SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento SPCA was awarded a grant this month totaling $20,000 as part of Petco Foundation's Holiday Wishes campaign, and it's all thanks to the heartwarming story of Lee and Tony.
Petco's Holiday Wishes campaign allows adopters to share their stories of how their adopted pet changed their lives, giving the organization they adopted from a chance to receive a grant award. Sacramento SPCA [SSPCA] was not only selected to receive an initial grant of $10,000, but Lee and Tony's story touched so many hearts that SSPCA was awarded an additional $10,000, coming in second place in the People's Choice Awards.
Lee Asher of The Asher House already had nine rescue dogs when he met Tony, a German Shepherd, at the Sacramento SPCA in 2018. He wasn't necessarily on the lookout for a new member for his pack, but the two bonded immediately.
"I really just couldn't believe how big he was," Asher said in the submission video. "This was the biggest German Shepherd I have ever seen."
'Bear,' as he was named at the shelter, was about 40 - 50 pounds overweight, which is particularly dangerous for a German Shepherd due to the immense pressure on his hips. This breed in particular is at risk for hip dysplasia and other health issues, so Bear needed to lose weight, fast.
Though he had initially been abandoned at the shelter, he was adopted in 2016 and lived with a family for two years. However, the family needed help caring for Bear, and brought him back to the shelter in 2018. SSPCA welcomed him with open arms and was beginning the weight-loss journey when Asher stepped in.
"Lee Asher came in and started fostering him and kind of helped him get on that road to losing weight," Dawn Foster, Marketing and Public Relations Director for the Sacramento SPCA, said. "Lee and his whole pack are very active."
To this date, the affectionate German Shepherd has lost 50 pounds and was renamed 'Tony Too Toned' to reflect his slimmer figure.
"He looks like a normal German Shepherd now," Foster said. "He's not caring all that extra weight and he's living his greatest life with Lee Asher and his whole pack of dogs traveling around the nation, trying to help other animals get into homes.
Asher travels around the country with his furry family of dogs, educating and encouraging people to adopt or foster animals from reputable shelters. At the start of an adventure, Asher rounds a motley crew of pups into his RV and sets off.
"It's pretty unique," Foster said." He has done a fantastic job of being able to balance having that many animals in his house, and I believe that it is eventually his wish to create his own sanctuary to be able to help even more animals than what he does now."
According to the submission video for the Holiday Wishes campaign, Asher says that Tony fit right in with the family when he was adopted.
"He came right into the house, met all the dogs, and immediately fell in love with all of them," Asher said. "He looked so happy trying to keep up with all of them, running through the snow, chasing them."
Though they challenged him by being more active than he was used to, Tony was accepted into the odd pack right away.
"It's really neat to see them all together," Foster said of the group. "We've met quite a few of them. We've been to his house, and he's been to the shelter quite often. He visits several times a year and brings, you know, a handful of the kiddos with him […] it's really amazing to see how all the dogs are interactive and just do so well together, especially on the road in his RV. He definitely has it figured out."
Asher estimates that the crew has succeeded in getting over 500 dogs adopted through adoption events. Asher even occasionally returns to SSPCA to host an event, inspiring people to look past the first impression of a shelter dog and give a lucky pup their love.
SSPCA is the only 100% non-profit animal shelter in the Sacramento region. The local animal shelter relies on donations from the community and its partners, such as the Petco Foundation, to fund its incredible work. As such, a $20,000 grant is a huge holiday gift for SSPCA, and will go directly to helping more animals like Tony in the future. Additionally, the SSPCA helps provide low-cost surgeries and medications for pet owners who are looking for affordable animal care.
"About 1 in 5 animals that enter the shelter require some sort of extended medical care," Foster said. "For instance, beyond vaccines and spay/neuter surgery, they may require mass removal, some sort of special surgery, skin conditions, some sort of extra special medical treatment that would likely require them to be in foster care and take some time for them to heal before they would be ready to be placed in their forever homes. So, those extra funds help us say "yes!" to all those animals that come in, and "yes!" to the families that come to us with nowhere else to turn."
For dogs like Tony, the SSPCA is life-saving. If you are considering donating this holiday season, check out the SSPCA's website. The shelter is currently doing a Holiday Fund Drive and is asking for donations to continue to accomplish its work on behalf of animals in the Sacramento region.
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