our cats, so there won't be any baby bunnies runnin' around afterwards. robert: now, with your specialty, in terms of talking about shelter animals versus ones that

you treat at private facilities, what's the difference? cristie: so, the biggest difference between private practice veterinary medicine and shelter medicine is that in a private practice, you have an ill pet. you go to the doctor, and they're attached to an owner, so the owner can explain what they're seeing, provide a little bit of background and history on what's going on, and the veterinarian then treats that animal. in a shelter setting, we do provide individualized care for each of our animals, but there's also a larger consideration for the entire population. robert: is that due by the standards are set? cristie: yeah, and also because if there is an infectious disease, for example, like kennel cough, or, you know, if a kitten catches a cold, we not only have to treat that individual animal, but we also have to protect the health of the entire population. it's sort of like daycare. you have a lot of kids congregated in one space,

and if you have one sick kid, everyone else gets sick. so it's similar to that in a shelter setting, and so we do take a lot of measures to make sure we are able to maintain the health of the entire population. robert: you know, you were talking about maggie and the story behind her. are there any success stories that kinda stick out in your mind, in terms of while you've been there? cristie: there are a lot. so, i think there are success stories every single day. you know, one of the best parts about being in a shelter is seeing these animals who come in. they don't have a home. you know, they may have had a rough start in life before they got to the shelter. but we're there advocating for all of them. and if they are injured, we fix them. you know, if they're ill, we treat them and get them well. you know, if they have broken bones, we fix them. and during that process of them spending their time in a shelter, you know, we can see this change and this blossoming

of the pet. and all of that culminates with them going to their forever home, and that is the absolute best part of being in a shelter, is being able to connect the pet with a person. and being part of that connection is just amazing. robert: and people don't always realize just how much goes into the process. you're being a specialist, the way you are with shelter medicine and everything, does that help quite a bit? and is that a common or a typical kind of situation? cristie: so, there aren't a lot of shelter medicine specialists out there. and a lot of what shelter medicine practitioners study is, you know, the population part of shelter medicine. so, it's kind of, it's population management. we do a lot of infectious disease prevention and control. so we wanna focus a lot on preventive medicine because

it's a lot easier than having to treat if it happens. and it's sort of like herd health. robert: very good, okay. and of course, people should know that if they're gonna adopt. cristie: yes. robert: thank you very much. it's great seeing you again. cristie: thank you, it's good to see you too. robert: all right, well, again, clear the shelters at humane society silicon valley is on saturday, august 19, from 10 am to 6 pm, at 901 ames ave in milpitas. there will be food trucks and activities for kids, and there will also be adoptions at three other adoption centers in mountain view, sunnyvale, and san jose. and you can get all the details at nbcbayare.com/cleartheshelters. and remember, adoption fees will be waived. and coming up, the east bay spca with more tips on how to get exactly what you want and need on adoption day, that's next.

robert: and we are talking about how to clear the shelters, and the process is a little different in every area and facility.

joining us right now is the director of behavior and training at the east bay spca, ally talley. and before that, she came to the east bay spca, she spent almost 11 years at the humane society silicon valley in animal behavior and leadership roles, including as a director. she received her masters at uc davis, and has been basically working in and with animal shelters for more than 20 years. welcome to the show. ally talley: thank you, thank you for having me. robert: give me an idea, sort of an overview. we were talking about how things change and are a little different in each area. tell us a little bit about the east bay spca. ally: sure, one of the things about the east bay spca that i find really exciting is that we have been around since 1874. we're actually one of the oldest animal welfare organizations in the country. and back then, most animal welfare efforts were focused on work horses. of course, now, we are focused on dogs and cats. but we do have two locations, one in oakland,

one in dublin. robert: so, if somebody wants to adopt a horse, probably not gonna happen on that day? ally: probably not through us. not at clear the shelters. robert: and by the way, for yourself, you have pets of your own? ally: of course, i currently have one dog and four cats, so i do have a full household right now. robert: so, give us an idea, in terms of for clear the shelters day, what's in store. ally: oh, we have actually a lot of exciting things going on. both locations are having this event. at our dublin location, we are having--we're hosting four rescue groups as well, so it's going to also have some family-friendly things going on, like food trucks, et cetera. robert: i know it is a fun occasion. ally: it really is. it's an amazing day. robert: although it is a lot of responsibility. in fact, you gave some advice: adopt, don't shop. ally: yes. robert: and what's that advice mean? ally: well, really, we like to encourage everyone to adopt instead of shopping for their next pet.

and the biggest reason is because you're saving lives. and it's not just the life that you are adopting. if you think about it, when you adopt a shelter pet, you are freeing up that space when you take that animal home. and typically, when we have more space, we are going out to our partner shelters in the area, the city, the county shelters that are full of animals, and we're able to bring another pet into our facility and into our program. so, at the east bay spca, we don't euthanize for time or space. we don't have time limits. we are very fortunate to have the resources we do have. that's thanks to our donors, our community, our volunteers, and we're able to treat a lot of medical conditions and behavioral conditions. so, when you do adopt instead of shopping, you are helping us to save lives. robert: you don't stick around since 1874 without the community getting involved. ally: absolutely, we couldn't do this without the community.

robert: and we're gonna be talking to some adopters later, in terms of their own personal perspective on adopting. but for you, when people come to this event, what's the basic perspective they should have, in terms of picking the right animal for themselves? ally: well, what's gonna happen when people come down, they're gonna ultimately spend time with our adoption counselors, who i like to actually call "matchmakers" because that's what we're really looking to do, is make good matches. so, we're gonna get a sense of the adopter's lifestyle, wants, and needs in their new pet, and we're going to work with them to find a pet that fits that lifestyle. often, we're looking to match more active animals, more active dogs with folks that have an active lifestyle. if we have special needs pets, we're hoping to match them with more experienced pet owners who have a sense of what it's going to mean to take care of those special needs. but ultimately, we're working directly with the people who are coming in to adopt, to find the animal that's gonna be a part

of their family. robert: it is something that, i was talking about our own family experiences and everything, especially young people don't realize how much responsibility there is, in terms of, you know, the training and the behavior and things like that in the future. how much of a perspective on that do you give them on that day? ally: you know, we do a lot of counseling, in terms of just general pet ownership for folks that have never had a pet before. we take them through the key points, things that they should expect. we're trying to give people good expectations. and for folks who are more experienced pet owners, we are focused on the individual. i mean, actually, we're focused on the individual in both cases, but we want to share everything we've come to learn about that animal with the people so that they do have a sense of who is gonna join their family. robert: i think it's kind of the thought that people come in with the idea of what they want.

but do you actually find that a lot of people come in maybe not even knowing if they want a dog or a cat, or even if it's a dog or a cat is appropriate for them? do people come in with that kind of an open mind? or do people kinda come in sort of like shopping, where they kind of have an idea of what they want? ally: i think typically, people have a good sense of the species that they want. i don't often see people coming in for a dog and going home with a cat. but i do often encounter folks who come in and kind of have this sense of what they are looking for, but end up making a connection with something that's totally different. robert: that's the companion kind of that they're looking for, huh? ally: it's a companion, and it's a connection. robert: okay, and that could be anything, right? dog, cat, bunny, anything, right? ally: absolutely. robert: all right, well, good luck in your event. ally: thank you very much. robert: all right, well, clear the shelters at the east bay spca event will, again, be on saturday, august 19 from 10 am to 6 pm at the east bay spca oakland at 8323 baldwin street and the east bay spca dublin

at 4651 gleason drive, with a special family festival and 3 other rescues at the dublin location, lots of food, snow cones, and kids' activities. and up next, making adopting a success, including pit bulls, so stay with us.

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isaac, are you ready? yeah. chase. so you can. robert: and we have heard a lot about how to make your adoption a success, but our next guests have some special insights of their own. we have two adopters, including alicia montesa, who adopted from the east bay spca, and also does volunteer work at the humane society silicon valley, and also owns and runs a pet care business called sitter for paws with her husband, our other guest, gasper montesa. they both were raised surrounded by animals, but also went about 10 years living in san francisco without a pet because they were renters, and made up for that once they

brought a home and rescued, and american staffordshire terrier, harris. and the couple works in the hi-tech, or at least they did, gasper still does, but they have an obvious passion for their work with animals. so, welcome to the show. alicia montesa: thank you so much. robert: did i get that all in there? alicia: yes, thanks for having us. robert: all right, well, thank you for bringing harris here. first of all, give us an idea, in terms of we've been-- you've been hearing our guests talking about adopting and things like that. on a personal level, what do you want people to think about as they approach clear the shelters day? alicia: mm-hmm, yeah, so, i think the main theme would be adopting versus shopping. and i know that's something we've been talking about. but with that, keep in mind that when you go to a shelter, the animals that you see, they're not there by choice, necessarily. it's not there 'cause they've done anything wrong. and they'll give you just as much love and compassion as any other dog that you might get, say, from a breeder, right, and spend a lot of money to get a dog from a breeder perhaps. so i think that's one of the main pieces to keep in mind.

and along with that, when you work with a shelter or a rescue association, that's a long-term relationship. so even after you adopt, you can always reach out for training resources, education resources as well. so it's something to keep in mind. robert: all right, and that was why i wanted to make sure i mentioned that you were a volunteer, because that gives you some pretty good insight into what people need to think about. alicia: yeah, absolutely. robert: gasper, how about running a business this way, as well as trying to juggle a career? from your perspective in that terms, what have you seen, maybe either mistakes or something that people make sometimes that you would like to make sure they keep in mind when they come to clear the shelters day? gasper montesa: well, absolutely, i think a lot of folks might not know that there's a lot of responsibility with taking care of an animal. you know, you have to be sure to keep them kind of well fed and give them water every day, of course. but if you wanna do things like maybe travel,

you have to make sure that the dog is gonna be taken care of, or the cat's gonna be taken care of while you're away. robert: yeah, that's right. that's kind of the logistical things that sometimes people don't think about when they take on a pet. give some idea here, in terms of why harris, and maybe for people, generally speaking, who maybe want to get a pit bull but aren't sure exactly how to approach it. alicia: yeah, it was interesting. when we went to the east bay spca and eventually adopted harris, we went in knowing that we wanted to focus on a larger dog, or a larger breed of a dog. however, when we visited for the first time, harris was the largest dog at the shelter. so i wasn't, you know, that wasn't the picture that i had in my mind, but we spent quite a bit of time with him, at least three visits before we did bring him home. and we got to know him through a lot of the staff at the east bay spca as well. and that really made all of the difference,

really to take the time to understand him and his personality, and just to confirm that he would be a great fit for us as a couple-- robert: i mean, in a certain way, that's sort of what you should think about with every pet, but with a pit bull, maybe, you know, the ramifications can be a little be bigger, huh? alicia: yeah, exactly, and with a pit bull breed in particular, you know, for us too, i mean, when you think about pit bulls, a lot of the time, in the media, you know, there's a lot of negative news about this breed in particular. and what's really important to think about is that it really isn't the breed. any dog could potentially have, like, some type of a challenge, right, that you need to get past. and for us, that's really where we've focused on understanding what, you know, some of his phases are, and the training that we need to focus on to get him to the next stage. and again, it's not just--it isn't this breed. this is any dog.

robert: no, no, and i know. and of course, having covered some stories like that, i know that a lot of it is really just they attract a lot of attention when stories involve them. so, in a way, it's not necessarily that people try to do a negative thing, it's just that people react that way to that way. you know, i get this reaction a lot when people hear me talk. they kinda fall asleep. alicia: oh, i'm sorry. robert: we were talking about seeing harris sort of, yeah, acting as just, like, a regular pet. does harris do tricks? gasper: he does some tricks. robert: oh, yeah? gasper: yes. robert: is he in the mood to do any tricks? gasper: absolutely, absolutely. robert: maybe somethin' simple. alicia: yeah, we'll do something simple. robert: okay. gasper: harris, up, harris. he's lookin' at himself. harris, come, harris, come. harris, sit, down, harris, down. harris, paw, oh, okay, he's--maybe he's not in the total mood to do it. alicia: he's a little bit camera shy. robert: i think he's feeling a little monitored. gasper: yeah, i think that's really affecting him.

he likes to watch dogs on tv. robert: but still, just watching you, it does sort of reemphasize the fact that, i mean, pit bulls are dogs. they're just like pets. they're, you know, they're kind of sometimes a little scary for people to look at. gasper: he's actually a giant lapdog. i mean, he's 105 pounds, but he thinks he's 20 pounds, and he has no shame in coming right up to you and sitting on your lap and cuddling, so. alicia: they're a great-- the breed in particular is great with people and children. i mean, they're known for their trustworthiness, their loyalty, and just the love that they give. so that would definitely be a message that we would want to share. robert: that's really good. it's a nice message, and you guys are great representations of what pit bull owners should be like. and harris is a pretty nice dog? gasper: he's a sweet boy, absolutely. robert: thank you for all your tips, appreciate it. alicia: thank you. gasper: thank you. robert: well, stay with us. we'll have some very important information about other events and locations for clear the shelters. stay with us.

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here are some of the big events happening around the bay area for clear the shelters on august 19. the clear the shelters adoption row at the berkeley humane society at 9th and carlton streets in berkeley. two-hundred-plus animals will be available for adoption from thirty-plus rescues with great food, beverages, and entertainment from 10 am to 4 pm. then the clear the shelters at the peninsula humane society at 1450 rollins road in burlingame from 10 am to 6 pm. and you can name your own fee. and they're hosting a summer of love event, including groovy activities and far-out treats. and don't forget the clear the shelters event at san francisco spca at the mission campus at 250 florida street, as well as the pacific heights campus at 2343 fillmore street. it all kicks off at 10 am. it's free adoptions all weekend long, and on august 19 and the 20. on august 19, though, at the mission campus, enjoy an animal film festival, and a special seminar on estate

planning, and a bake sale, and vegetarian food truck. and at the pacific heights campus, there will also be a bake sale. and as you've seen and heard, a lot going on for the clear the shelters all around the bay area, and there's even more, maybe close to your home. just check out nbcbayarea.com/cleartheshelters for details, also on facebook and twitter. and that's it for our show. see you at clear the shelters. and join us again next week here on "asian pacific america." thanks for watching.

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