The Pet Network in Incline Village provides a variety of animal services including shelter, grooming, boarding and veterinarian treatment. Executive director Jason Stipp took over the helm of the organization two and a half years ago.
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“If it was not for Jason, the Pet Network would not be where it is today. He put a lot of effort into making it a better place for animals and boosted the staff morale,” said Pet Network shelter manager Heidi Todd.
“Our goal is that the dogs we are sending out to the community are happy dogs.” -Jason Stipp
Stipp was teaching in San Jose when the economy tanked in 2008 leading to the closure of the private school where he taught and his wife losing her job as a commercial real-estate agent. To get away from the stress of their situation, they came up to Tahoe for a week. Three months later they moved to the lake.
Stipp first worked at Diamond Peak as a snowboard instructor while pursuing his master’s degree in education online, but his love of animals brought him to the Pet Network. He began by volunteering for odd jobs and then was hired by the executive director, before eventually becoming the director himself.
“There is nothing like Pet Network, we are one of a kind,” said Stipp.
It not only provides shelter for hundreds of animals a year, but also boards and offers day-care services on site, as well as grooming and a thrift boutique run by volunteers. The non-shelter services help pet owners and support the expensive part of the operation: housing and taking care of animals so they can be adopted.
Local veterinarian Kim Barnes has a special arrangement with the Pet Network. It provides her with a state-of-the-art facility and a steady supply of customers and she provides spaying, neutering and vet services to all the animals at the shelter. Now Pet Network has added an education component. Staff members visit local schools and day-care centers, providing information to the students on how to live safely with animals.
Pet Network is a no-kill shelter for dogs and cats that are under threat of being euthanized in other locations. Often, pregnant animals are taken in and provided with maternity care and the puppies and kittens are raised until ready to be entrusted to the care of others. A few years ago, Pet Network was in the news for helping save a litter of newborn puppies found in a Dumpster. The network mobilized a group of volunteers who fed and loved the newborns for weeks until they were big enough to join the other animals at the shelter.
A challenge for Stipp is that Pet Network can’t take on every animal.
“We get animals that are being abused. We take animals who are on a kill list elsewhere. We take the most highly adoptable. We try to save as many animals as we can, but we are not a huge facility, so I can’t take every animal.” said Stipp.
The network strives to make the animals so healthy and happy that they are adopted quickly, making room for more pets to come to the shelter.
“Our goal is that the dogs we are sending out to the community are happy dogs. We will only adopt out an animal that we would be comfortable having in our neighborhood,” said Stipp.
The turnover rate — the time it takes for a pet to be adopted — has dropped to four weeks for dogs and six weeks for cats.
“We are able to save more lives,” said Todd.
When Stipp and his wife travel, they like to visit other shelters to develop ideas to implement at the Pet Network.
“I make a point to educate myself on the latest and greatest trends in shelters across the United States,” Stipp said. “If another shelter has an idea I like, I borrow the idea to take back to the Pet Network.”
He is also happy to share ideas used at the Pet Network with other shelters.
In his spare time, you may find Stipp out on his boat fishing or enjoying camping and mountain biking. Of course, he has a dog, a large St. Bernard named Gus, who goes everywhere with the family. But his free time is limited, because his work is his passion.
“It’s a special, really fun place to work, with a great team of people. I love to come to work, what we are doing is just very impactful,” said Stipp.
For more information, to donate or to become a volunteer, visit petnetwork.org.
