Mutts Coffee

Portland we need your help

Part 3 (check our page for all parts)

Jasmin was in and out of MCAS for 8 months before they killed her.

I remember her flyer well. It was around the holidays and one of the volunteers had taken a photo of her with a little glitter snowflake headband

Jasmin first came to DoveLewis as an injured dog. It was later learned that she had been involved in a fight with her owner’s partner’s dog and had been severely injured.

She was surrendered to MCAS and noted as loving all people but being indifferent towards other dogs and never seeking them out. It was also noted that she was anxious around loud noises like yelling.

Unfortunately, the MCAS shelter is not a place for a dog like Jasmin to go to because there are no quiet rooms and not even a trainer on staff or as a volunteer to access her behavioral needs. Instead, she was thrust into chaos from the very beginning, but with the instruction of 300mg of trazadone administered twice a day along with clonidine to help mask her stress.

When Jasmin was out on foster, she did great. She also had positive notes from volunteers. There seemed to have been some disagreement about how to read some of her body language but again, without a staff trainer on site, this is to be expected

She had one quick adoption failure due to her fence reactivity to the neighborhood dog. She was noted as being sweet with all family members but needed a “only dog” household.

Even MCAS vet staff noted the “fence fighting” and made their own recommendation for a “no dog” household.

Keeping in mind the circumstances surrounding Jasmin’s unfortunate lead up to being at the shelter: she was severely attacked by another dog while her owner and the other dog’s owner were arguing- essentially two of her known triggers coming together. This was a catalyst for her having a big life event- one that could never be explained to her. One day she was injured by a single dog and the next she was at a noisy, chaotic shelter with lots of dogs.

I think most reading this post could agree that Jasmin should have only been adopted out to a household as an only dog…

TBC

Portland, we need your help

Part 2 (check our page for all parts)

I responded to the email letting the manager know our intention with wanting to help raise visibility and talked about our upcoming home for the holidays series we had planned in which we had paid an artist to create two coffee labels featuring dogs who had been “long stay” tenants of the shelter: Lucy and Ethel (a bonded pair) and Badger.

Over the next several months, we worked hard to use Mutts Coffee as a vessel to promote these shelter dogs through various avenues- in addition to the special coffee labels we made, we made special drink cup stickers, we made flyers that we put at the register, we taped flyers to our DoorDash deliveries. We hung flyers in our windows with QR codes for curious visitors to scan.

This was all in addition to our social media pushes that we did to highlight the adoptable dogs. For two years in a row, we have done an adoptable shelter pet pumpkin patch. We were constantly brainstorming new ways to promote MCAS dogs.

Then it started to work.

We had conversations with customers. They took photos. They sent the information to their social circles. They asked for the shelter’s contact information. The engagement was up. We were talking about Multnomah County Animal Shelter dogs and by doing so, increasing the likelihood that those dogs would have more opportunity for adoptable interest.

We were doing the legwork because the shelter wasn’t going to do it and the responsibility was put on the volunteers and those of us who were paying attention

Then there was Jasmin…

Continued in part 3 (check our page)

Part 1

Portland, I need your help.

This is a unique opportunity to do something right this time.

The director position is open for the Multnomah County Animal Shelter.

After years of shelter pets being killed or inhumanely treated, volunteers being fired for speaking out, employees being too fearful of speaking out in fear of retaliation… it’s time for a complete overhaul of change and that change starts from the top.

It is of my strong opinion that that change won’t come from an internal promotion.

Let me explain.

When I opened Mutts in Beaverton, in 2023, I was approached with an opportunity to do a lives news segment from my shop provided I had real dogs at the shop, preferably adoptable dogs.

I already had planned to have one of my rescue partners out but their dogs were sanctuary dogs meaning they weren’t adoptable. The goal was to have one more organization present with adoptable dogs.

When I had opened my shop, I had already dedicated an entire bulletin board for strictly Multnomah County Animal Shelter dogs so they were at the top of my list for inviting to be a part of this segment.

It also so happened that MCAS was sending out emails to their fosters with urgent pleas stating they were at “capacity” and desperate for help. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to have a few adoptable dogs join us for the live broadcast and help get word out about the need for fosters.

I emailed, called, emailed again, and left voicemails over the span of weeks. I never got a single response from any manager.

I eventually had to turn the opportunity over to another rescue who gladly accepted the opportunity and to which the opportunity got one of their dogs adopted by a viewer.

During the live segment, I showed the adoptable board and talked about one of the goals of Mutts -to raise the visibility of the MCAS dogs- and that while you are waiting for your coffees, you can view the board, take photos of the flyers, send them to your friends etc. (marketing)

This must have got the attention of MCAS because I received a brief email from a manager thanking me for posting adoptable MCAS dogs on our board.

Next week, our partner rescue will be collecting items for their annual garage sale. We will be providing a space for them, right outside of the coffeeshop. All you have to do is bring qualifying items. Please read below for more info:

📣 6th Annual Garage Sale Fundraiser — Donation Collection Drive 📣

Hosted by Mutts Coffee ☕️

We are gearing up for our 6th Annual Garage Sale Fundraiser benefiting Angels with Misplaced Wings Sanctuary in Amboy, WA — and donation collection has officially begun.

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➡️ Questions? Information? Receipt? Donation Pick-Up?

📧 Email preferred for all general communication.�📱 Please text only during collection hours if you need help finding us or have immediate day-of questions.�
📧 Contact Catie at [email protected] and/or Jeff at [email protected]

📱360-600-7029 (Text Preferred)

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🎁 We are currently accepting:
• Collectibles�• Kitchen & household items�• Gently used furniture & appliances�• Books�• Exercise equipment�• Electronics�• Crafting supplies�• Toys�• Purses & luggage�• Holiday decor�• Tools�• And everything in-between

🚨 At this time, we are NOT accepting clothing, bedding or pillows.�(There may be limited exceptions.)

🚨 Donations will be sorted at drop-off.�Items not suitable for sale may be returned to the donor. This includes broken items, trash, junk, heavily worn goods, and significantly outdated technology (think Walkman-level vintage 😅).

🚨 Please be thoughtful about your donations.
�Every year we receive items that truly need disposal, and the sanctuary ends up absorbing those costs.

Your donated items directly help support the lifelong care of the animals who call sanctuary home. 🪽

Kicking off the summer with two specials with more to come.

The very hungry caterpillar 🐛

~and~

The Corduroy Cortado 🐻

Drink Coffee. Help Dogs. ❤️