by Debra A. Perry
Mrs. Andrea Mozolik, a 10-year Corona de Tucson resident, established “Passion 4 Paws” in July, 2018 to help rescue dogs and cats from imminent euthanasia.
What brought Andrea to this point in her life to create Passion 4 Paws? According to Andrea, she and her husband traveled to Kanab, Utah, in early 2016, to visit the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, a 4,000-acre animal preserve in a scenic canyon. While there, she experienced a “life-changing” event that resulted in her adopting a female Labrador Retriever-mix dog, Jewels. Ironically, Jewels had recently been rescued from certain death from the Pinal County Animal Care and Control Center in Casa Grande and brought all the way up to Utah to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.
The second event that reinforced the need to establish Passion 4 Paws was that someone literally “dumped” an adult dog in the wash near Andrea’s house. Knowing Andrea’s love of animals, a neighbor alerted her of the dumped dog and she hiked into the wash and brought the dog food. She was able to coax the dog to her home and she began the process of finding it a fur-ever home. She knew that she had a niche for caring for animals, especially considering she has been around pets her entire life. Her earliest memories are of growing up with both a dog and a cat, of which she has had one or both in her home her entire life. She also realized that there’s a real need in the community to aid these helpless animals in finding a family home.
A sad fact exists: Over 1.5 million animals per year (670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats) are euthanized according to ASPCA (www.The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). One of the keys to saving shelter animal lives is through fostering. At Passion 4 Paws, Andrea is basically an “adoption coordinator” for primarily dogs, but also cats. She’s partnered with area shelters to help find foster parents for animals, as well as finding the perfect forever homes for at-risk pets destined for euthanasia. Andrea herself has a personal pack of 3 dogs that were all on the euthanasia list. She currently has two long-time foster families but is always looking for more foster families.
Basically, a foster family takes in a pet while waiting for a fur-ever family with all supplies provided by Passion 4 Paws. This includes food, supplies, crates, veterinary medical, and so on. Foster families are required to fill out an application and have a home check before being certified as a foster home. Foster families can host animals for as short as a month to as long as 4 months in order to find the ideal forever home. In the last year alone, Passion 4 Paws has fostered 11 at-risk dogs and 10 of them found their new families.
Passion 4 Paws also recently partnered with VCA Animal Hospital of Sahuarita to provide free microchipping to pets at the Vista Feed Fall Festival. Over 20 pets were microchipped that day which helps keep pets as safe as possible! Nancy Velasco, a long-time friend of Andrea’s was at the Vista Feed store that day and says, “I have followed Andrea’s journey to save so many animals and her development of establishing an organization to save the most neglected animals, many of whom she has since rescued and placed in her wide network of foster families prior to finally being placed in a fully vetted forever home. Andrea’s work is from the heart with a keen eye on doing what needs to be done for a successful outcome for all.”
Passion 4 Paws’ mission is to support the lives of the neediest dogs in Southern Arizona. You can help by providing a monetary donation, fostering an animal, or adopting an animal. Passion 4 Paws is a tax-exempt 501c3 organization and can take your monetary donation through PayPal at paypal.me/Andrea Mozolik or by check to Passion 4 Paws at 9358 E. Indigo Mtn Way, Corona de Tucson, AZ 85641. Andrea is also always looking for new animal foster parents or to help families find new homes for the at-risk pets. If you are interested, please contact Passion 4 Paws at 520-307-9481.
