Photos with Santa Help Pets

It’s the time of the year for holiday photo shoots, the ones specifically taken to be put in the annual holiday card or to sit in a nice frame on the mantel piece. For the pet owner, it’s the time to take a creative photo with their favorite furry friend. Pet owners and pets alike will have the opportunity to take photos with Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and even a few elves, while also helping other animals. The event will be hosted by The Redlands Humane Society on Saturday, Dec. 5 and Saturday, Dec. 12 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Katz Alley, Riverside. Pet owners will have access to hats and scarves to dress their pets for the photo sitting. Each sitting is a $10 donation and includes a picture with a cardboard frame and a CD with 10 other pictures of the pet's poses on it. All proceeds from the event will go directly to the Redlands Humane Society. The Redlands Humane Society is the oldest humane society in California and is a non-profit organization based entirely on a foster system rather than a kennel facility. This means that all animals are in volunteer foster homes before they are placed into permanent adopted homes. The number of foster animals that the Redlands Humane Society can have at any given point varies and is dependent on how many volunteer fosters are available. "Our primary need for volunteers is for fosters - people who can take an animal (or animals) into their home and care for them until they are adopted. Anyone interested in fostering can send us an email and we'll send them an application," Volunteer Christine French said. French has been with with Redlands Humane Society since 2000 where she worked to photograph the adoptable pets and give them exposure on Pet Finder. According to President Jan Orbaker, who has volunteered with the Redlands Humane Society for over twenty years, there are currently 10 active fosters in the program. The volunteer fosters have 10 dogs, as well as 50 cats and kittens split among them. Redlands Humane Society provides volunteer fosters the food and litter for the animals. “Any pet that finds a way into our program is very lucky. We keep them until we find them a permanent home. We never give them up to a shelter or euthanize them. Our volunteers get a high degree of satisfaction in helping the foster pets and are extremely dedicated to finding them homes,” Orbaker said. The Redlands Humane Society volunteers work diligently to find forever homes for the pets by participating in events such as the weekly Market Night, held every Thursday on the corner of State St. and Orange in downtown Redlands. “It's a huge responsibility to take in animals but finding them good and safe homes is our main priority,” said volunteer Cindy Waalkens, who has been volunteering with the Redlands Humane Society for over 9 years. While working with the Redlands Humane Society she has learned the various duties that the society has beyond housing the animals. “All the animals are checked by a veterinarian, given their vaccines and spayed or neutered,” Waalkens stated. According to Orbaker, educating the public on pet ownership was one of the platforms of the society since its foundation and the society strives to continually raise awareness on the responsibilities of owning a pet. “Most importantly pets are a responsibility beyond being a fad or occasional thing. Adopting a pet is adding a member to the family and requires dedication for the pet’s entire life,” Obaker said. The Redlands Humane society has been holding photos with Santa Claus for five years and hopes to continue their missing of spreading joy and helping pets this holiday season. Orbaker has attended each year to have herself and her pets photographed. “It is a really nice photograph of the pet and it something you can keep forever. It may seem costly, but once you see the photographs and how pretty they are, it’s worth it. You won’t be disappointed and all the proceeds go back into our adoption program,” Obaker said.