One hundred and ten miles east of Bozeman, Montana, stands no-kill shelter Pintler Pets, run by a fierce mother-daughter duo.
Located on a Superfund Site, no landscaping —including grass —is permitted to break up the heavy-metal-contaminated soil left behind by the copper smelting.
Pintler Pets in Anaconda, MT (Credit: Pintler Pet Facebook Page)
Due to these conditions, isolated location, and misconceptions as being a low ranking shelter, Pintler experiences low traffic, even lower adoption rates, and a desperate shortage of support enthusiasm and volunteerism.
That’s where the Perficient Digital team comes in.
It’s a Perficient Paw-ty at Pintler Pets
Since 2017, we have been coordinating volunteer trips consisting of groups of five to seven people to spend the day walking, feeding, cleaning up after, and playing with the Pintler residents. This frees up the shelter staff to work on operational tasks. It ensures the ~75 cats and 20-30 dogs receive socialization, affection, and exercise.
Support from volunteers like Perficient makes much of the work possible. Just as with many shelters, the Pintler team works tirelessly. Their hard work ensures that these abandoned fur friends are very loved and cared for. With the little free time they have, they expand their rescue efforts and outreach into the neighboring Native American Reservations. Their outreach serves to educate the community on population management. The Pintler team makes a couple trips a month to the Browning reservation to wrangle strays and abandoned dogs. Most of the strays are pregnant females.
Putting the Perficient Power to Work
Perficient has one mission when we arrive at the shelter. To ensure every dog currently residing in the shelter gets walked and groomed, and gets one-on-one attention. This special attention is important because of the positive psychological and physical benefits. Pintler Pets is supported solely by private donations (no government funding), our Perficient volunteers usually show up with a car full of donations ranging from dog food, treats, bedding, toys, leashes, and collars to cleaning supplies including paper towels, bleach, and laundry soap. Our colleagues also help by facilitating transportation for dogs from the shelter to their new homes in and around Montana.
No strangers to social savviness, our employees turned to their personal social media accounts to advocate for Pintler Pets. The social media advocacy already resulted in eight adoptions! You can see their adorable available pets on their Facebook page.
“This is important for Perficient to be a part of because we are in the business of creating memorable experiences, lasting connections, and cultivating collaboration. The ‘Dream Big, Build Beautiful’ mindset should extend beyond our standard scope of employment and into the greater communities we operate in. Volunteer days at Pintler Pets creates an opportunity to engage in a service with purpose, value, and impact, while building bonds and a mutual appreciation outside of the office environment that in turn facilitates improved collaboration inside the office.” — Stephanie Hanson, Manager
This is a cause our Perficient colleagues are strongly compelled to support and bring attention to. We encourage everyone to try volunteering at or donating to an animal shelter. You can make a difference, either as a team or even just by yourself. Check out the fun we had on our last visit as we continue to support Pintler Pets!
