Goin' To The Dogs: Pixie Project Celebrates 2 Years of Unconditional Love

Tuesday, 03 November 2009 15:56 | Written by Byron

Amy Sacks loves animals. A lot. So much that she has devoted her life to saving them via her "Pixie Project" a non-profit animal adoption center and pet supply store. The goal is to help alleviate overcrowding at high-intake county shelters by taking adoptable animals and making them available for adoption in a nurturing and family friendly environment. Pixie then matches happy, healthy, loving animals with their forever homes. 100-percent of the profits generated by the sale of pet products are dedicated to animal rescue, adoption and low-income spay and neuter services.

And, oh yeah, Amy's mom and dad are none other than Ann and Robert Sacks. Yes, that Ann Sacks. Now, Ann is quite the animal lover herself. In fact the company she created and named after her daughter, Amy Sacks Eyewear and Accessories, was founded in part to provide funding for The Pixie Project.

I had a a chance to talk to Amy about the 1st Annual Auction and Fundraiser to benefit The Pixie Project. Here is what she had to say:

Who is Pixie and what is her purpose on this planet?

Pixie is my parents dog who was rescued from a hoarder in Iowa City when I was living there during my college years. Poor Pixie had been tied to a tree for several years and was nearly starved and frozen when she was found. Before she found her way to my parents house where she now happily resides she was in a county animals control, then a shelter, then a rescue and finally travelled from Iowa to Oregon to find her home. She is a constant reminder that if we all work together we can accomplish great things for animals.

Tell me about the Pixie Project.

We are dedicated to providing animal adoption in a nurturing and family friendly environment and affording access to spay and neuter services to everyone. One thing that makes our non-profit unique is our mutually beneficial relationship with Outside In, another local non-profit. Outside In provides a variety of services for homeless and at risk youth one of which is a job training program where youth are placed in a workplace and have a paid position while learning the ropes of the working world. Virginia Woof is a dog daycare run by Outside In, which generates revenue for the Outside In programs while simultaneously providing job-training opportunities for the youth they serve. In our building, dogs that are available for adoption through the Pixie Project play for free in dog daycare while they wait to find their forever home. In exchange, we offer the opportunity for Outside In youth to gain retail and animal experience working in our non-profit pet supply store. Both of these communities, Portland’s at-risk youth and homeless animals learn valuable skills to better their lives and move towards a brighter future.

How did it start?

The Pixie Project opened its doors almost exactly two years ago and has successfully found homes for over 800 animals. Each one of these animals came to us from a different shelter or rescue that reached out to us for help when times were tough and they were overcrowded. From its conception, the Pixie Project has only taken animals from existing shelter systems, which despite their best efforts could not manage the huge number of animals entering their facility. We do not take owner surrendered pets or stray animals; instead our energy is focused on making our program as successful as possible in order to maximize our ability to help other underfunded and understaffed county shelters. I like to think we contribute to the Portland Community not only by finding homes for so many previously unwanted animals, but also through our desire to create strong and meaningful relationships with existing non-profits in both the youth advocacy and animal fields.

In addition, my personal work with the companion animals of Portland’s homeless community is now very far reaching and has allowed us to spay/neuter over 100 animals who are currently living on the streets, preventing the births of thousands of homeless puppies and kittens.

What are some of the hurdles you have personally and professionally with the Pixie Project?

I would say there are two big hurdles professionally for the Pixie Project. The first is financial. Being a non-profit we are always struggling to get firm funding and to have enough money to accomplish our goals and of course to trudge ahead and keep expandi ng our model to further our reach of areas we can help.

Secondly, we struggle constantly with the brutal realization that 'we can't save them all' For every one that we help millions are waiting in shelters. We get requests every day to help animals and we do everything we can but its just never enough. That's why we are working on so many public awareness campaigns including our new line of leashes and collars that are iconically branded with the ADOPT slogan to promote the idea of rescue and adoption in order to have a more far reaching impact on animal awareness.

Personally, I suppose I struggle with the balance of work and personal life because this work can be all consuming 24/7 if you let it. I try to maintain a relatively normal lifestyle despite working 80+ hours a week and always having an extra animal or two at my house! I must say though that I don't so much mind living and working the Pixie Project, every day I am working towards goals to which I am totally dedicated and I can't complain because that is all I could I could ever ask for in life.

Is Portland as much a pet town as it professes to be?

I think Portland is in many ways a very animal oriented town but tragically, like many other places in the country, we don't put our money where our mouth is. Do you know that our local animal control in Multnomah County doesn't even have the funding to go out into the community and pick up stray animals!? That means that if a good samaritan picks up a lost kitty or dog they must physically drive it out to Troutdale to get it safely to its designated shelter. That same shelter does an amazing job of adoption and outreach services but operates on a tragically low budget while trying to help all of the counties stray animals. We can have all the doggie daycares and specialty animal boutiques in the world but when it really comes down to it we turn our back on our communities homeless animals.

Is it difficult to adopt a pet from Pixie Project?

I think the answer to this question could get different responses depending on who you ask. Our adoption process is lengthier and more in depth than a shelter but quicker and less labor intensive then many private rescues whose process can take days if not weeks. We are really just looking to place the right animal in the right home to ensure a life long match and a happy healthy relationship between animal and adopter.

What do you hope the benefit auction accomplishes?

Our auction is certainly centered around raising much needed funds to allow our program to continue and hopefully grow in the years to come. We are a small organization yet we help a huge variety of shelters and we hope very much that we can continue to do so and even expand in the years to come to offer our adoption services in other locations in Portland and hopefully provide even more spay and neuter assistance programs as well as low income pet ownership support.

Is it true you have bought a farm for larger "pets"?

It is true that my family did purchase a farm and we are planning to have a few rescue animals out there including a few rescued pigs, a couple of goats and even a few old retired horses. Some chickens for free range eggs and of course a dog and kitty or two!

The Pixie Project 1st Annual Benefit Auction and Raffle, Venue Pearl, 325 NW 13th Ave., 6:30 pm, Saturday, Nov. 14. $40. To purchase tickets check out pixieproject.org.

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