Today we’d like to introduce you to Kim Sill.
Kim, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
In 2015, I made a film called Saved In America, it told the story of my journey through the shocking world of animal rescue.
Years ago, I began to question why millions of animals were being euthanized in animal shelters across America. I tracked the devastating effects of animal overpopulation in Southern California and found that the problems were deeply tied to the pet industry and the commodification of animals. I started to protest pet stores supplied by puppy mills, shutting down a litany of offenders. I worked undercover with an animal rights group called Last Chance for Animals. I attracted celebrities Katherine Heigl, Pink, Kim Kardashian and others to appear in public service announcements. Dr. Phil and Cesar Millan featured Kim on their TV shows for her activism. My dedication to ease America’s animal crisis pushed me to compile the footage that I filmed while undercover. Saved in America was the result of five years of undercover footage and footage documented from news shows I appeared in. At one point in the film, I helmed the rescue of 300 dogs from a convicted animal hoarder just before their property was condemned. Another part features the cross-country air rescue of dozens of dogs saved from high-kill shelters. Ultimately, the film was met with acclaim at a series of screenings, serving to benefit Southern California rescue organizations. The film is now on a journey similar to the story it portrays, as a labor of love, bringing a message of courage and hope to the world.
In 2011, after leaving LCA, I decided to open a pet shop called Shelter hope pet shop in an effort to compete with the puppy mill pet shops. If you can’t beat them, join them, but with animals from death row. As of today over 4500 dogs have been re homed through my pet shop in Thousand Oaks, We have opened two other Shelter Hopes, one in Santa Clarita and one in Sacramento. California became the first state in the nation to ban the sale of mass produced dogs for sale joining the many cities across the nation that had already done so. Hundreds of pet shops with rescue only dogs and cats have popped up all over America creating a new way for humans to connect with rescue animals.
Shelter Hope pet shop is a nonprofit 501c3 and sustains our business model through the help of the community. Our biggest community partner is New Mark Merrill. They own the Janss MarketPlace where shelter hope calls home. They have donated the space for the six years we have been there and continue to help us drive traffic to our shop and the other vendors in the mall. Camp Bow Wow in Agoura Hills boards our rescues at night and donates their space to us as well.
After my sister was killed in 1997 in a domestic violence incident, I decided that I needed to do something with my life that would make a difference.
Has it been a smooth road?
No. It has been very challenges trying to change the way people view buying animals. It is very divided, just like politics. When I first started protested, I lost many of my friends because they didn’t like what I was doing. As I learned more about the sources of where pet shops got their animals, many of my friends did not want to hear the truths.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Shelter Hope Pet Shop story. Tell us more about the business.
What sets us apart is that we sustain ourselves through volunteers, including veterans, disabled, seniors and children who need community service hours. We charge adoption fees to pay our vet bills, and all our products in the shop are donated. We are a nonprofit and do not receive any government funding, even though we are willing to intake dogs from the public who need to rehome them. We are set apart from others only because we began the movement to show rescue dogs in pet shops.
This was unheard of and frowned upon when I first told my animal rights friends what I wanted to do. I am most proud that we are now able to hand down a new way of viewing rescue animals to the children and families who want to do the right things and adopt.
My hope is that the independent and nonprofit shops like mine will get help from big corporations so that we will be able to continue to provide this service to the public. Most people do not want to go to their local animal shelter. It is sad, and dismal and children get scared and parents feel bad for not taking an animal home. We need to take advantage of the knowledge and success of models like mine and reinvent for the future.
Pricing:
- Adoption fees range from 0 to $550.00
Contact Info:
- Address: 235 North Moorpark Road Thousand Oaks California 91360
24201 Valencia Blvd, Santa Clarita California 91355 - Website: www.shelterhopepetshop.org
- Phone: 805-379-3538 and 661-855-4716
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: Shelter Hope Pet Shop (@shelterhope_petshop)*
Image Credit:
Lexi Cataldo (In Joy Photography)
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