About Us
Our Charity's Objectives and LeadershipOur Goal:
A good home for every dog or cat in Bastrop County!
Pets in Good Homes:
Litter Control!
Pet Owners can provide a happy home for the pets they can afford, keeping unwanted litters from going to a shelter.
What we’re doing:
SPSN subsidizes spay/neuter surgeries for pets whose owners cannot afford the cost.
Humane Sheltering &
Medical Care
Stray dogs and cats stay in comfort at the county shelter or a foster home, and receive the medical care they require.
What we’re doing:
SPSN acts quickly to fund emergency medical care for shelter animals, and also provides items the shelter cannot afford, including supplies for foster homes.
Good Forever Homes
for all adoptable animals
The best shelter is a forever home.
What we’re doing:
SPSN sponsors progams to help improve shelter pet adoptability and promotes shelter adoptions.
Our Story
Formerly known as Bastrop County Animal Shelter Helpers, Shelter Pet Safety Net is a 501 ©(3) public charity founded in 2019, and devoted to improving the lives of homeless animals in Bastrop County. We began by providing emergency medical care funding for shelter animals.
We changed our name to Shelter Pet Safety Net in 2021 to avoid confusion with the shelter itself, but our mission and objectives remain the same.
We have been able to expand our services and help more animals through our spay/neuter subsidy programs, purchasing medical equipment and other supplies for the county shelter, funding transportation for shelter animals, providing supplies for foster homes, obtaining grooming services for shelter animals, and more. Your donations make it happen!
We have been able to expand our services and help more animals through our spay/neuter subsidy programs, purchasing medical equipment and other supplies for the county shelter, funding transportation for shelter animals, providing supplies for foster homes, obtaining grooming services for shelter animals, and more. Your donations make it happen!
Our Board
Jenni Ritchie
President
Jenni has volunteered with animal welfare organizations for over 20 years, including fostering, adoption counseling, organizing capital projects and events, and feeding baby songbirds. She is also a Crisis Counselor with Crisis Text Line.
After retiring from a 33-year career managing information technology across the globe, she now works as a Realtor with Realty ONE Group Prosper.
Jenni graduated from the University of Houston with a BBA in Management Information Systems and an MBA with a concentration in Finance.
Terry Gummelt
Vice President
Terry has worked and volunteered with a variety of animals over 30 years. She has held the following positions: Austin Golden Retriever Western Regional Dog Show Chairman, Lost Pines Riding Club Parade Chairman and Secretary of the Bastrop Equine Search and Rescue. In addition to volunteering at Bastrop County Animal Shelter where she walks dogs, instructs volunteer orientation classes, attends adoption events, and organizes dog training classes, she also fosters and trains dogs from the shelter.
Currently she is an Elgin I.S.D. substitute teacher, after retiring from a 30-year career in teaching.
Terry graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BS in Education and holds certificates in Pre-k/Kindergarten, English as a Second Language and Special Education.
Erika McDonald
Treasurer
Erika, a lover of animals in all shapes and sizes has volunteered with the Bastrop County Animal Shelter for the past five years in a foster capacity. Erika also regularly volunteers for Bastrop Cats TNR Program trapping stray and free-roaming cats for spay and neuter services.
She also serves as the Treasurer on her neighborhood’s POA Board, Registrar for the local Youth Soccer Organization and as Secretary for the Capitol Area Youth Soccer Association.
Erika graduated from Lamar University in Beaumont, TX with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management and provides administration and finance services for a variety of businesses in a variety of industries in the area.
Cordelia Holmes
Secretary
Cordelia has volunteered at the Bastrop County Animal Shelter walking dogs, cleaning the Petco Cat Adoption Habitat, assisting Off-Site Adoption events and fostering.
She recently retired from a 35-year career as a Corporate Accountant.
She graduated from the University of Houston-Victoria with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
Destiny Psencik
Director
Destiny has always enjoyed volunteering, especially with multiple animal shelters during her time in college.
She graduated in May of 2020 from Texas Lutheran University, earning a degree in Marketing with a specialization in Social Entrepreneurship.
Destiny currently works as Executive Director for the Turtle Wing Foundation, and is a CASA Advocate.
Pam Gerritsen
Director
Pam has volunteered with animal welfare organizations for over 20 years, including fostering, adoption counseling, leading innovative programs, transporting animals and organizing events. She is also a volunteer with We Are Blood in Austin, organizing mobile blood drives in the Bastrop area.
Pam and her husband Gary currently volunteer as a foster home for the Bastrop County shelter and when in use, they also clean the Petco cat habitat for the shelter. Pam has lost count of the number of cats and kittens they’ve fostered and adopted to families in central Texas.
Before retiring, Pam’s career focused on sales and marketing, with her last 10 years as a Director of Public Sector Sales at Sprint in Wireless Telecommunications. In their spare time, Pam and Gary love to travel and go birding.
Pam graduated from St. Edward’s University with a Bachelor of Liberal Studies with a focus on Management.
Legal & Financial Information
Charity Designation
501 (c) (3)
EIN 84-3309068
Registered as Bastrop County Animal Shelter Helpers, and doing business as Shelter Pet Safety Net.
Our Sponsors
