Latest / The iHeart SoCal Show / Help Get Animals Fixed and Out of Shelters With Kacey Montoya's Fix'n Fidos!
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Least the fox here.
- 0:00Speaker 2: This is our iHeart So cal show, our show that
- 0:02Speaker 2: puts the spotlight on charitable organizations, nonprofits and people giving back.
- 0:06Speaker 2: And boy is our friend Casey Montoya give back to
- 0:09Speaker 2: animals big time. Back in twenty nineteen, Blood Meteorologist you
- 0:13Speaker 2: know our best from KTLA Channel five, Casey Montoya started
- 0:16Speaker 2: fixing Fidos to raise money for spay and neuter surgeries
- 0:20Speaker 2: for folks who can't afford it, for low income residents
- 0:22Speaker 2: of southern California, and they also educate animal lovers on
- 0:25Speaker 2: the importance of these procedures and assist those who also
- 0:29Speaker 2: can't afford it. Their goal to keep dogs out of shelters,
- 0:32Speaker 2: and they also help with unexpected vet bills to prevent
- 0:36Speaker 2: owners from having to surrender their animals because it's so expensive.
- 0:39Speaker 2: It can get so expensive, so they do fundraisers throughout
- 0:42Speaker 2: the year, adoption events, and then some always looking for volunteers.
- 0:45Speaker 2: All the info at fixinfidos dot org. Let's give some
- 0:49Speaker 2: love to Ksey Montoya. Hello. Hello, okay, so and we'll
- 0:54Speaker 2: talk about the KTLA situation in a second, but more
- 0:57Speaker 2: importantly what you've been doing for animal I love this
- 1:01Speaker 2: because there's so many animal lovers who are so grateful
- 1:03Speaker 2: of the time that we have with them, the love
- 1:06Speaker 2: they bring into our hearts and our homes, and oh
- 1:09Speaker 2: that just make the world a better place. So loving
- 1:11Speaker 2: not our animals and give you money here and there
- 1:14Speaker 2: and going to the fundraisers here and there when you
- 1:16Speaker 2: can is all wonderful and necessary.
- 1:18Speaker 1: But you took it a step further, Like what was
- 1:21Speaker 1: the change they made?
- 1:22Speaker 2: You say, no, no, no, no, I'm going to file for
- 1:23Speaker 2: a five oh one C three and launch my own
- 1:26Speaker 2: nonprofit to truly have an impact and make a difference
- 1:29Speaker 2: every single day for these animals.
- 1:31Speaker 3: You know what Instagram, how we would always see these
- 1:33Speaker 3: dogs who need help, and people would pledge five dollars,
- 1:36Speaker 3: ten dollars. I'm sure you're guilty of doing that as well.
- 1:40Speaker 3: I would do that, you know, twenty here, one hundred there,
- 1:42Speaker 3: And finally I just thought, you know what, I want
- 1:44Speaker 3: to do more ten dollars here, twenty dollars there is
- 1:47Speaker 3: making a little bit of a difference, but I want
- 1:49Speaker 3: to do something bigger and honestly. The reason why animals
- 1:52Speaker 3: are being euthanized in shelters and the reason why we
- 1:54Speaker 3: have this overpopulation crisis is because people don't spay and neuter,
- 1:59Speaker 3: and whether it's because they just don't know or they
- 2:01Speaker 3: don't understand like the benefits for your dogs and cats
- 2:04Speaker 3: health when you do fix them, it's just not happening. Also,
- 2:07Speaker 3: now it's expensive, and so that's a reason why people
- 2:10Speaker 3: aren't doing it. So I thought to myself, well, the
- 2:12Speaker 3: only solution is to span hooter, so we're going to
- 2:15Speaker 3: pay for it, and it's not a sexy topic. So
- 2:18Speaker 3: I thought, let's create a cute logo and talk about
- 2:20Speaker 3: it in a fun way and raise awareness. And so
- 2:23Speaker 3: we did that. But during COVID we had to shift
- 2:27Speaker 3: gears and addition to trying to pay for span Nooter
- 2:30Speaker 3: when we could get bets to do it, people were
- 2:32Speaker 3: out of work suddenly, and so we started buying them
- 2:34Speaker 3: pet food and we would deliver it to their home
- 2:37Speaker 3: because they were they couldn't feed their families, much less
- 2:40Speaker 3: their pets, so we had to step in so that
- 2:43Speaker 3: they didn't surrender their dogs to shelters then, and we
- 2:45Speaker 3: don't do the pet food anymore, but we do help
- 2:49Speaker 3: with people with vet bills. Imagine being on a fixed income,
- 2:52Speaker 3: especially for some of our seniors and not being able
- 2:55Speaker 3: to afford us three hundred or five hundred dollars that bill,
- 2:58Speaker 3: And that means you're faced, like with a choice of
- 3:00Speaker 3: what do I do let my animals suffer or take
- 3:02Speaker 3: them to the shelter because you think they're going to
- 3:05Speaker 3: be cared for, and a lot of times they don't
- 3:07Speaker 3: get the medical care they need and they never make
- 3:09Speaker 3: it out of the shelter alive. So we want to
- 3:12Speaker 3: keep pets in their homes. I'm obsessed with my dogs.
- 3:15Speaker 3: I know a lot of people who feel the exact
- 3:17Speaker 3: same way, and I just don't want money to ever
- 3:20Speaker 3: be the reason someone has to surrender an animal to
- 3:23Speaker 3: a shelter. And right now I'm excited about this initiative
- 3:26Speaker 3: we're working on at the VA. I was just there this.
- 3:28Speaker 2: Week, but I saw this on your Fix and Finos Instagram,
- 3:31Speaker 2: a great post about a new think you're doing to
- 3:33Speaker 2: help veterans and their pets.
- 3:35Speaker 3: So when I did a story last year, I found
- 3:37Speaker 3: out that there are a lot of needs that are
- 3:39Speaker 3: not being met for these veterans who live on campus
- 3:42Speaker 3: with pets. They're not getting food on a regular basis,
- 3:45Speaker 3: a lot of them struggling to get proper vet care
- 3:47Speaker 3: for their pets, and there are a lot of them
- 3:49Speaker 3: that aren't fixed. And there I've heard there were some
- 3:52Speaker 3: litters of puppies born on campus. We already have a
- 3:55Speaker 3: date set for early April. We're taking a mobile veterinarian
- 3:58Speaker 3: out to the VA and we're going to to get
- 4:00Speaker 3: just basic vet care and some vaccines and get to
- 4:03Speaker 3: know the pets and those who are healthy enough to
- 4:05Speaker 3: have span neoter surgery, we are going to do that
- 4:07Speaker 3: in the following week. So we want to make sure
- 4:09Speaker 3: they're all taken care of, that they have food they need.
- 4:12Speaker 3: So I'm looking for a big food company right now
- 4:14Speaker 3: who can help us on a regular basis to make
- 4:16Speaker 3: sure that all these bets have pet food for their pets.
- 4:19Speaker 3: So there's a lot we can do to help keep
- 4:21Speaker 3: pets in their homes. And so now I have a
- 4:23Speaker 3: lot of time to be working on this full time,
- 4:26Speaker 3: which excites me so much. And you know, you mentioned
- 4:29Speaker 3: KTLA and it's been a wonderful thirteen years there and
- 4:33Speaker 3: I never knew wowless, but I didn't know how much
- 4:37Speaker 3: of an impact I'd made on the animal welfare community
- 4:40Speaker 3: and just the animal lover communities. So I feel like
- 4:42Speaker 3: the universe is saying, hey, why don't you take this platform?
- 4:47Speaker 3: And you know, the crowd that you have following you
- 4:49Speaker 3: now because they know that you're legit and you want
- 4:51Speaker 3: to help and do something with it.
- 4:53Speaker 2: Yeah, and maybe even something bigger, like you said, because
- 4:56Speaker 2: you have more time now to focus more time, more
- 4:59Speaker 2: of your time on helping these animals. And yes, we're
- 5:01Speaker 2: reversing KTLA Channel five, who recently had some big, sad
- 5:04Speaker 2: changes and laid off a bunch of favorite on air folks,
- 5:09Speaker 2: including Casey. But but you're gonna be on the air
- 5:11Speaker 2: though for a few more weeks though, right.
- 5:12Speaker 3: Through the middle of April at least, and then I
- 5:16Speaker 3: will officially say goodbye and on to the next thing.
- 5:19Speaker 2: But then you're and you know, people love you so much,
- 5:21Speaker 2: and like you said, you've got such an outpouring. I
- 5:24Speaker 2: saw one of your videos too, just thanking people for
- 5:26Speaker 2: an outpouring of love for you. What a great job
- 5:29Speaker 2: that you do, and then what you're doing for these animals.
- 5:32Speaker 2: People just have all the reason in the world to help,
- 5:34Speaker 2: donate and support you. And no matter where this journey
- 5:37Speaker 2: takes you next, you feel kind of excited about it now.
- 5:40Speaker 3: Right, I do. I really feel like everything happens for
- 5:42Speaker 3: a reason, and I'm not mad about it. I'm sad
- 5:44Speaker 3: because you know, it was like a family and I
- 5:46Speaker 3: got to go work with my friends. It was like
- 5:48Speaker 3: you were being paid to go hang out with your friends. Yes,
- 5:51Speaker 3: especially on the weekend. But you know, I do want
- 5:54Speaker 3: to continue putting all my energy in six and fidos
- 5:57Speaker 3: because what's happened for so long is that we're helping
- 5:59Speaker 3: people on a daily basis. But I didn't have time
- 6:02Speaker 3: to go out and you know, take a picture with
- 6:04Speaker 3: someone who we helped and their dog and show people
- 6:07Speaker 3: where their donations are going. You know, a thing is
- 6:09Speaker 3: moving too quickly. So now we can share some of
- 6:12Speaker 3: the stories so people can see, like where their monthly
- 6:14Speaker 3: donations are going, and I can just make a bigger
- 6:17Speaker 3: impact on animals live.
- 6:19Speaker 2: I love when I see on your post fix in fidos,
- 6:22Speaker 2: so it's fix n fidos on Instagram and of course
- 6:26Speaker 2: the website as well. Fixinfidos dot com or fixinfdos dot org.
- 6:30Speaker 2: It will take you right there. But I love when
- 6:32Speaker 2: I see you with a group or with people who
- 6:34Speaker 2: have a big hold on a big check, a big
- 6:36Speaker 2: check donation is always a good thing. But the monthly donations,
- 6:39Speaker 2: which by the way, i'm your new subscriber. It's only
- 6:41Speaker 2: thirty five dollars monthly subscriber to thirty five dollars a month.
- 6:45Speaker 2: I'm gonna start with that because I do it for
- 6:46Speaker 2: a few a few charities, and you know it does
- 6:48Speaker 2: add up. But you know, thirty five bucks account on
- 6:50Speaker 2: every month is going to feed somebody or do something
- 6:53Speaker 2: towards something, right, Yeah.
- 6:54Speaker 3: Thank you so much. That does make a huge differencely,
- 6:57Speaker 3: so you have no idea and we could get people
- 6:59Speaker 3: to so you know, even if it's a two dollars
- 7:02Speaker 3: monthly subscription, if we have that money continually coming in,
- 7:05Speaker 3: we can keep planning these Span Neuter clinics and doing
- 7:08Speaker 3: free Span Neoter and we know that we don't have
- 7:09Speaker 3: to ever turn anyone away who comes to us with
- 7:12Speaker 3: a vet expense. So knowing that that money is coming
- 7:15Speaker 3: in on a consistent basis is huge. And that's another
- 7:18Speaker 3: reason why. You know, we have our golf tournament every
- 7:20Speaker 3: year and it's very fun and we're doing it again
- 7:23Speaker 3: on October fourth at Monarch Beach Golf Links and Data Point.
- 7:26Speaker 3: So we're planning that right now, and I get to
- 7:28Speaker 3: be very involved in the planning of that this year
- 7:31Speaker 3: now that I'm doing this Monday through Friday. But we
- 7:33Speaker 3: have so many fundraisers coming up, but everything's on our
- 7:35Speaker 3: website fix and fidos dot org. But there's a lot
- 7:38Speaker 3: of local community events like Burbank. I will be at
- 7:41Speaker 3: the Black Angus and Burbank on the twenty first. They're
- 7:45Speaker 3: donating a twenty percent of the proceeds for the day
- 7:48Speaker 3: to fix some fidos, so you can go see have
- 7:50Speaker 3: a nice steak and then they make a donation to us.
- 7:53Speaker 3: There's also an adoption event that day too, So I'm
- 7:55Speaker 3: going to continue to host adoption events and helping these
- 7:58Speaker 3: small rescues, you know, get notarized throughout the southern California
- 8:01Speaker 3: community and try to get more events. I live in
- 8:04Speaker 3: the South Bay and I would love to be able
- 8:05Speaker 3: to do more events here because I feel like that's
- 8:07Speaker 3: somewhere that we've been missing all these adoption events.
- 8:10Speaker 2: Yeah, I was gonna say, boy, you're doing the hustle
- 8:12Speaker 2: with your team there. Now, how big is your team
- 8:14Speaker 2: at fixing fidos? Because it's a constant hustle and like
- 8:17Speaker 2: I said, now, you know, a bittersweet, but you have
- 8:19Speaker 2: more time to do more events and raise more money
- 8:21Speaker 2: and create more awareness. But you're doing adoption events and
- 8:24Speaker 2: fundraising events and connecting with all these people and probably
- 8:27Speaker 2: you know, always doting for more help and more volunteers.
- 8:29Speaker 3: Right, I do need volunteers. There's three of us doing
- 8:33Speaker 3: pretty much everything. But I have a really good base
- 8:35Speaker 3: of my core volunteers, Alan, Nita and of course my boyfriend.
- 8:40Speaker 3: Now I have some really good, like solid help. But yeah,
- 8:45Speaker 3: when we get to these bigger events later in the year,
- 8:46Speaker 3: we're definitely going to need some help with volunteers.
- 8:48Speaker 2: And if people want to specifically donate or help with
- 8:51Speaker 2: the Veterans program, the Veterans and their Pets program, can
- 8:54Speaker 2: we do that specifically?
- 8:55Speaker 3: Oh of course, yeah. You can go on and say
- 8:56Speaker 3: this should be spent for Spanooter, or this should be
- 8:59Speaker 3: spent specific for the veterans. And over the holidays we
- 9:02Speaker 3: did a really specific focus fundraiser for this, which is
- 9:05Speaker 3: why we are able to go out and do the
- 9:07Speaker 3: vet care and the span Hooter for them. It's crazy
- 9:09Speaker 3: to think that at the VA, in this huge city
- 9:13Speaker 3: of Los Angeles, UH, that these needs are not being met.
- 9:16Speaker 3: For these veterans who did so much for us. It's
- 9:19Speaker 3: it's so we just as soon as I found out,
- 9:21Speaker 3: brung into action, like we have to help well.
- 9:23Speaker 2: And like we know especially I would assume in their case.
- 9:26Speaker 2: You know, animals is what helps a little bit with
- 9:29Speaker 2: the PTSD and for them, their companionship and that love
- 9:32Speaker 2: that we get from our pets. Our beloved animals are
- 9:36Speaker 2: our family and that's who they have and they got
- 9:38Speaker 2: to be taken care of, properly taken care of.
- 9:40Speaker 1: Who's your who's your mobile vet partner?
- 9:43Speaker 3: We have a mobile vet partner. I don't know if
- 9:45Speaker 3: I'm supposed to say their name.
- 9:47Speaker 1: I have a backup. I have a backup of you
- 9:49Speaker 1: and backup. She's pretty booked up, but I do have
- 9:51Speaker 1: a backup if you need backup. She's amazing.
- 9:53Speaker 3: Okay, Yeah, we got this mobile vet to come on
- 9:55Speaker 3: their one day off. And so my goal is eventual
- 10:00Speaker 3: to grow this so big that we have the kind
- 10:02Speaker 3: of funding that we can change laws. We can change
- 10:04Speaker 3: animal welfare laws, we can force cities to enforce their
- 10:09Speaker 3: laws when it comes to spay and dooter and backyard breeding.
- 10:13Speaker 3: You know, if we could just do more for helping
- 10:15Speaker 3: the welfare of animal and yeah, there's some laws in
- 10:18Speaker 3: place right now that are great, but no one's enforcing them.
- 10:21Speaker 3: And something I do want to do also before I
- 10:23Speaker 3: leave the k TLA is go back to skid Row
- 10:26Speaker 3: and tell another story about the awful abuse that is
- 10:30Speaker 3: so tragic that it's happening to animals who are being
- 10:34Speaker 3: left out in the sun, tied to a pole with
- 10:36Speaker 3: no water. It's heartbreaking, but I feel like, you know,
- 10:39Speaker 3: we've got the World Cup coming, and we've got the
- 10:40Speaker 3: Olympics coming, and something major will happen to skid Row.
- 10:44Speaker 3: They're not going to let it look like that with
- 10:46Speaker 3: these major events happening, and we just want to make
- 10:48Speaker 3: sure that not only the people are put you know,
- 10:51Speaker 3: in a proper place, but the animals are taking care
- 10:54Speaker 3: of as well well.
- 10:55Speaker 2: And how sad it takes the Olympics that come to
- 10:56Speaker 2: town for people to care about what's going on. You know,
- 10:59Speaker 2: so many issues in and around our city. It's heartbreaking
- 11:03Speaker 2: and often you feel powerless. But at least with your group,
- 11:05Speaker 2: we can be empowered about what we can do together
- 11:08Speaker 2: collectively to help animals. I also so you post about
- 11:11Speaker 2: shelter problems, problems at shelters and animal abuse situations. I mean,
- 11:15Speaker 2: there's just a lot going on that we want to
- 11:17Speaker 2: kind of expose.
- 11:18Speaker 3: Yeah, we really do. And I think it starts also
- 11:20Speaker 3: with like teaching kids how to treat animals at a
- 11:22Speaker 3: very young age, teaching kids to not walk up and
- 11:26Speaker 3: put their hand in a dog near a dog's mouth.
- 11:28Speaker 3: You know, there's a lot that we can teach. And
- 11:31Speaker 3: also we need more volunteers at our local shelters. To
- 11:34Speaker 3: be honest, if these somebod these dogs don't get out
- 11:36Speaker 3: of cages at all for days and sometimes weeks at
- 11:39Speaker 3: a time, no one's walking them. So I mean, if
- 11:42Speaker 3: you're listening and you've ever thought about what can I
- 11:45Speaker 3: do to help? I can't afford to make a donation, Well,
- 11:47Speaker 3: do you have time to go walk dogs at a shelter,
- 11:50Speaker 3: because that would really make a huge difference. I know
- 11:53Speaker 3: there's a pretty easy volunteer program in La City with
- 11:56Speaker 3: those six shelters, and I'm sure it's just as easy
- 11:58Speaker 3: in the county, but that that would also help. If
- 12:01Speaker 3: money isn't something that you can give right now, you
- 12:02Speaker 3: can give your time.
- 12:03Speaker 2: Yeah, they probably need volunteers to help clean what happens
- 12:06Speaker 2: at the shelters and then also to walk and live
- 12:09Speaker 2: on them. And then I'm sure they'll train you to
- 12:11Speaker 2: handle certain dogs. I mean it's a little different, right
- 12:12Speaker 2: for the different types of dogs, and dogs come from abusive,
- 12:15Speaker 2: crazy situations or they get abandoned. I mean, you know,
- 12:17Speaker 2: these poor animals, they're supposed to be like dude, like
- 12:20Speaker 2: kings and queens, and it just I know, it doesn't happen.
- 12:24Speaker 2: Sometimes it doesn't happen.
- 12:25Speaker 3: That's why my boyfriend's like, why do your dogs need
- 12:27Speaker 3: five beds? And I will let they need choices.
- 12:31Speaker 1: Now, how many chihuahuas are we up to?
- 12:33Speaker 3: Now?
- 12:33Speaker 1: How many dogs you have in the house?
- 12:34Speaker 3: Case, I have two little senior chihuahuas. They're both you know,
- 12:38Speaker 3: twelve to thirteen ish. But you know what, they walk
- 12:40Speaker 3: up and down two flights of stairs in and out
- 12:42Speaker 3: of the house all day, so they're as healthy as
- 12:45Speaker 3: can be.
- 12:45Speaker 1: Ah, they're lucky doggies indeed.
- 12:47Speaker 2: And then how do you connect with these shelters to
- 12:50Speaker 2: do all these adoption events that you promote on your
- 12:52Speaker 2: social media and at fixindfidos dot org. Is it as
- 12:56Speaker 2: easy as as a phone call away or an email away?
- 12:58Speaker 2: Just connect and make it happen. You pick the city,
- 13:00Speaker 2: just go.
- 13:01Speaker 3: So a lot of times they'll reach out to me
- 13:02Speaker 3: and tell me what's going on, and it's just as simple.
- 13:04Speaker 3: You know. That was a great thing about KTLA. If
- 13:06Speaker 3: you have this platform, you could reach so many people.
- 13:10Speaker 3: And you know, on a weekend morning, think about it,
- 13:11Speaker 3: you've got us on in the background, you're doing things
- 13:13Speaker 3: around the house. But we had such a wide audience,
- 13:17Speaker 3: so I could say, hey, this is going on today
- 13:19Speaker 3: in your neighborhood. Well, what have you been thinking about adopting. Now,
- 13:22Speaker 3: all of a sudden, you're going to get in your
- 13:23Speaker 3: car and go ten minutes away and maybe meet the
- 13:25Speaker 3: love of your life. So a lot of these local
- 13:28Speaker 3: groups who come on KTLA. I did a weekly segment
- 13:31Speaker 3: every Sunday, which I'm hoping that they carry on. Those
- 13:34Speaker 3: rescues are the little ones who need help, and so
- 13:37Speaker 3: we like to organize events with them, and we have
- 13:39Speaker 3: support of a lot of local car dealerships who let
- 13:42Speaker 3: us use their service center areas on Sunday when they're closed.
- 13:45Speaker 3: That's a great homemade yeah, and you know a lot
- 13:47Speaker 3: of stores, pet stores open up.
- 13:49Speaker 2: We did an.
- 13:50Speaker 3: Adoption event at a huge hemmet sample sale last year
- 13:54Speaker 3: which was very, very successful. So we're open to anything
- 13:58Speaker 3: as much as we can do to help get to
- 14:00Speaker 3: out there and get them adopted, and you know, just
- 14:02Speaker 3: keep those funds coming in so we can continue to
- 14:04Speaker 3: care for those people who have vet bills that are
- 14:06Speaker 3: unexpected and just more than making the handle.
- 14:08Speaker 2: Yeah, and again, you're open to more volunteers and more
- 14:11Speaker 2: partnerships with any of these pet stores or a food partner,
- 14:14Speaker 2: a pet food partner, anyway that you could help Casey
- 14:17Speaker 2: do what she's doing and her team over there at
- 14:18Speaker 2: fixin fidos so easy just to pop on the website
- 14:21Speaker 2: and they can shoot you an email.
- 14:22Speaker 3: Yep, we'll get back to some. You know, I've got
- 14:24Speaker 3: some really great people working for me for basically free,
- 14:27Speaker 3: but they do it because they believe in the cause
- 14:30Speaker 3: and they know and they do and they know like
- 14:32Speaker 3: how big this could be one day.
- 14:34Speaker 1: Fix and FiOS dot org for all of the info.
- 14:36Speaker 2: Continue to follow Casey Montoya on Instagram on a Kittla
- 14:40Speaker 2: for the next a few weeks or so. We love you,
- 14:43Speaker 2: case We're going to follow you wherever you go, especially
- 14:45Speaker 2: because your big, beautiful heart and how much you love
- 14:47Speaker 2: and want to take care of more and more animals.
- 14:49Speaker 2: Fix in fidos on Instagram and fix infidos dot org
- 14:53Speaker 2: for all of the info.
- 14:54Speaker 3: Thank you, Kasey, thank you,