Placer SPCA: Volunteers and Visionaries Shaping the Future of Animal Care.

Leilani Fratis: [00:00:00] We get animals with all sorts of medical conditions. In our existing medical center, we have a cadre of veterinarians, registered veterinary technicians who are doing everything from mass removals and amputations, spay neuter surgeries, taking care of injured sick animals on a daily basis that become longer term patients.

Even they have longer term patients until they're well come into the center and take care of them until we can place them up for adoption.

Jeff Holden: Welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. Our purpose and passion is to highlight a nonprofit organization in each episode, giving that organization an opportunity to tell their story in their words, to better inform and educate the respective communities they serve, as well as provide one more tool for them to share their message to constituents and donors.

Hi, I'm Jeff Holden, principal of Multi-Point Content [00:01:00] Strategies and Hear Meow Studio. We provide this forum pro bono to help build stronger communities through shared voices and to both encourage and support the growth of local nonprofit organizations through podcasting. We all know and recognize the need to support lives in our community, whether through foster care, proper housing, and medical care, even adoption.

And in this case, I'm not talking about human lives. I'm referencing animals and pets. I have to admit, I was absolutely amazed at the work our animal shelters perform. Tens of thousands of animals pass through their doors annually, and the process of reintegration for these animals is nothing short of astounding.

I. Rescue services, medical care, spay and neuter programs, foster and adoption programs, even education and advocacy and cruelty prevention on behalf of pet owners. And as you'll hear from my guest, the CEO of Placer, SPCA, Leilani Freas, their facilities match the most state-of-the-art hospitals in our region for [00:02:00] care.

And the acquisition or delivery of an animal is equally as impressive and comforting. I saw it firsthand. Are you a dog or a cat person wondering the volume of each. You'll be surprised to hear the answer. And for what it's worth, I'm a dog guy Placer. SPCA is now over 50 years in existence and Leilani has been there nearly half that time.

And yes, she is a pet owner herself with two cats and two dogs that she self proclaims are ill behaved. Leilani Freida, welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. 

Leilani Fratis: I am really excited to be here. I can't tell you how many people have told me about your podcast, and finally I got invited, so thank you. 

Jeff Holden: It was one of those people back in the day, last year, midyear sometime I.

Where I first heard about you and the great work that you're doing with the Placer, SPCA. 

Leilani Fratis: Thank you. Yes. I was told that some folks had reached out to you and said, Hey, you've gotta get in touch with the Placer SPCA, and I guess you listened because here I am, 

Jeff Holden: absolutely. Leilani. Tell me a little bit [00:03:00] about the Placer SPCA, because you are not a young organization.

You've been around for quite some time serving the county, and then some with a variety of different services that have. Obviously grown exponentially, so tell us a little bit about it. 

Leilani Fratis: Sure. On one hand, we are young as compared to some other animal welfare organizations throughout the us. First and foremost, we're not affiliated with the A-S-P-C-A.

The A-S-P-C-A is an organization in New York. That was the first ever SPCA. That incorporated, but we are not a chapter of the A-S-P-C-A. We're all swollen and separate SPCAs in our own communities. That way we can reflect what the needs are of our communities. So the Placer, SPCA is just over 50 years old.

We incorporated in 1973, volunteers up in Auburn realize that there was no other animal welfare organization. In Placer County, there was animal control and animal [00:04:00] control at that time existed to protect people from pets. And what SPCAs or animal welfare organizations were formed to do was to protect pets.

And so. Ultimately, missions have kind of come together, so we're all working toward the same outcomes, both county and city agencies and nonprofit organizations. Mm-hmm. But back 50 years ago, that wasn't the case. So the SPCA formed in 73. We eventually started looking for a sheltering facility because we didn't have anything.

We were, we were volunteers standing in front of grocery stores with tin cups and a dog on a leash. And finally we found an old corporation yard. Facility in the city of Roseville. And so we adapted that to become our first ever sheltering facility in the nineties, and we're still in it today, believe it or not, at least a part of it.

It's now an over 50-year-old building that I say is held together with duct tape sticks and bandaids. But since then we have expanded too. We've, we've built a brand new adoption and [00:05:00] education center. I say new. We built it and it will opened in 2018, so it's a bit ago. 

Jeff Holden: Relatively new though. 

Leilani Fratis: Relatively new.

Yeah. But so we're excited to have that facility. We still have our intake and medical facility at that corporation yard facility. We take in close to 4,000 animals a year. 

Jeff Holden: Oh my. 

Leilani Fratis: And we also do all that we can to keep people and pets together whenever possible. And when that makes the most sense, because we really want to support the human animal bond.

Jeff Holden: Tell us a little bit about the. Adoption and drop off services that are represented through the Placer SPCA. What does that look like? 

Leilani Fratis: Sure it can look different from for any SPCAs in different communities. For us, we take in owner surrendered animals from throughout Placer County, and we also, because of a contract with the city of Roseville, they don't have their own sheltering facility.

We accept strays from the city of Roseville as well. So the makeup of animals coming into our facility are a [00:06:00] combination of stray animals in hopes that we're able to reunite. Them with their owners and also owner surrendered animals where people, for one reason or another, just don't feel that they can provide the care that's needed for that particular animal.

Mm-hmm. And that, you know, there's a, any number of reasons. Um, certainly there's the issue of fin financial reasons, and that seems to be more prevalent these days than ever. There's people who go through life changes, be it a divorce, a change in housing. Sure moving that that causes them to no longer to be able to care for their pets, or it's just not the right pet for them.

And we understand that and we welcome those animals because we're a safe haven for them. 

Jeff Holden: And I think that's such an important thing for people to understand is you have a place that's a safe place. This is your pet. And I'm sure sometimes it's emotional to have to drop it off or be unable to care for it.

I mean, with the cost of food, I'm sure pet food has done exactly the same thing that. Our food has done, yes, in terms of the expense, so it can become prohibitive at some point, but to know that they're taking their [00:07:00] animal to a good place where it'll be cared for and in all likelihood, find another good home for that particular animal.

Leilani Fratis: You know, a lot of people say, I, I could never give up my animal. I don't know how people would do that. And I share that actually, when we have people who come to us. We're kind of that last, that last course. Mm-hmm. That last option for them. Uh, we say thank you because we know that they care enough about their pet that they wanna give, give it to the Placer, SPCA, where we can provide it with the medical care, the behavioral services, and also the opportunity to find a home that's.

Best suited for them. So really it's not a judgment, it's more of a, a thank you for not abandoning the pet. Right? Because that happens too, and we accept those animals as well, or not caring for the pet in such a way that they do become sick. And so, so really with gratitude, we take people's pets when they feel that they can no longer care for them.

Ultimately though, we wanna provide the support services that allows people to keep their [00:08:00] pets if that's something they really wanna do, because that bond, that bond between humans and animals. When that breaks, that's heartbreaking for me to see. Mm-hmm. It happens and we're there for those most vulnerable animals in our community, but hey, if we can keep people in pets together whenever possible, and that makes the most sense, we wanna do that.

Jeff Holden: You know, it's funny, I never thought of that relationship. And I'm, I'm gonna share how I'm thinking of it now as you're explaining it to me. But we have the food banks for the people who are, you know, food insecure. Mm-hmm. And technically the SPCA could act the same for the families with the animals who might just be struggling at that point in time where they need a little bit of a lift or they need a meal or two, or some food or maybe some medical attention that they just can't afford.

And I never really correlated the two. But we were talking a little bit earlier with pets are a member of the family. Absolutely. In so many ways. And in some cases they are [00:09:00] literally the only support, the only other living being in the household. Yes. Yes. So to that extent, my gosh, you would hate to see somebody have to give that up.

Leilani Fratis: Exactly. If a bag of food is what comes between a person and their pet, a bag of food, a can of food, then we wanna make sure that we're able to support them. And we have, you know, wonderful people in the community that help us do that. And we do have a pet food pantry, but I'll share with you, we, we started the pet food pantry, uh, a number of years ago, when.

The father of a young lady came to me and said, you know, I wanna thank you for what you did for my daughter. She had a cat and she was going through a transition in her career, and she didn't have the money to feed her cat, and she was desperate. I. You gave her a bag of food and that's what made the difference for her in terms of her being able to keep her cat until she had the opportunity to, to reestablish her career.

And I'm glad, I was glad to hear that there were a number of services that we [00:10:00] started to provide during the recession that have stayed as a result and or even more needed now, even though we're not in a recession, but for other reasons. And I'm glad that we're able to provide those services. Again, to keep people in pets together.

It doesn't make sense to take an 11-year-old cat from somebody who loves that cat or dog right? And take it into a center where it's expensive to care for every day, and then try to find a new family to love that that 11-year-old cat or dog mm-hmm. That that cat or dog already had a loving family, 

Jeff Holden: right?

So, and for a lesser expense to keep it with the family. Everybody's happy. Than having it come into the shelter where again, it's gonna be up for adoption, foster, whatever it may be, 

Leilani Fratis: prevention is, as with any health and human service issue, prevention is always, usually, not always, I'll say usually more affordable choice.

Mm-hmm. Than the intake and dealing with the issue once they come into the center. So prevention's the key. 

Jeff Holden: So you've got thousands of animals going [00:11:00] through the shelter on any given year. How do you balance the demand of, we have to ask cats, dogs, and I know you have rabbits. Uh, as a matter of fact, I saw on the website, yes, we have an overabundance suddenly we do of rabbits.

We do, we do. Which, which made me laugh. Of course you do. But how do you balance that, that ebb and flow so that you don't end up with. An overabundance of dogs for demand for the community or an overabundance of cats. I, I imagine it's difficult to, to balance that. 

Leilani Fratis: You know, I was gonna say that sometimes we don't, sometimes we just, we can't necessarily completely control the intake of animals.

We're like an er. In many ways, we don't know what's coming in every single day, and when there's more than what we have beds, we then find a way to accommodate those additional patients. And so we have not only room in our center, at our intake center, our adoption center, we have foster [00:12:00] volunteers that help us an awful lot too.

You mentioned the rapids, for example, over a hundred rabbits in one day. Pretty overwhelming. We're not. Typically set up to manage a hundred rabbits in care. And so the first thing we did after we vetted that is the veterinarian looked at each and every rabbit because some of them were sick and needed medical services.

We called upon the community to help us with fostering. We do that during kitten season. Kitten season is usually during warm weather months, and during a busy kitten season, we can receive. Over a thousand kittens in, in a several month period of time. Right now, we don't have that many kittens. Wow. But we know that starting in probably march, the, the kitten population's gonna go up, and that's when we call upon our fosters, because we can't be set up to take in thousands of kittens, you know, every month.

So we're looking at different ways that we can manage that population. 

Jeff Holden: How long have you been with the organization? 

Leilani Fratis: I have been with the Placer SPCA for almost 23 years now. 

Jeff Holden: So, you know, and you recognize this ebb and flow [00:13:00] and the movement of animal influx and outgo and everything, and I'm, I'm sure you get what a great value that is to the organization because.

You can kind of anticipate some things with your experience. 

Leilani Fratis: You know what, you never, yes, you can anticipate sometimes, but I have to say just like the world, things change and sometimes things happen that you would never have expected to happen Right now, and over the course of the last several years since COV, I would say we've really seen in our center and actually across the nation and.

Influx of dogs like we haven't seen in years. I don't know that that was entirely predictable some years ago. Now we're starting to understand the reasons why, but it used to be that we'd have, you know, two, two thirds of the population of be cats coming into the center. Mm-hmm. And now it's about 50% cats, 50% dogs.

And that's challenging if, if you've designed space with a different population in [00:14:00] minds. So we're often reworking what we had experienced in the past to what is now currently happening. And we have a lot of science backed information to help us now with that too. 

Jeff Holden: And you know that there's a cadre of people who are listening, going, yes, the dogs are coming back.

Or even with the cats now, as opposed to the, you know, you're a dog person or a cat person is typically what you hear. Oh, I'm, I'm a cat person, or 

Leilani Fratis: I'm by animal. So I like both cats and dogs. I have two of each, so I can legitimately say that. Perfect. 

Jeff Holden: Yes. And you're, you're equal in their. They're numbers in the household.

Exactly. 

Leilani Fratis: Exactly. Oh, and you know, different types of dogs come into the center on different, gonna my question, different circumstances. So right now, mostly we are seeing, and that's not just for Placer County, but again throughout the nation, a lot of larger breed dogs like shepherds and Huskies coming into our center, there was a time when Chihuahuas.

We're the popular breed and we still see, of course we see all different kinds of dogs coming in. You never know what to expect. But chi wear were really [00:15:00] popular during the Taco Bell commercials. Oh, sure. Also the famous actresses carrying a little per dogs in their per Yeah. Purse. Mm-hmm. Exactly. I remember when Cocker Spaniels were the popular dog coming into centers.

I can remember when Rottweilers were popular. When you've been in the industry for that long, and it's not to say that you can anticipate what's coming next. 'cause you can't, it depends on the movies. Dalmatians. You know, there was a time when we saw more dalmatians chows. I hardly ever see a chow now.

Used to see them all the time for a while. So, um, some things we can anticipate and some things we just have to be ready to manage when it happens. 

Jeff Holden: I imagine there's a doodle. Batch coming at some point since everything's to be, everything seems to be some sort of a doodle at this point. 

Leilani Fratis: Funny that you say that.

I was just looking on our Facebook page and I noticed there was a, what, where are they now? And it was a picture of a doodle we had adopted beautiful doodle doing very, very well in their new homes. So yes, the, the doodles are coming. The doodles are here. 

Jeff Holden: Uhhuh, so 

Leilani Fratis: you're right. 

Jeff Holden: Other services you mentioned dogs, [00:16:00] animals as patients sometimes.

'cause you don't know what the number of patients are going to be in any given situation. And I had the opportunity to tour the facility with you. Thank you very much. I was absolutely astounded at the cleanliness of the facility and when you took me to the, I call it the hospital part of it, the, the service part of it, neuter all that, it's.

I could not tell a difference between a hospital facility and your facility, which I think is wonderful, but I don't know that everybody has that perception in their mind. Would you tell us a little bit about what is going on there with the services now that are being offered? And the vets that you've got?

Leilani Fratis: Well, it's coming in phases, but I mentioned that building that we opened in 2018. That's our adoption and education center, and it's a hospital, like a hospital quality facility with a home-like atmosphere. So that's where we showcase the animals essentially, that are available for [00:17:00] adoption. Our next phase is going to be our medical center, but medical is still back at our intake facility that that old corporation yard.

Jeff Holden: Yeah, sure. Execution of the service, the spay or neuter or whatever it may be, 

Leilani Fratis: right? Our medical facility, we not only spay and neuter animals that come into the center that are need to be re-homed, but we also provide some level of spay neuter services for the community. Accessible, affordable spay neuter services is, is one of the things that we really need to ramp up in our region is to avoid.

The overpopulation. Mm-hmm. The puppies and the kittens coming into the center to begin with. Again, a prevention tool that is much more affordable than having lots of kittens and lots of puppies coming into a center later on. So we do provide those services in our existing medical center. Again, we get animals with all sorts of medical conditions.

In our existing medical center, we have a cadre of veterinarians, registered veterinary technicians who are doing everything from mass removals and amputations, spay neuter [00:18:00] surgeries, taking care of injured sick animals on a daily basis that become longer term patients. Even they have longer term patients until they're well come into the center and take care of them until we can place them up for adoption.

Unfortunately, we have a small medical center right now, and that's why saying that I'm really excited about phase two because that's gonna make all the difference for us. We'll talk 

Jeff Holden: about that in a 

Leilani Fratis: Okay. Okay. I'm, I'm jumping at the hold. 

Jeff Holden: Hold. Okay. Because I want to ask you about collaboration. 

Leilani Fratis: Mm-hmm.

Jeff Holden: When we were there, there were obviously a lot of things going on and different people coming through. And we started talking about the ways that you are a community center as much as you are a provision of services, and you're also a place for either students and or underserved community, children, families, and organizations to experience the animals.

Tell us a little bit about the, the organizations you work with and. How you guys work together? 

Leilani Fratis: Sure. Well, what's interesting about the Placer SPCA, we're [00:19:00] located in Roseville and we're immediately across the street, well, one of our facilities is located in Roseville. We actually have a facility in Auburn too, but our, our main adoption education center immediately across the street.

From a residential neighborhood. Now first you don't often see that, right? Oftentimes animal sheltering facilities are in industrial areas or by the wastewater treatment plant, so to be immediately across the street from a residential neighborhood is a pretty awesome location. It allows us to embed within the community and to become a community center like you may.

Mentioned, we actually have a community center where people meet and gather. The Placer Community Foundation is hosting an event there. It's very soon 50 people coming from other nonprofit agencies to watch a webinar together. Neighborhood groups will come and enjoy the center, so we collaborate with service clubs or people who wanna host birthday parties.

They come in toward the center as well and use the community center. We also work closely with. All aspects and members of the [00:20:00] community we're supported by the community. So we really want the community to feel engaged with what we're doing and to be a part of our organization. To the extent that most, most of our funding comes from individual community members, and we have.

Over 600 volunteers coming into our center and to our thrift store to help us, help us not only care for the animals, but help us with the programs and services to take care of the animals in the community. 

Jeff Holden: What a beautiful way to share the facility. I. Expose people to what you've got. So maybe they don't know all the services, but when they come there for their organization, they learn, oh my gosh.

And I'm sure they wander through and they look at some of the animals and it's this engagement that maybe had you not had that opportunity to share with them because they happened to be there for their meeting, they'd never know. 

Leilani Fratis: You're right. And I know that every time we do a tour, a pers, the person will say to me.

I had no idea you did all of this, and I'm gonna point at you. I was one of 'em, Jeff, [00:21:00] and yes, absolutely. I, I explain it. But until you experience it, you really have no idea how vast of an organization we are in terms of the services that we provide and how embedded we are into the community and how we serve both the people and animals throughout Placer County as a result.

Jeff Holden: We'll be back with more barks and meows right after this message from the people who make the program possible. I was in the media business for over 35 years and had the great privilege of working with Runyon Saltzman, RSE, marketing, advertising and Public Relations. I. We collaborated on many different campaigns, but their commitment to the nonprofit sector hasn't changed since their founder, gene Runyon started the agency.

Over many years and many campaigns, Runyon Saltzman has been committed to improving lives by tackling California's most challenging issues, guided by research, informed strategies and insightful creative solutions. RSE develops innovative communications campaigns that [00:22:00] raise awareness. Educate and reduce stigma in diverse communities throughout our state and beyond.

To learn more about RSE, visit r sse.com. 

Scott Thomas: Hello, this is Scott Thomas with CAPTRUST in our Sacramento office. I specialize in working with local nonprofits and associations annually. We survey private and public nonprofit organizations across the country to better understand challenges they see in today's environment.

In our more recent survey, we heard concerns about proper board governance, mission aligned investment, and how to implement alternative investments. If you would like a copy of the survey or to discuss your organization, look me up, scottThomas@captrust.com. 

Jeff Holden: I'm thrilled to have Western Health Advantage partnering with us as they do so much to support so many nonprofit agencies in our community.

As a truly local health plan, you'll find individual and family options, employer options plans for CalPERS and Medicare Advantage. [00:23:00] From medical services to pharmacy health and wellness support, as well as behavioral healthcare, Western Health Advantage has a plan that fits what you need as an employer for profit or nonprofit business, individual or family.

You can find more@westernhealth.com. Let's talk a little bit about funding. How is the organization funded? 

Leilani Fratis: Well, first and foremost, I mentioned that our number one donor are individuals. So we are primarily donor funded. We have a contract with the city of Roseville because they don't have a sheltering facility.

So we do charge fees for services when we take in Roseville Animals as a result of that contract. Mm-hmm. So we do have that fee for service. Other than that, it's, it's a combination of fundraising activities, individuals, we. We receive a lot of legacy gifts, so people who want to leave something to the animals after they pass legacy gifts actually were one of the major ways in which we were able to fund the building of our [00:24:00] adoption and education center that we completed in 2018.

That was a $14 million center. Again, when we talk about hospital quality, that's the, when you say hospital quality, that's expensive. Mm-hmm. That's the word. That's expensive. Homelike atmosphere. That's not expensive. That's just thoughtful. What's gonna cause people to come in and feel comfortable when they're visiting the animals?

So. Our primary donors are individuals. We receive some support from corporations, some from pet related type foundations, and again, some fees for service to include adoption fees that people make our our pay when they adopt an animal. Sometimes we waive our adoption fees, though, so our adoption fees go from zero to they can be hundreds of dollars for high demand animals.

That's when we know that we're taking those fees and using them toward helping, oh, that 18-year-old cat that needs some, some lab work. So yeah, it all makes a difference. 

Jeff Holden: What's the total budget you work with? 

Leilani Fratis: So, our budget has grown in the last few years because of all of the work that we're doing. In fact, it, it blows my [00:25:00] mind now to tell you that our budget is 23 years 

Jeff Holden: ago to today.

Yes. 

Leilani Fratis: 23 years ago. I know it was $600,000. Oh geez. That's what I remember very distinctly. And that was scary 23 years ago. Yeah. We're at the $5 million mark now. That's amazing. It is amazing. But I also must share with you in saying that because people are gonna say $5 million, we are a four star charity is rated by Charity Navigator, which is an.

Independent evaluator of charities, they rate charities for fiscal responsibility and transparency. And so what I wanna assure people when we talk about a budget of that size is the level of fiscal responsibility that we exercise and the transparency in how we manage our money. We have, again, medical care for animals is expensive of course, because we're able to bring a lot of it in-house.

That lowers the cost as, as opposed to going out to a, a private. Veterinary clinic for those services. The more we can do in house, the more affordable it is for us, but [00:26:00] it's costly. Sure. Just like individuals experience when they go to their own veterinarians, 

Jeff Holden: you know, there's a a, a collaborative part that we talked about that I wanna make sure we touch on because we happen to have such a robust community in animal service here we have uc, Davis.

And tell us a little bit about your work with them. 

Leilani Fratis: Sure. Uc Davis actually established the first ever shelter medicine program in the country. There was no such thing. And now students can actually are, veterinarians can get a residency as a special specialty in shelter medicine, and that has made all the difference in the world for sheltering organizations.

Who again, you know, 23 years ago, and then some, a lot of what we did was based on anecdotal information. Mm-hmm. Right? And some of it was accurate and some of it was not. And now we have science backed information coming out of uc Davis, so close to us. That really helps us understand. [00:27:00] What we can do that will benefit both the animals and our care in terms of just how we design the, the room in which they stay in.

For cats, what's going to keep their stress levels lower? The design of the room really matters. Uc, Davis actually studies that and helps shelters kind of redesign their facilities to lower stress for animals, which then keeps them more healthy until they're able to find a home. Shelters early on. Back 50, 60 years ago, remember, were designed for animals only being there for short periods of time.

Mm-hmm. Either they found a home, or sadly they didn't, but they weren't there for long. And now we're seeing animals come into care that require extended lengths of stay. And to keep an animal healthy, both behaviorally, emotionally and physically, it requires a design. Is going to accomplish that along with other quality items of care and uc.

Davis, again, is an organization that helps provide the information so that we can follow best, best practices, which never existed before. 

Jeff Holden: Right. [00:28:00] Lest anybody think this is a simple process? 

Leilani Fratis: It's not. It's 

Jeff Holden: not. It's not. It's, it's a complex organization. It's a complex operation full of logistics and everything.

When you think of it's just a hospital, it's no different. You're managing it as if you were managing a bunch of patients. Care facility. 

Leilani Fratis: It's interesting. I have board members now that are from hospital facilities in our area, the, the chief of physicians from one hospital, and I used to have an executive nurse and they both say how similar in some ways our organizations are as it relates to how they have to operate.

Jeff Holden: With the exception we just don't put the people on display for, 

Leilani Fratis: but, but we could put them in our rooms and they could probably get healthier there because I mean the. Air exchange I was showing you in our rooms, yes. There's no cross-contamination of air. There's no cross-contamination of fluids. That's when we talk about that hospital, hospital quality stuff that keeps our animals healthy.

Jeff Holden: Oh, it was, it was so impressive walking through just to see the way that it was [00:29:00] organized and set up and structured and your explanation of why that was that way. So you've got some really neat things going on and at this point in time, I give you the opportunity to, to dream a little bit. You're. Really blessed in that the building you have is only six years old.

So it's a relatively new complex. It's, it's, uh, you know, $14 million project. So it's relatively contemporary. It's beautiful facility. You are also in a capital campaign. I. For more. And so, so there is the dream. Tell us about what that looks like. 

Leilani Fratis: Well, what you have seen is phase one of a campus plan.

That's actually three phases and we are in the midst of phase two. And if your listeners come visit. They will see it's actually off the ground now the beginnings of our new veterinary and foster care center. It's an 8,800 square foot veterinary facility that's going to allow us not only to continue and upgrade the quality of care we provide to the animals that come [00:30:00] into our center, but we're going to be able to provide the community with more accessible, more affordable care.

Primarily wellness care for their animals. Uh, we're gonna be able to provide spay and neuter services. We wanna see every dog and cat in our community altered sure for the benefit of not only reducing overpopulation, but that keeps animals healthy too. And we wanna see animals stay well in a way that.

That people in our community, no matter what, have access to, so for example, I had a woman stop by our facility the other day. We have an SOS program and that's for people who run into unexpected veterinary costs. She was having her dog's dental done, and the dog needed a dental. If we don't take care of our teeth, that can cause other illness in our body.

And the same that, that's the same with cats and dogs, including you can't eat right, $2,000 for her little dog. So she, we have SOS loans, so we gave her a loan toward helping her pay for that. So she was stopping by and she was handing me an [00:31:00] envelope and she said, here's a check. I was outside. I didn't know who she was and I thought it was a donation.

So I was thanking her and she said, oh, this is my repayment of my loan. So a loan, but she's paying like $5 a month for, you know, the rest of her natural life, probably. Mm-hmm. But it helped her get her dog services and she said, I don't know what I would have done if I could not have provided my dog. With these medical services.

The reality is when we open this new center, we're gonna have lots of people in the community in similar situations. She was a senior on a fixed income, 82 years old, who are gonna be able to come into our center and receive those services affordably. And we wanna be accessible to all who need us. Mm-hmm.

Jeff Holden: To where today she had to go to a veterinary or of that situation, who knows if it wasn't an emergency or not, and and pay and expensive. Whereas when that facility is built. You can accommodate it in a variety of different ways based on the situation, 

Leilani Fratis: right? We're not gonna be competitors to regular private veterinary practices.

Mm-hmm. [00:32:00] We are gonna be synergistic to them. We're gonna see clients that couldn't see them otherwise. We're going to be keeping pets healthy and when pets are ill and need additional services and private practice, veterinarian can help. With those specialized services, they'll be there for them. Frankly, there was a shortage of veterinarians for a long time during Covid.

We're starting to see a little bit of a change with some veterinary practices ramping back up, but it can be very difficult for people even to get an appointment for a wellness service. So we intend to operate very synergistically with our private practice veterinarians to make sure that all of the animals and the people in our community receive the care that they need.

Jeff Holden: So that's your dream facility? Oh, yes. Most, most people don't. Sitting across from me, the dream is truly dream. Yours is in play. 

Leilani Fratis: Ours is in play. So this is, um, thank you for reminding me. I get so excited talking about things. Yeah. So again, we're, we're actually starting to come out of the ground with this veterinary center.

[00:33:00] We're in the midst of a capital campaign. The veterinary center itself is a 12 and a half million dollar facility. So again, veterinary facility, expensive. I'm excited to share with you that after about a year and a half of fundraising, we have raised $12 million already. So we are in the last wow stretch of our capital campaign, and we have some exciting things happening with that.

We have a donor that. Is going to match a certain amount of money that we start to raise at this particular point in time until we reach our goal. I can't quite announce that donor match yet, but it's substantial and very soon people who give to the capital campaign will be matched dollar for dollar by this donor so that we can get to the finish line.

How wonderful is that? By the time we complete this building and we hope that is completed. Debt free so that any additional donations go toward the programs and services within it by the time the building's completed, and that's gonna be toward the [00:34:00] end of the year. 

Jeff Holden: Oh, that's quick. Yes. You'll see it in 2025.

Oh, yes. Oh, how fun. I 

Leilani Fratis: know. 

Jeff Holden: How exciting. It's 

Leilani Fratis: very exciting. And that's phase two. We have a phase three bringing intake over to the property that we're on currently. And then my, my ultimate dream is that we have, you know, very few animals in the center, and we become a service provider, so a service provider again, so that the human animal bond stays intact and only those animals that need.

Are the most vulnerable, the where there's no other choices. Come into the center, get services, stay at the center, and then find new loving homes when that's necessary. So that's my, my vision of many years down the line. But it's going to take these facilities to accomplish that and those services and programs 

Jeff Holden: if we get back to operational today outta the dream state.

Okay. 'cause we know that that's happening. What's the greatest need you've got? As an operational facility today, 

Leilani Fratis: well, today, as I mentioned, we're seeing, unfortunately, more [00:35:00] animals than we have in a long time coming into the shelter that need re-homing services because people just can't access the services that they need to keep.

Their pets with them. Mm-hmm. And so today we need people to continue to support our programs like our food pantry. We need donations toward our Guardian Angel program, which is a program that helps us provide the medical care for animals in our facilities. We need to complete our, our veterinary center so that we can start offering that affordable spay neuter service.

The sad part, the sad reality is as much as of the good work that we do, we have people on a waiting list begging to have their animals spay or neutered. Do you remember Bob Barker always at the end of the prices, right, saying spay or neuter your pets, yes. Used to be an education that that was something that you needed, needed to do.

I don't know that we need that education anymore as much as what we need to do is be able to provide the service that people want. People want to spay or neuter their pets, so getting that veterinary [00:36:00] clinic. Completed and up and running is an absolute necessity so that there isn't this silly waiting list of people who want to get this service for their animal to keep their animal healthy.

Healthy. Mm-hmm. And to reduce pet overpopulation. That's where we need to get to. Really quickly here. 

Jeff Holden: I didn't ask how many people you employ. I heard the 600 volunteers. Plus. Mm-hmm. Probably. How many people do you actually employ? 

Leilani Fratis: Well, we have part-time, full-time, and relief veterinarians. So collectively that group hovers at about the 50 ish mark.

Okay. When we open the new veterinary center, of course we're gonna have a few more join us, but when you look at the ratio, the volunteers are really a group that we rely on quite a bit with 656 they provide about. Anywhere from 75 to a hundred thousand hours of their time in a year, just depending on the year.

So it's not just a number because you can say, oh, someone comes in and volunteers, you know, once a year and you count them as a volunteer. Yeah. It's the hour service, it's the hours of service that they provide. Mm-hmm. And they are [00:37:00] providing a substantial amount of time. And that's a resource too, that we rely on within the community that has really made a difference to how we care for our animals.

Jeff Holden: How about best way to get in touch? With Placer, SPCA. 

Leilani Fratis: The best way to get in touch with us. Well, firstly, make go to our website, which is placer spca.org if you're looking for programs or services or more information about how to volunteer. Our phone number is (916) 782-7722. I mentioned that our adoption and education center is in Roseville.

Sometimes people mistake placer for placerville. Were Placer, SPCA located in Roseville. We actually have. An adoption center in Auburn to a smaller facility where we house what we call our career cats. So those are cats that aren't necessarily cats that you would keep as pets, but maybe once they're working cats, right?

They're working cats, exactly. And so we have a facility in Auburn as well. We have our intake center in Roseville, and we also have a thrift store in Roseville as well. So you can [00:38:00] learn more about that by going onto our website. 

Jeff Holden: You know, and we didn't touch on you. You've got the thrift store up there, but you've also got the store.

Inside the facility? 

Leilani Fratis: Yes. It's a, it's a smallish store and we hope to, to have that grow. But we have a, a small retail center, so when someone comes to adopt from us, they wanna purchase their, their dog food and their collar and their leash, um, and their, I love plaster, SPCA T-shirt. And of course all of that then helps benefit the organization, the programs and services that go on within it.

Jeff Holden: So they get the animal and the T-shirt. 

Leilani Fratis: Yeah, of course. Absolutely. And 

Jeff Holden: wear it proudly. 

Leilani Fratis: I hope so. 

Jeff Holden: That's fabulous. You know, Leilani, the discussion. Is incredible for so many people to understand the significance of what the SPCA is doing in their communities. And you're serving such a rapidly growing community.

And maybe that's part of why the influx too, because there's so many more people that just keep coming into the entire county. In between Rockland and [00:39:00] Roseville and and Lincoln and all the way up that corridor. I can only imagine what that's gonna look like in a few more years as, as we get thousands of more people into the community and how that influences these new facilities that are gonna be so necessary just to keep up.

Leilani Fratis: That's true. My goal, though, is to have prevention programs in place so we don't see the influx in animals. And in fact, from the time that in the early two thousands to now. Believe it or not, as much as the community has grown. Mm-hmm. There's still fewer animals coming in today than there was, than there was in 2002.

Jeff Holden: Boy, that's great to hear. 

Leilani Fratis: Now we have greater needs for those animals that are arriving. So different conversation. Mm-hmm. But fewer animals coming in today than in 2002. 

Jeff Holden: Well then maybe what you'll see is a greater demand. You won't have enough to service the demand. 

Leilani Fratis: You know what? When we opened in 2018 before Covid, interesting that you say that.

That was somewhat the case to the extent that we were able to go to other [00:40:00] less resourced shelters and take animals from them. So we were really. Proud of the fact that we could go to Yuba County, sometimes Sacramento area and take animals that they were having, they just difficulty with space or difficulty with placement.

Bring them in, take care of them medically, and place them up for adoption. We were doing a lot of that. Now that our, our, we've experienced this influx of animals from our own community, we. Can't do that as often. Mm-hmm. We still, in times of crisis, will take in animals from hurricanes, fires, that sort of thing.

Sure. But we certainly wanna be able to serve our more broad community as well, providing we have the resources to do that. And so I'm hoping for the day when we can make sure that we're caring for as many animals as need care in our whole community, Placer County and beyond, because we have the resources to do so well.

Isn't it 

Jeff Holden: great that. As we look at these facilities, we look at the investments people are making, the communities are making because of the significance of what an animal a pet is to the family, that that reciprocity may be [00:41:00] there at some point to where everybody's connected. You can see the inflow and the outflow and some of the challenges may have because you have happen to have at that point in time, sick patients who, who need the attention versus somebody else who has some capacity.

And how neat will that be when it works like that? 

Leilani Fratis: Absolutely. I'm going to an an event, it's cow animals and it's an association of all the private and public sheltering facilities in the state of California. And I have to say that we do work together. I. Wonderfully. And I'm hoping for a time where we have resources that we, and we already do, who, who can do this best?

And we sometimes with Placer County Animal Services up in Auburn, may give them a rooster and take three cats. So that happens already. And the more it can happen, I think the better off all of our communities are in the long run. 

Jeff Holden: Before we close, one more thing. You said Rooster. 

Leilani Fratis: Oh dear. 

Jeff Holden: You. You, yes.

Leilani Fratis: Because when 

Jeff Holden: I was there, I, it was like, what do you actually have and what will you take in? 

Leilani Fratis: So we take in [00:42:00] companion pets, animals that are legal to own in our community. Sometimes actually though we do get ferrets, I must admit, and they're not legal to own in California. So we'll transfer them to a rescue group in Nevada.

So that's a whole nother conversation. Most common animal we see cats and dogs are. Pretty much tied now in terms of numbers. Mm-hmm. Thirdly, rabbits and we mentioned that we just got over a hundred in recently. Hamsters, Guinea pigs, the occasional reptile bird. We sometimes, yeah, get some snakes, but again, animals that are legal to own as companion pets.

And sometimes we'll seek out rescue groups or specialty groups, like if we get reptiles. I can't say that we're reptile specialists, so we'll look for help with other, uh, herpetological. Is that the way you say it? Oh, okay. Other reptile groups can't help you with that. Other reptile groups that can help sometimes we get wildlife and we work very closely with our partners, gold Country Wildlife up in the Auburn community if we get ducks and that sort of thing in.

So 

Jeff Holden: it's a variety. 

Leilani Fratis: That was 

Jeff Holden: what [00:43:00] an interesting story and to have that wealth of knowledge over the 23 years to see it. Play out and now you're in a phased facility capital campaign that's about to wrap its second phase and you get to experience all of it. 

Leilani Fratis: I'm really proud of the organization and I'm very grateful to the community that understands the importance of what we do and why we're doing the work that we do, who want us to be a sustainable organization that's there to serve our community for many years to come, and I'm confident.

That at this point in my life cycle, that, that we're, that's going to be the case. We're going to be able to meet the needs of our community for many, many years to come and serve the animals, which in turn serves the people and makes a real difference. 

Jeff Holden: Well, for all those who are cat, dog, any animal lover.

I can't encourage you enough to get out to check out the Placer SPCA. It's an incredible facility. What's the address again, Leilani? 

Leilani Fratis: Our address is [00:44:00] 200 Tahoe Avenue in Roseville. I love saying this. It's at the corner of Yosemite and Tahoe, which a friend of mine calls Vacation Corner, so it's. 200 Tahoe Avenue in Roseville.

And yes, please go to our website to see the hours that we're open. We'd love for you to stop in and visit any of your listeners. I really, I, my favorite thing is tours. We have wonderful volunteers who will greet you and provide you with a tour, if that's what you wish. You need to come visit us. 

Jeff Holden: So as you go to the Galleria shopping, you can do a little sidetrack and, and visit the SPCA or the fountains or wherever you happen to be.

It's very close and I just can't encourage you enough, and so many people are so. In love with that pet and the significance of what that pet means to a family in, in whatever way, shape, or form, and its lineage. It doesn't just touch the immediate family, it touches everybody in the family. 'cause pets tend to be around for a while.

So what you do and, and how you support those families of pet owners [00:45:00] and the pets themselves is just incredible. Congratulations to you and your team, and congratulations on the success of phase two being so close to. 

Leilani Fratis: So close to a wrap. Maybe there's some listeners out there who want us to get us to the finish line.

Absolutely. Fingers crossed. 

Jeff Holden: And please let me know because depending on when we complete the episode and release it, we may have some more information that I can add to the back. Okay. Sounds great to me. Thank you. Thank you. Once again, we're grateful to the businesses who have made this program possible.

Captrust. Fiduciary advice for endowments and foundations. You can find them in Sacramento, Roseville and Folsom, or@captrust.com. Runyon Saltzman, incorporated. RSE. Marketing, advertising and public relations, creating integrated communications committed to improving lives. You can find them@rse.com and Western Health Advantage, a full service healthcare plan for individuals, employer groups, [00:46:00] and for families.

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