Other Services:

1. Money: PRVA provides funds to cover veterinary expenses and other supplies for animals that are in foster care on our organization’s behalf. All funds paid out by PRVA will be carefully documented to guarantee their exclusive use in supporting our tax-exempt, charitable mission.
• Some funds are paid directly to service providers (e.g., veterinarians or pet stores) on behalf of a specific foster animal;
• Other funds are paid in arrears to reimburse an individual rescuer/foster for previously incurred out of pocked expenses related to fostering an animal for PRVA, upon presentation of receipts for such services.
2. In-Kind Donations: PRVA assists in the collection and/or distribution of items related to cat care and/or rescue activities.
• Pet care related items previously donated to us are, on occasion, given second-hand to adopters in financial need at no charge to reduce start-up cost of pet guardianship.
• Rescue related items donated to us, including but not limited to food, litter, dishes, litter boxes, grooming supplies, travel carriers, containment crates, are from time to time passed on to shelters in impoverished areas of the country such as Appalachia where rescue needs are overwhelming and resources are grossly insufficient.
• We are planning to rent storage space to collect second-hand cat care and rescue related items to be ready to be sent quickly to areas of the country ravaged by natural disaster and faced with unexpected, enormous need. Past examples of such activities include Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, and Harvey.
3. Transport Assistance: PRVA participates in transporting homeless pets to places of safety by point-to-point or relay volunteer transports in personal vehicles or by plane. While most other pet rescues work locally, breed rescue covers large territories and distances on a regular basis, as the rescue candidates should meet more limited criteria (breed or mixed breed, or medical case).
4. • When animal shelters request our assistance, transportation is needed long-distance to get the cat(s) to one of our foster homes.
   • Cats already in foster care need to be transported to vet clinics for exams, vaccines, basic tests, medical interventions, spay/neuter surgeries, and sometimes specialty surgeries.
   • On occasion, other rescuers or rescue groups request assistance in long-distance relay transports routed near a PRVA volunteer. Pick-up or drop-off destinations include shelters, foster homes, specified meeting points en route, train stations, or airport.
   • Sometimes, cats need to be transported from one foster home to another for respite care or when a foster had indicated a time limit on availability, or when the cat cannot properly be cared for in a foster home. Past examples include: cats breaking out with a skin fungus that requires strict isolation and twice-daily treatment for several weeks; a rescuer whose spouse suffered a stroke; a rescuer whose cat needed pills which the rescuer cannot give because she must not be scratched for fear of an immune response that could reject her implanted kidney; a rescuer getting sick and needing surgery; a foster having to move unexpectedly.
5. Trouble-shooting Assistance and Coaching: PRVA makes available experienced rescuers to speak to pet care-givers over the phone or in person, as we believe that “nobody should have to re-invent the wheel” and that problem-solving as well as advising people in proper pet care will reduce the number of pets who will end up in shelters or rescues in the first place.
• We help pet guardians evaluate the quality of veterinary care they are receiving (or not), as few vets are very familiar with breed-related conditions and maladies. In detailed conversations, we help triage down whether a pet needs to see a vet immediately, or in the near future, or not at all because healing can be achieved with home care. Sometimes, we assist in arranging for a veterinarian to review a case and offer a second opinion on treatment options and success chances.
• Over the phone, via social media, or in person, we listen to accounts of the pet displaying behavioral problems and carefully do root-cause analyses and make suggestions for improvement so that the problems can be managed successfully over time or be stopped altogether.
• Under the tutelage of The Persian Rescue Network, we monitor and run a Facebook site created for the specific purpose of mentoring new out-of-the-home rescuers, because we realize that a next generation needs to be guided and trained so that help can be available for breed cats in need for decades to come.