Meet Your Neighbor

Katie Hoeppner

April 01, 2007

Webmaster and Publicity Director
Animal Rescue and Veterinary Support Services (ARVSS)

Katie Hoeppner cares a lot about animals. She also likes to exercise her creative juices. (You may have seen her Groundhog Central Web site and her editorial cartoons in The Star.) For the past year, through volunteering with a local rescue organization, she has been able to marry these interests -- and help a lot of furry friends in the process.

Katie is the webmaster and publicity director for Animal Rescue and Veterinary Support Services (ARVSS), an organization started by UW veterinary student Tracey Hageny. Through this group -- driven by six volunteers -- roughly 20 foster families provide care to animals who have been mistreated, abandoned or simply need a new home.

Sun Prairie Today visited with Katie recently to learn more about her background and the role she plays with this animal rescue organization.

Name: Katie Hoeppner

Family: Husband Richard (retired from Oscar Mayer), two grown children, two grandchildren

Employment: Service department manager, Wisconsin Conference United Methodist Church

Lived in Sun Prairie: 30 years

Some are from Red Lake Indian Reservation (northern Minnesota) where the dogs are found in dumpsters, on the roadside, they're surrendered, they're treated very poorly ... like a disposable thing. There's also a base of Humane Societies that network with shelters to try to save animals that are really just too good to put down. We've gotten some from Ohio and some from the Mississippi Delta area that are still considered to be the aftermath of Katrina.

When they first arrive in town they're given a bath and a basic medical evaluation. They're checked for heartworm, and then they're put into foster homes -- to socialize them and turn them into an adoptable animal. They're all vet-checked and spayed and neutered before they're adopted out.

On average, for a healthy animal without any type of problems, probably three to four weeks. Some have been in foster care for three to four months because of medical issues.

We have an application process, so we check references. Basically, if you're good people and have it in your heart to take an animal into your home, you're accepted as a foster. We try not to overuse them, so once they've had a foster animal we like to give them a little break.

Adoption fees help, but we also depend on donations and special events. We have a couple of fundraisers coming up. One is with the Sun Prairie All City Garage Sale. We'll be gathering used items from all the different fosters. We'll also be microchipping the animals at the garage sale on Saturday, May 5, for a $15 donation. (Sun Prairie Today will provide further details as the date draws near.)

We're also having a benefit concert June 2 at Stella's Speakeasy in Stoughton. The Lucas Cates band will be performing. We're asking for a $10 donation at the door and there will be door prizes. We're also organizing a raffle to go along with that event. That just helps out with the medical expenses for the animals and their food and all their little incidentals.

The microchips are universally readable -- and they're good for life. They're injected with a needle; it's kind of like a grain of rice. It goes between their shoulders. It's done either by a vet tech or a veterinarian. We'll be performing this service at the Mounds store in Sun Prairie on April 21.

I was an art major at the UW before I left college to get married and start my family. I've always just tinkered in artwork and just love what a computer can do with my artwork. It provides me a place to display it and share it.

Learn more about ARVSS on the Web.