Lookout Mountain Mirror
Share your
news with us!
  • Home
  • Happenings
    • Lookout Community
    • School News
    • TN & GA Town News
    • Home & Garden
    • Local History
    • Good Reads
    • Recipe Roundup
    • Arts & Leisure
    • Travel
    • Movies with Merrile
    • Happenings at the Club
  • Advertising
  • Calendar
  • Subscriptions
  • About
  • Contact
  • Shop
  • Give & Support

Lookout Mountain
​Happenings

Check back often for up-to-date news, events and article previews between issues of the monthly Lookout Mountain Mirror.

Follow us on Facebook for more news

Small Animal Shelter Makes Big Impact

3/28/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Last year we added to our family (three humans, two cats and one dog) by adopting another rescue dog, shepherd-mix Eleanor. When people ask where we got her, they are almost universally unfamiliar with the shelter. Though it might not have the name recognition of some of the larger shelters in the area, Humane Animal League’s Pet Placement Center makes a huge difference in the lives of the animals that find themselves there. In 2022 alone, PPC helped 400 cats and dogs find their forever homes.
​

Brooke Bourgeois is the delightful executive director of PPC, moving to Chattanooga from New Orleans in late 2021 for the job. She shares an overview of the shelter: “Pet Placement Center is Chattanooga’s oldest no-kill shelter, opening its doors in 1983. With a small but mighty staff of eight, there are many hats worn by employees, board members, and dedicated volunteers from the moment an animal arrives through the day that animal is adopted.”

Bourgeois’ background is in managing high-intake municipal shelters, where there are unrelenting capacity demands and frequent cruelty and large-scale seizure cases. Heading a nonprofit no-kill shelter has different challenges, but has reignited Bourgeois’ passion to make a difference for every animal that comes through the door.

The philosophy of PPC is about individualized care. “We heal broken hearts; we replace fear with confidence, and we form genuine bonds with the animals under our care. They are not just a mouth to feed or a kennel to clean. To be able to leave work every evening knowing that our animals feel safe and loved is the ultimate reward. We go above and beyond to ensure that their in-shelter quality of life is abundant. That is how the longest tenured residents remain content,” Bourgeois says.

Take the case of our Eleanor. She was adopted as a puppy, then relinquished to PPC a year later. Bourgeois told me Eleanor was one of the most shut-down, despondent dogs she’d encountered in her career. Eleanor simply did not understand why she had been left there. The PPC sprang into action to figure out her needs, which included time away from the bigger and rowdier dogs (even though she is over 65 pounds), sleeping in the director’s office rather than a kennel, and lots of crispy salmon skin treats.

“When we commit to an animal, we are committed for the journey -  no matter how long it may be,” says Bourgeois. “‘Assembly line sheltering’ often results in animals being placed in the wrong hands at worst and returning back to the shelter at best.” 

This commitment is partially accomplished by managing capacity, a problem that was heightened by the pandemic. Early in the pandemic, pets were relinquished when their owners faced job insecurity. When the shelter is at capacity, someone seeking to relinquish their pet will be directed to other shelters and provided with any resources PPC has available to stabilize the situation.

The vast majority of dogs (97 percent) that owners seek to surrender are large-breed dogs. Unfortunately, these pets are also the most challenging to adopt-out, especially if they are mixed-breed. The cats that have the longest tenure at the shelter are usually tabbies.

The Naughty Cat Café in St. Elmo is a partner of PPC and helps find homes for some of these kitties. “It is a win-win for the cats, as the cafe is a wonderful haven for felines, and it allows us to help more cats in need,” says Bourgeois. “We also enjoy sending cats that have been with us for prolonged periods of time to get them more exposure in a different venue.”

Bourgeois says it takes a village to make PPC successful, including a network of vets that offer a complimentary veterinary exam post-adoption at no charge to the adopter. (Animal Hospital of Signal Mountain is one such vet.) Volunteers and fosters are also critical to PPC’s operations.

Volunteer duties range from cleaning and laundry to walking dogs.  Some volunteers even take a dog on a hike, or to their home for a weekend reprieve from shelter life. “These volunteers are integral to keeping our dogs socialized and providing us with helpful feedback on their experiences in the public so that we can promote them with full transparency as to how they will transition from shelter dog to family companion,” says Bourgeois.

Plans are in the works at PPC to grow its foster program this year. “Kitten season will be arriving in the next month or so, and it is a most challenging time, as we take in litter after litter of kittens, nearly all needing foster home care until old enough to be spayed or neutered,” explains Bourgeois.

If you have a heart for homeless pets but cannot adopt or volunteer at this time, Pet Placement Center has a couple of major fundraisers each year (as well as ongoing fundraising efforts). Tails at Twilight is its annual gala, and August brings a raffle ticket auction with truly fabulous prizes. For more information on Pet Placement Center, you can visit petplacementcenter.com or check them out on Facebook/Instagram. Bourgeois offers this parting sentiment, reiterating, “There are so many ways to give back and enrich the life of an animal. If you want to make a difference, please join our PPC crusade!”

by Ginger Gibson

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Article Categories

    All
    Arts
    Business
    Chattanooga
    Church
    Education
    Educational
    Family Friendly
    Festival
    Food
    Fundraiser
    Garden Club
    Government
    History
    Holidays
    Jobs
    Lookout Mountain
    Nonprofit
    Outdoors
    Riverview
    Shopping
    Sports


    Archives

    May 2025
    September 2024
    August 2024
    June 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    October 2023
    August 2023
    March 2023
    January 2023
    September 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015

    RSS Feed

Stay up-to-date

Join our email list today for the latest news and events between issues!

Contact US

Mailing address: P.O. Box 99 Lookout Mountain, TN 37350
Physical address: 112 N. Watauga, Lookout Mountain, TN 37350
p. (423) 822-6397
Visit our sister paper: Signal Mountain Mirror

Stay Connected