Animal Samaritans has actively promoted the healing power of animal-human connections, creating curricula that offer animal companionship as a form of treatment. One of the intrepid Coachella Valley nonprofit’s specialties is bringing trained animals to hospitals, group homes, senior homes, correctional facilities, and other establishments.
But a recent grant from the Todd Barajas Legacy Fund via Inland Empire Community Foundation will specifically target another important initiative.
“The funding helps support our capital campaign project, which is a new pet adoption and humane education center for the Coachella Valley and an expansion of our veterinary services,” said Tom Snyder, CEO of Animal Samaritans. “We’ll be able to see more pet patients.”
The nonprofit recently finished phase one of that campaign with the remodel of Thousand Palms Veterinary Clinic. The clinic had closed for about eight months and a temporary facility was established.
“Now, we have more space for doctors to work, to see more pets, and it’s just a better flow, and a more humane operating space in terms of how we prepare the animals for surgery,” Snyder said. “When they come out of surgery now, they can recover in their own private area. In the past, some animals may have experienced stress with exposure to the other animals getting prepped. Now, they can recover in peace and quiet.”
He added that the Todd Barajas Legacy Fund will also assist the nonprofit in reaching phase two of its efforts, which will include a larger no-kill animal shelter and a dedicated humane education space within that shelter.
“We’ll be able to see more animals than we currently are allowed for,” Snyder explained. “We’ll have dedicated outdoor play yards, play space, and other spaces that will allow us to house large dogs. Currently, we’re not even allowed. We just don’t have the proper runs or the kennel space that larger dogs need to have.”
Those larger dogs are“the guys that get the short end of shelter life,” Snyder said.
“They typically are harder to adopt out for shelters and stay longer in public shelters. They will have a higher euthanasia rate with public shelters than puppies and kittens, for example.”
Other additions include utilizing behaviorists and pet trainers to help make those dogs become more adaptable.
“One frequent barrier to their survival is that when they do get into these shelters, the new environment may not feel safe,” Snyder said. “It can feel scary. They are not their true selves. So, having that ability to engage in play groups and be in play yards, and have trainers help them de-stress and show well for adopters, is really important to getting them adopted.”
Snyder went on to say that the dogs stay with Animal Samaritans until they get adopted out—the nonprofit is a no-kill establishment.
“They’ll stay with us until they get a home, but if we don’t adopt them out, then we can’t bring in new dogs, and we won’t be as effective,” he added. “Having a shelter program and adoption program is part of the Animal Samaritans’ mission. We really lack the resources and the facility for that. So that’s a big part of why the capital campaign is a major project for us, and we appreciate the Legacy Fund.”
The Todd Barajas Legacy Fund launched at IECF in 2016 as a way to provide broad and general charitable uses for nonprofits. Thus far it has helped numerous nonprofits, including FIND Food Bank, Loving All Animals, Martha’s Village & Kitchen, and other organizations.
Moving deeper into this year and beyond, Snyder points out the importance of adopting and fostering, and why it is so critical to keeping animals out of the shelter and, in turn, reducing the risk of euthanasia.
“But if I had to pinpoint a couple of things that are important to us now, one of them is cost,” he said. “It’s really a barrier for pet owners right now. Everything seems more expensive than ever—from groceries to higher rents.”
“I find that pet owners, just in general, are saying no more often to important veterinary services,” he added. “Their pet might come in and it’s got a cough, or it’s got a mass or a bump—something that’s very treatable —but in addition to that, they have something else that’s more serious, but they can only afford what they came in for.”
As a result, some pets don’t receive all of the best practice medicine that they deserve.
Animal Samaritans does provide financial aid, however, there is a limit to how much it can offer. Another noteworthy component of the nonprofit is a kind of “pay it forward” ripple effect.
“When people come to Animal Samaritans and they pay their bills, the money is going back into Animal Samaritans,” Snyder said. “We can then have our community outreach programs, whether it’s the no-kill shelter, the free humane education, the free pet therapy, or our free animal rescue program.”
Learn more at animalsamaritans.org.
This story originally appeared in the Desert Sun, August 2025.
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