Meet Julia!
Julia joined SGA (Saving Great Animals) as a volunteer in 2022 and has a huge impact since! Not only has she fostered and adopted – she supports events, spends time at our rehabilitation house, and donates! We had the chance to ask Julia a few questions – keep reading to check it out.
Tell us a little bit about yourself:
Hi, I’m Julia! I’m a dog-mom of three rescues ranging in age from 12.5 years to 8 months. I have always loved animals, growing up on an avocado orchard in Santa Barbara, CA and raising dogs, cats, ducks, chickens, other birds, guinea pigs, rabbits, and fish. I work in hospitality, love food and beer, and have a wonderful and supportive partner who is a chef. I love taking the dogs camping and kayaking, hosting dinners and board game nights, and the few precious moments between being free of the dogs and missing them.
What’s one of your favorite memories with SGA?
I loved when the “Box Puppies” were delivered by Jacintha to my house! They were so little, so sweet, so innocent, and smelled worse than anything I’ve previously encountered. It’s so rewarding directly helping an animal in need, and knowing that even though it’s not convenient, and it’s often gross (puppies pretty much universally make up for their cuteness in volume of poop) that their lives are better- that day and hopefully forever- because of your efforts.
What made you decide to join SGA?
I have always wanted to be a foster, but felt that I couldn’t while renting with my, at the time, 2 permanent resident dogs. When I bought my house and didn’t have to answer to a landlord I knew it was my opportunity to help more dogs in need!
What’s one of the weirdest things your dog or foster has eaten?
Through some stroke of luck my dog’s don’t usually eat weird things! The weirdest is probably that Ravioli, our puppy, loves ice cubes, and will wait by the fridge each night before bed to be awarded one.
How long have you been volunteering and fostering with SGA?
I started fostering in SGA in 2022, and have hosted 5 dogs. I’ve recently put a hiatus on fostering, as it seems my oldest dog is having vision problems and I’d like to let her adjust, but I hope to get back to it soon! In the meantime, I volunteer at Doug’s Place, help with events, and contribute monetarily as I can!
How have you supported SGA and what does it mean to you?
Supporting SGA as a foster and volunteer really rounds out my life! I am so blessed to have a wonderful family of both pets and people, to enjoy my career, and have the opportunity to maintain hobbies; however, it means a lot to me to be able to contribute outside of my direct sphere as well, and SGA really allows me to do that! It was an aspect of my life that was comparatively empty, and now that it’s filled it’s something I know I want to maintain!
What would you say to someone who is thinking about volunteering or fostering?
Try it out! Fostering is a big commitment to a dog, but a relatively small one to a person! Any amount of love, attention, and training is better than they’d be getting in a shelter, on the street.
What is one of the funniest things your dog or foster has done?
Each one of our dogs are absolute clowns, however Solar, my 3 year old pocket-pitty is the probably the funniest. Solar can walk on her hind legs absurdly well, and if you bump into her, she will not be knocked to all fours, but instead will readjust. She can even walk uphill, backwards or forwards, on her hind legs!
What do you enjoy most about volunteering with SGA?
I love working with SGA because of the flexible commitment! My partner and I both work full time and have somewhat regular personal commitments, but we can always carve out a few hours to help as it’s needed or when we have some spare time!
Let us know anything else! An impactful moment, a funny story, anything!
Impactful! Our first foster, for reasons unknown to me, did not get along with one of our resident dogs. It was a heart-wrenching experience to take in a dog in need and have her not feel comfortable in our home environment. Even though my partner and I both loved her, she ultimately had to be moved to another foster home, who ended up adopting her and giving her the chance she deserved. I was so worried that the next time we fostered it also wouldn’t work out, and that I’d have to give up my fostering goal before it had even started; but the next time (fostering the “Box Puppies”) went far better, and even though it was hard, tiring, and real dirty-work, it was more rewarding than anything else.
Meet Julia’s dogs!
Saving Great Animals is extremely lucky, and thankful to have Julia on our team!
