NEW MILFORD – For New Milford couple Lori Sgobbo and George Tucci, their lives Apartments in Butter Brook Hill became happier with their rescue cat, Bella.
“She was a blessing,” Sgobbo, 69, said. “We took her in even though she had heart and dental problems. We wanted to give him a chance, and what a blessing. It’s total love.
“Lori has been in my life for 17 years and the cat has been with us for about three years, and it’s even nicer to have both,” Tucci, 78, said. “We are very happy with Bella. We hope she stays with us for a long time.
But like some older pet owners, Sgobbo and Tucci have noticed how the rising costs of pet food, cat litter, veterinarian visits and other care can be stressful for pet owners. fixed income animals.
This is where the Senior Paw Projectwhich provides pet food, veterinary care assistance, and foster/respite care to elderly pet owners, can help.
The Senior Paw Project is a referral-based program through the Catherine Violet Hubbard Shrine, a Connecticut-based nonprofit organization that promotes compassion and healing through human-animal relationships. The foundation was founded in honor of Catherine Violet Hubbarda first grader who was killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
“We honor the human-animal bond,” said Jenny Hubbard, mother of Catherine Violet Hubbard and executive director of the sanctuary. “The sanctuary was created in honor of my daughter Catherine, and her commitment to the world was to care for the animals she came into contact with.”
The Senior Paw Project “is a hugely important part of this work,” Jenny Hubbard said. “We believe pets should live at home with their caregivers, so hearing stories of seniors cashing out their life insurance policies and struggling at the end of the month and making choices that shouldn’t be made made it clear to us that it is important to intervene, to provide support to an often neglected population, to show what the animal-human bond looks like in action.”
The project partners with municipal housing authorities, nonprofit senior housing providers, food pantries and veterinarians to help elderly pet owners who struggle to keep or care for their animals.
This help is much needed, said Kim Harrington, resident services coordinator at Butter Brook Hill Apartments.
“Financially, it can be difficult,” she said. “A few years ago, I saw one of our residents cash in on a life insurance policy in order to benefit from medical care for her pet. Some people will be stressed when it comes to vaccinations and vet visits.
The Senior Paw Project serves 31 towns in Connecticut, including New Milford, and has had just over 200 seniors participate, according to Chris Barrett, its project manager.
New Milford is home to 23 program participants, including 22 living at the Butter Brook Hill Apartments and one at the Glen Ayre Apartments, Barrett said.
“Typically there are five to 10 of us seniors at an individual site,” he said. “A lot of this is because some places are more pet-friendly than others. … That’s sort of the benchmark to start working in a community, because we ask that there be at least five people who need or request the service.
The program identifies seniors who own pets and need help, Barrett said. The program provides pet food on a quarterly basis and works with mobile veterinarians who travel to shelter sites to provide care for animals, he said.
“It’s amazing what a community response this is to the needs of these seniors who spend so much of their lives giving and working in communities,” Barrett said. “And they’re at the point now in their lives where they shouldn’t be able to worry anymore and we’re happy to take that off their shoulders.”
Butter Brook resident Jeannie Blauschild, 74, said she appreciates that the program connected her with Valley Veterinary Hospital, which has cared for many of her family’s animals, including her cat Sophie. The veterinary hospital orders Sophie a special food formula for her diabetes, Blauschild said.
“It’s a gift,” Blauschild said of the program. “I tell all my senior friends, ‘You should look into this.’ When things are good, I may donate here and there, but it’s a blessing.
For Sgobbo, the good thing about the Senior Paw Project “is that there are a lot of people who love having pets and who don’t have the means to take care of them. So this is where this program comes in handy. …A lot of these people can have their cake and eat it too.
For more information about the Senior Paw Project or to make a donation, visit www.cvhfoundation.org/senior-paw-project/.