Phone: 760.831.3090
Our Mission
Amy's Purpose is an education 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to coyote and predator awareness and promoting safety information to help protect your beloved pets. Its mission comprises community-based education outreach programs; local student scholarship veterinary assistance scholarships to help rectify current emergency veterinarian care crisis; and offer individuals pet loss grief counseling.
We are working on establishing a streamed speaker's series to address the dangers of wildlife, stray domestic animals, and even humans. Featured guests would include officials from California Department of Fish and Wildlife; published authors of books on predators; company representatives of pet safety aids; veterinarians and other animal healthcare workers; pet owners to talk about their own experiences; and more.
To combat the current animal healthcare workers shortage crises, Amy’s Purpose has partnered with PaCE, a Partnership and Community Education program at the College of the Desert that provides professional development and workforce training for a variety of positions including veterinary assistants. Our goal is to provide scholarships to PaCE students committed to working with local veterinary clinics. The 150-hour course costs $3,195 and is open to all ages. So far, the scholarship effort has been highly successful. To learn more, please go to our tab entitled Vet Crisis/Scholarship Program. We also would like to offer monthly grief group counseling (inhouse and zoom), for those who have lost a beloved pet. We also want to provide social media and website alerts on sightings and attacks, and to give pet owners a place to share their stories. The team at Amy’s Purpose believes in acting with urgency to raise public awareness about some of the most pressing issues facing pet safety. Please join us by supporting our efforts to make a measurable difference in the lives of your pets. We do not advocate harming any wild animal.
BE AWARE - NO FEAR!
January 22, 2025
If you are interested or know someone who is interested in animal sciences and a career as a veterinary assistant, please see the ad below as to how you can apply for a scholarship at the College of the Desert PaCE Veterinary Assistant program that starts in September.
Amy’s Purpose was founded in 2020 (during the pandemic) to provide programs in animal safety, including predatory awareness, and grief counseling for pet owners who have suffered traumatizing loss. I provided most of the investment until our first major fundraiser held last September 2022. So, there was no budget until we could get funding from fundraisers or grants.
Now, one of our main focuses is finding a way to rectify the current crisis in veterinary care in our high and low deserts. There is a critical shortage of veterinarians, vet techs, and vet assistants. So much so that animal clinics are turning away patients because they just can't handle the demand. Many pets have died on the way emergency care as their pet parents have been forced to drive out of the desert to other cities like Loma Linda, Banning, Victorville and even as far as LA. Helping to mitigate the veterinary crisis has taken on greater importance for Amy’s Purpose.
We felt it was extremely important to entice local graduating high school students and adults wanting to go into a second career to become interested in the field of animal sciences. We worked for many hours to obtain a partnership with the College of the Desert’s PaCE (Partnership and Community Education) Veterinary Assistant program to set up scholarships for those interested in animal sciences.
It was agreed that we would fundraise through a benefit concert (that ended up almost 100% underwritten) to obtain enough monies to provide eighteen $3200 scholarships that would be offered to six qualified applicants in each of three sessions for the 2022-23 season. It was agreed that five of these scholarships would be matched by the College of the Desert Foundation. The fundraiser was extremely successful, and we did raise enough monies for 13 scholarships with five matched from COD Foundation. Leftover monies allow Amy’s Purpose overhead costs to become independent from my personal support.
Six scholarship recipients are currently enrolled in the session that started in October 2022. They also must do an externship at a local veterinary clinic. Twelve more individuals will be awarded scholarships in the next two sessions. All with the goal to graduate and find employment at our local veterinary clinics and hospitals. The hope is that some of these individuals will go on to become veterinary technicians and even aspire to become veterinarians in our desert cities.
We do want to continue our scholarship program. This would require 18 X $3200 totaling $57,600 per year. Our lofty goal is to aid graduates who would like to move forward to become veterinarian technicians, and perhaps even veterinarian school. But that is a long-term dream for the future.
If you know of an individual who is interested in animal sciences having graduated from high school or looking for a career change please direct them to contact us as soon as possible. For more information, please call 760-776-7420 or go to codpace.asapconnected.com Or call 760-831-3090
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Understanding Pet Predators
Coyotes are not the only predators that you need to protect your pets from!
NATURAL FOOD CHAIN PREDATORS
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Coyotes and other natural predators are here to stay. They have inhabited just about every region in the United States from coast to coast. They are spotted roaming in the deserts, mountains, resort properties, Country Clubs, golf courses, parks, suburban neighborhoods, towns, and bustling big cities, as well as can easily sneak into high-fenced private backyards with ease. As we humans encroach upon their space more and more, the possibility of coyote and other natural predator encounters increases. It is up to us to take the necessary measures to safeguard our pets to avoid interactions and conflicts. Pet predators are not limited to only coyotes. In fact, about 7% of predator attacks on pets are by bobcats, 2.5% from owls, and .5% from others such as mountain lions, eagles, and hawks. Contrary to popular opinion, raccoons are responsible for less than .001% of pet deaths. Most studies on coyote diets found that domestic cats are not a regular part of a coyote diet. Feline remains were only present in 1-2% of coyote scats.
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HUMAN PREDATORS
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As a side note, there is another type of predator of pets - the human predator! Beware of unscrupulous individuals who will uncaringly steal your beloved fur-baby. There are FIVE main reasons that pets are being dog-napped: resell is big business now; bait for illegal dogfights; breeding, ransom, and, yes, food source for certain cultures. Let’s concentrate on the first reason – resale. Dog thefts are on the increase across the nation. Case in point, the violent dog-napping of Lady Gaga’s dog in a high-profile neighborhood where crime is low. Her dog would have fetched a pretty penny on the market.
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We, at Amy’s Purpose, will constantly issue the warning to never leave your pet unattended because of four legged predators, birds of prey and poisonous snakes. That warning has been extended to pet thieves just watching and waiting to abduct your precious fur babies. These creeps lie in wait stealing pets out of cars, out of yards, and out of your hands during a walk. Older and more vulnerable citizens are their favorite targets. They can run up from behind, push, and snatch. It is extremely important to make sure your pet is micro-chipped and details are up to date.
BE AWARE – NO FEAR – BE AWARE!