- Pet lovers, will you consider this?

How much do you know about SAMS?

Not the big box store.

The Stray Animal Midway Shelter.

I'm Christine Zak-Edmonds, and we will fill you in.

(upbeat music) It's been around since 2010, focusing on spay and neuter assistance.

It's evolved into a no-kill shelter in Peoria County with its aim to help adoptable pets find happy homes.

Alex Menke is the manager at the shelter at SAMS and she joins us now.

Welcome.

- Well, thanks for letting me and Faith come hang out.

- Oh yes, I, I'm, Faith, I'm really sorry.

I forgot to mention your name, but she's busy eating treats.

- Lot of treats.

- Yeah, so, okay.

Let's get back to how did SAMS come about?

- Yeah, so a really wonderful woman named Connie Davis, our executive director.

So, she used to volunteer at a lot of the shelters, animal controls in the nineties, which was a very different scenario for animals than it is today.

You know, especially back then.

And one thing the county really needed was more space, multiple counties, Fulton, Peoria, others.

And so she decided if there was one more resource in the community for those animal controls to turn to, then we could do a lot more good and we can do a lot more programs.

And so she started by just getting a bunch of great people together, raising a ton of money to do spay and neutering, just to kind of help assist in the population control.

And then a few years later, enough money raised and a lot of hard work later and she had a building.

And then since then a bunch of us have come alongside of her just to keep making her vision come true.

And making it the best it can be.

- So, you bring in dogs and cats, not usually any other animals or?

- Right, so just dogs and cats.

- Okay, no birds or gerbils?

- Not at the moment.

Just dogs and cats so far.

- All right.

- Yeah.

- And then what is your capacity for them?

- Yeah, so we have foster homes too, so that kind of helps kind of increase that amount of animals that we can take.

But typically we only have around 20 dogs with us, on the property and then, you know, we can house up to about a hundred cats.

And then of course we have, you know, another a hundred or so in foster.

- Well these are not all just strays, or are they?

Are some that are given up because, some circumstances with families?

- Yeah, so one of the main places we go to is our counties that really look forward to having us as being a partner.

So Peoria County, we have a wonderful relationship with them, Fulton County as well, animal controls.

Because no one in 2022 wants to euthanize for space.

You know, it's just, there's no reason for it.

It doesn't, you know, why put those hard decisions on poor people at the county that are trying their best to house all these animals.

So, we, anytime they're in need or at risk of euthanizing for space, we step in and we help 'em out.

So we pool from there, good relationships with them.

But of we also have some of the owner surrenders too.

And that could be a family member falling ill. And you know, no one else in the family is capable of helping out the animal.

It could be other situations too.

Someone loses their job or things like that, where they're no longer able to keep the animal.

- Hm.

Well now, Faith came to you from down south.

- Yeah, so we also partner with our southern states and southern Illinois.

So we're down there a lot helping them.

Laws are different there, so there's not as much animal welfare for them.

And so we really helped them out.

So Faith actually was one of those examples.

She was actually confiscated from an owner who wasn't treating her the best and wasn't giving her food, water, things that she, basic needs.

And so, a lot- - She sees something right now.

- She sees some friends over there.

And so she was one of them.

So they found her, you know, very skinny and all that stuff, dehydrated.

And they just asked if we had space for a big dog and we immediately saw her and thought, "this is the best dog in the world.

We'll take her, a hundred percent."

And ever since she's been with us now for a couple months, the smartest dog, one of the smartest dogs I've ever worked with.

We have a wonderful behaviorist on staff that works with some of our animals.

And sometimes we just train with Faith because it's so much fun, because she's so good at it.

- So well, that's nice.

And some of the animals that come to you too are also feral.

- Yeah.

- So how difficult is it to train them, or to get them used to being around humans?

- So, one of the things that we pride ourselves on is a model that we've kind of established for ourselves called Beyond the Basics.

And that's not a real name.

That's just what we get to sell, tell ourselves.

And it's, you know, we do have animals that come in, ready to go.

And then we have some that need a little bit of extra work to get there.

So we'll take in dogs that maybe have never even been inside a home.

So confinements can be very scary.

- Hm.

- So we work with our behaviorists to start, how can we do it?

Okay, well, this dog, you know, having a collar on is even too much confinement.

So let's work with that.

Let's start with getting them.

So maybe we'll create a whole room at the shelter for the animal, because they've never been even indoors.

So being in a kennel would be way too stressful.

- Right, exactly.

- So we work with them and we take slow baby steps and we do what we can and we find them the best fit.

So we also pride ourselves in finding the right home versus a rushed home, you know, so we have certain criteria, we know our animals best.

We know what they're gonna thrive in, what they're gonna succeed in.

And we wanna make sure that that home is gonna help them succeed.

- Hm.

You have a lot of adoptions, I think even during COVID you were doing really well with adopting out family pets.

Hello girl, hello, I don't have any, I'm sorry.

- You don't have the cool treats like me.

- I'm sorry.

- But yeah, every year we're growing and more people are finding out about us and what we do and wanna support and help us, or just find their animal with us.

And so last year, even though 2021, some things were opening back up, but we still had close to 500 adoptions, which is our biggest year yet.

To date I think we're 2,500 at the moment.

And so, it's exciting to see us keep growing.

- What do you go through for criteria for adopting families or, well?

- Anyone who applies?

Yeah.

- Right, exactly.

- Ah sure, so we do have a more, you know, big application there.

If you've had a pet in the last five years, we'll ask for a vet reference, make sure all your animals, if you still have them, are up to date and being taken care of well.

Or even if, you know, maybe your animal was four years ago, we're gonna see what kind of vetting you did with them.

What kind of care?

And then we ask for two personal references too, and make sure everything was right with the county.

Were you registering your animals?

You know, if you had any tickets with the county for your animal care.

So we're just trying to make sure that they go to the best homes possible.

- That's, a background check.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, no fingerprinting involved.

- No fingerprinting.

Paw print fingerprinting instead.

- Well, how did you get involved with the shelter?

I mean, now you're the manager.

- Yeah.

- And you were a volunteer before that.

- I never thought I would be in the position that I am.

So I did TV, you know, before I got to here, but I always volunteered there, so.

- Animals are much easier to work with.

- Yes.

Six years ago, I was just kind of looking for something to do with my spare time.

And I just stumbled upon SAMS 'cause I went with someone who was looking to adopt and I thought, "I wonder if you guys ever take volunteers" and they said, "yeah, you know, we start people off really small, you know, maybe cleaning the cats and then work their way up."

And I think for a full year, I mainly did cat care and-.

- Are you a cat person or more of a dog person?

- Anyone who says they're a dog person just hasn't met the right cat.

I love my cats.

- Okay.

- I love my doggies too.

I have plenty of both, but the cats are just so cool.

And so I just slowly kept coming back and got more and more.

And then, just, Connie, the director just supported me and kept giving me opportunities to train and do more things and get more involved in animal care.

And then here I am.

- How about it?

- Yeah.

- How many volunteers do you have and how many volunteers do you need?

And you're always looking for more volunteers, correct?

- We're always looking for more volunteers and there's something to do for everyone.

You know, if you wanna work with cats, we can do cats.

You wanna do just off sites and help promote and do the fundraising side.

Not really into the whole animal thing, but wanna help.

We can do that too.

We do foster, you know, we have foster applications online.

So there's always something to do.

We actually have someone currently who is very allergic to animals, but they wanna help.

Well, they do yard work.

So they're part of our lawn care committee and they're out there doing our burn piles and picking up leaves and poop and power washing the building and those little things that you don't think about.

- That need to be done.

- That need to be done.

And instead of me getting up on a ladder and pulling out the gutters all the time, the leaves outta the gutters, I have someone who's more than willing to do it for me and climb the ladder.

- Right.

- Yeah, so it's awesome to have, there's something for everyone to do.

- What's the address again?

It's in Hanna City.

- Yeah, so 328 South Pinkerton Road.

So if you're taking 116, either way, we're gonna be right there.

So, pretty easy to find us.

- That's good to know.

- I think anyway.

- And you have, you don't get any money from the government, from the state, it's all donation?

- All donations.

So everything that we have to pay for, we have to raise the money ourselves.

- And no grants either?

- We, our director does write for grants and stuff too.

- Okay.

- Well, that's part of our, you know, I count as part of more fundraising, 'cause we're not guaranteed that money.

- Correct.

- Like you see for some that are government assisted.

But you know, we've gotta write those papers and fill out those applications.

And some of them are quite lengthy.

- Hm.

- And we recently got accepted to be part of Nylabone.

If you're familiar, Nylabone is a toy and other animal products.

And we recently became one of their partnering shelters.

So now, you know, once a year they donate, you know, up to a hundred toys to us and that's just.

- For cats and dogs?

- For dogs, but you know, especially on those cold winter months, we're always doing mental stimulation with our dogs.

We play games in the kennels, we're doing things.

So having those resources and those big companies say, "Hey, we can help you out."

It just takes a big burden off of our supporters too.

- How, what kind of games do you play with the dogs then?

I just can't picture that.

- Yeah, so we do a lot of fun things.

Faith here is an expert at them.

So she gets more of a level up sometimes.

So we play a couple games called Quiet in the Kennels.

So they have to, that's working on their impulse control and their kennel presence.

And we do it outside too.

It's not just inside, but it's mainly when we're practicing inside.

So, you know, you'll walk up and down the kennels, and you, we start out, criteria, so small, four paws on the floor is all it takes to get a treat.

And then slowly over time, it's a sit.

And then sometimes, some of our more advanced players, you know, they may have to do a sequence to get their treat in the kennels.

So a sit and then a lay down or, you know, get on their bed and lay down in a certain way.

And then they'll get their treat.

So for some of our smarter players, like Miss Faith here, so we play that.

You know, we'll freeze cones and we'll freeze lick mats and puzzles and stuff like that.

Dog puzzles, not like actual paper puzzles, right.

And then they have to work on 'em and stuff.

So we'll do that.

We'll do scent stuff out in the yards and play groups, long walks.

So we try to keep their mental stimulation going, you know.

- Right.

- Beyond the basics - You know, everyone can give food, water, shelter.

What else can we give 'em?

What else can we do, so?

- Right, what, now explain to our audience what you're feeding her because she's so well behaved.

- She is.

So, she's a very smart girl, but she likes these things called, they're very small.

So, training treats can be very small.

They're called Moist & Meaty.

So they're not like a huge, a big expense.

You can get 'em at Walmart, anywhere, But they're a big training favorite here at the shelter.

So as you can tell, she's been sitting quietly the whole time and that also comes with our practice.

So she knows, "if I sit very well and behaved," you know, "there's gonna be a nice reward for me."

So, I mean, she has sat this whole time, pretty well I'd say.

- Okay.

We'll get back to, so fundraising.

- Yeah.

- What is the website?

And there's a donation link, correct?

- Yeah.

And an Amazon link in case you wanna donate a certain item, but not, you know.

- Do you have a wishlist on that?

- Yeah.

So if you go to our website, which is samsrescue.org, there's links to donate, but there's links to our Amazon list in case you wanna provide a certain thing, but don't always wanna, have the time to bring it out to the shelter.

It'll ship right to us.

You can, even, if you go to Chewy, we have a list there as well, a wish list of stuff, of everything we need currently, we're always updating it.

So if we need something more than another, we'll make sure it's on there.

So all that good stuff is on our website.

Applications, foster applications, information, our next fundraisers, they're all on there.

- What is the next fundraiser?

- Yeah.

- So this is June.

When is the next fundraiser and what is it?

- So, Wolfstock, it's kind of a play on Woodstock if you will.

- Yes.

- It's a fun outdoor concert with your dog.

So we have live bands.

- If it's a really hot day, I think you have swimming pools for them to- - We have swimming pools.

So it's really great 'cause we have- - Not for people, just for dogs.

Well I guess, I mean you can get in there too, but you're gonna be wet.

(Christine laughs) But we have vendors.

We have swimming pools.

We have games for the dogs to play, photo shoots, pie-eating contest, anything you can think of.

We have 50/50s, raffles, silent auctions.

We have everything you can think of and wonderful local bands that give their time and just fun.

I mean, it's a nice, it's usually on a Sunday.

So it's a nice Sunday to just kind of sit outside.

It's beautiful weather and just listen to some music.

We, you can bring your own alcohol.

- Bring your dog.

- And bring your dog.

- Right.

- So, yeah.

- Dogs can't drive to get there.

- Yeah, dogs can't get there themselves.

You have to come.

- Right, right.

- Yeah.

- And it's dogs of all sizes.

- Dogs of all sizes.

So we don't cap you off on a certain way.

You don't have to be this tall to ride the ride.

- Right.

- Everyone can come and have fun and just enjoy the day with their dog.

And there's not a lot of, whole lot of events where you always get to bring your dog and it's accepted.

- Right, right, and you have vendors too.

- Tons of 'em.

- And it's not only dog related?

- No, it's not just pet stuff.

We've got, oh man, we have had everything.

The tumblers that get made.

We have people that do like t-shirts right there.

They'll, you know, print 'em out there for you.

Cool things too.

Like arts and crafts that I would, I'm not creative enough to come up with.

So, sometimes you'll see some of the artists there and you're like, "how did you do this?"

- Right.

- So it's really cool to just also see all the local talent that comes out and just kind of support even local businesses while you're there.

- That's just amazing.

How did Connie come up with the name for it?

I mean SAMS is pretty catchy.

- It is pretty catchy.

So it's actually one of her original dogs that she ever rescued.

That was her own personal rescue, so it lived with her, it wasn't up for adoption, but his name was Sam.

And we actually, in the office, we have a picture of Sam hanging up, just to kind of remind us where we came from, how we started, and how many more dogs we have to go to keep making an impact, you know, rescue never rests, so neither will I.

- Well, and it began in 2010 and then it was incorporated in 2013?

Is that what I read?

- So our building came about in 2013.

- Okay.

- So it kind of started, yeah, in 2010 just doing the spay and neuter stuff.

And then slowly getting all of the other stuff ready to get the whole building going.

- And they're, all of the animals are spayed and neutered before they're adopted out?

- Yeah, and not just that.

They're also microchipped and we've paid the registration fee for the microchip and everything.

So once your adoption's completed in the system, it's automatically to your name, number, and address.

So if something were to happen and then, you know, God forbid get lost.

- Right.

- And we scan 'em.

We can get 'em right back to ya.

So that's really important.

Spayed, neutered, up to date on shots, all of 'em are on flea and tick preventative, heartworm prevention.

So they get they get pretty top notch care with us and we have a wonderful vet to thank.

We use Brown Animal Hospital in Peoria.

- That was my next question, okay.

- Yeah, Dr. Brown and his staff.

I think I don't sleep.

I don't know what they, how they sleep because they are constantly working for us, and finding more ways to help us and improve us.

And, so we can't do what we do without them.

So I think I don't sleep, but I don't know when they sleep.

(Alex laughs) - That's amazing.

Now people, well, some of your volunteers will specifically only walk the dogs.

How often do you have people come in just to kind of take a look, just to feel things out and see if this is the right thing for them?

- Yeah, you can always give us a call at the shelter.

We start everyone off pretty small, doing little tasks, cleaning toys, doing laundry, you know, just to kind of get a feel of what maybe they want to do most, or what maybe, cat, dog or both that they wanna work with.

And then we'll slowly just ask them, you know, "how's it going?"

"What can, maybe try this?"

"Okay?"

"How did that go?"

"How did it feel?"

So there's always something to do for everyone.

So even if you're not sure, you can always call, we can talk to you about it over the phone, talk about the opportunities and then we can get you started and keep finding until you find a place with us.

- Now, I think you were brought to me, well, Kris Petermeyer.

- One of the volunteers, yeah.

- Yeah, works for my husband and volunteers a lot.

And so she brought this in.

Well, it's empty now, but it's very good.

It is a special roast that raises money for SAMS.

- Yeah.

- Tell me a little bit about this.

- Absolutely.

So kind of a newer shop in east Peoria, Regulator Roasting, they are the most amazing coffee place because they actually work with fundraising and stuff.

But they came to us and they said, "any chance we could make you a special blend of coffee and you guys can help us name it, design it, and we can do it as a fundraiser for you guys."

And so we're like, "okay, yeah, we all like coffee, why not?"

And so we came up with Rescue Roast, "the perfect cup to snuggle up."

And since then, yeah, they make bags for us.

We get 'em sold and it's delicious coffee.

If you've ever had a wonderful cup of coffee, it's locally roasted, small batch roasted.

So the quality is just way better than just going through a drive through.

So I wake up with it every morning, but, well, there you go.

- Yeah.

So you're happy with what goes on there?

- Yeah.

How many, oh, that was another thing.

You go to PetSmart sometime and have some of the- - Our cats.

- mostly the cats with you.

- Yeah.

So we, both PetSmart here in Peoria and Galesburg.

So they have little condos and cages for cats to come.

So we'll take a week, and our cats will be out there and you can apply, kind of meet them, get, kind of get them in some exposure.

And then, especially our adult cats, 'cause a lot of people, they might not even think they want an adult cat and then we'll take our adults to PetSmart.

They'll meet 'em and they'll say, "Oh my gosh, I love this cat, I want this cat."

And, so you can apply right at PetSmart.

And then as long as you're approved, you can take 'em home right, you know, from PetSmart.

- But usually people, well, this is just what I think.

Or you know, I mean it's general, whatever, knowledge, not even, they want puppies.

But really, they're pretty good, with getting some older dogs too?

Like, well she's not an old lady.

Look at this.

- She's only a year.

- Is that your best side?

- She said, "I guess I'll-" Oh, she turned for you.

She goes, "you're right, I'll lay here."

- Okay, yeah, all right, good girl.

- Yeah, she's only about a year and a half.

So still plenty of life left to go.

I'm partial to the seniors.

I don't know why.

I've always loved a good senior and I think it's 'cause I'm lazy and they're lazy.

So it feels good.

We have a good match.

- What age do you consider a senior dog?

- Ah, it depends on the breed.

So if they're older, I would say seven and up.

If they're younger or if they're smaller, a lot of small dogs can live 18 years.

So then I would consider it like 10.

(Alex laughs) - Okay, all right.

Well that's a good average.

- So, I'm a, I like to be lazy and snuggle in bed, so I'm partial to seniors, but not everyone likes to lay in bed like me.

- Well, but, and then they also, you know, it's like, well, they get so, a four-legged furry friend is your family.

- Yeah.

They become family so fast.

And even all the ones at the shelter.

I mean, obviously I have hundreds of animals coming through throughout the year.

And each of them, like you saw today, one of your staff members adopted from us and immediately she was like, said his name, his shelter name.

And I was like, "yeah, of course I know him.

And of course I hung out with him.'

And it's so wonderful to talk to adopters, not just months down the road, but years down the road.

And they'll send me pictures or you know, little blurbs about how they're doing.

And it just warms my heart because sometimes when they come in, they're not in the best of shape.

And you're like, "Oh my gosh, I just hope someone out there will take a chance on you because you're gonna be amazing."

- And love you.

- Yeah, and love you.

And once they get home and they get that love, and have that consistent routine of being in a home and you just see 'em start to become simulate more and more into that's their dog, that's their family.

So years down the road, when you see a family picture and you see how happy the animal is, it's just like, that's why we're here.

That's what we're doing, you know?

- How do you know, you don't have a whole lot of child volunteers.

How do you know if they get along with kids?

- Yeah, sometimes we don't.

So we always, anytime there's an approved app, the whole family has to meet 'em because for some of our dogs, we don't have full experience with how they do with kids.

And we don't always have a lot of volunteers, you know, lining up their kids to come meet a dog they've never seen before.

Sweetie, you wanna come back on the- - No, no, I wanna explore.

I've been good enough for now.

- Yeah, so we'll always do a full meet and greet with the family and stuff like that.

And kind of talk them through.

Sometimes good child behavior around a dog, because for some kids, if their parent or, you know, never got them a family pet early on- - Hello, hello.

- there's a good chance that they didn't, they don't have the experience around animals.

So we kinda help coach the kids too.

- Do you like the smell of coffee?

Do you get to drink any of the coffee at this shelter?

You gonna gimme kiss kiss.

Okay.

- Well I don't want her to knock the chair over.

- And of course I wear black slacks, but that's okay.

You're a good girl.

Thank you.

- There we go, good girl.

Good girl.

- Okay, so final question.

- Yeah.

- Biggest challenge to try to overcome.

And how can people who are watching help in any way other than volunteer and make donations.

- Yeah, one thing that's so small that a lot of people may not realize the impact social media has.

So sometimes we'll have no interest on a dog and then the right person shares the post and we'll get a call saying, "Well, my friend shared a thing about you guys.

And I think you guys have a dog I like."

So sometimes it's that like on Facebook, that share on Facebook, word of mouth, that goes a lot farther than people realize.

I know sometimes they're like, "Oh, well I shared it, I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

And I'm like, "that reaches one more person."

- Right.

- You know what, and if you have, let's say you're popular and you have more than like, you know, 500 friends on Facebook.

Think of the reach that you're having.

- Correct.

- You know, just spreading the word that, that animal's out there looking.

Somebody might see it and be the right fit.

- That's right.

Well now, so you're not wanting to let Faith go anywhere soon if she's setting example for all the other little guys at the shelter.

- Actually I would love nothing more than Faith to find a home because while she is perfect and like, every way, and I may cry the day she leaves, you know, as much fun as we make it for them, the shelter's still a shelter and a home is still a home.

- Hm.

- And every dog wants to be on the couch potato and you know, sneak table scraps and just have fun with the family or, you know, go on a hike on a Saturday morning and stuff with the new parent.

Everyone wants, they all want that.

So as much as I love her to death and she's like my own child now I'd want nothing more than for her to find a home.

- Oh, that's nice.

- Yeah.

- All right, and then really quickly, where do, where can they get the coffee if they want the coffee?

- Yeah, it's at the shelter.

So feel free to give us a call to make sure we have some in stock.

309 5654821.

- Okay, say that again slowly.

- Yeah, 3-0-9-5-6-5-4-8-2-1.

- All right.

- Yeah, and if you go to our website or our Facebook page, our number's on there too.

So we pretty much always have some in stock.

Give us a call and we'll tell you our open hours, you can come on in and get some coffee.

- Well, aren't you glad that your career took this wonderful turn?

You're really, really helping somebody.

- Yeah, I gotta be honest.

Now I can't believe I ever was just a volunteer and didn't have more and I can't believe I didn't get involved sooner.

Like there's so many things that run through my mind.

Like I can't believe I had to go to work when I could have been at, with the animals.

Like so many things though.

It was the best blessing for me to find SAMS.

- All right, and you're open seven days a week?

- We are.

So we're by appointment only to come in and meet the animals.

If you wanna drop off donations, you can do that anytime during the day.

But to meet an animal and stuff, we do require appointments just 'cause our building's a little bit smaller.

- Hm.

- So yeah, give us a call.

We'll get you scheduled for an appointment.

And sometimes you might not know the kind of cat or dog you're looking for.

You know, you're kind of out there shopping around, but not sure maybe what's gonna be the right type of dog for you or type of personality.

Give us a call.

We pride ourselves on being matchmakers, so.

- All right.

- Give us a call.

Tell us what you're looking for and I bet ya I can find you something.

- Yenta, Yenta, Yenta.

All right, well Alex, thanks so much for being here.

- Well, thanks for having us.

It means a lot.

- Okay, and Faith.

Thank you for coming too.

She's going, "just gimme another treat, please."

There we go.

Up, there she's performing a little bit.

- She's getting tired now.

She's, "yeah," she only got half on like, "just gimme the treat," really.

- It'll be a nice ride home.

Well, thanks so much for filling us in on SAMS.

- Yeah.

- And they've got Wolfstock coming up, usually in September.

- Yes it is.

- You can get some coffee and now you know all about it.

Thanks for joining us.

Stay safe and healthy.

(upbeat music)