Category: shelter

Extreme Makeover-Animal Style

As a member of the veterinary community, I have made an effort over the years to support the local animal adoption agencies.  This has ranged from serving on boards of directors to hands on animal care to attending fundraising events.  I recently had an opportunity  to help out a local shelter in a more extreme manner by joining forces with fellow employees from P&G Pet Care to do a shelter makeover.  Now this wasn’t quite like the popular TV show with the handsome Ty Penningtion rather it was Extreme Makeover:  Shelter Edition.  We didn’t tear down the structure and build a new one in 8 hours or send the staff on an all expense paid vaction  but we did make huge positive impact on the facility  with our many efforts.   P&G has sponsored a makeover of an animal adoption facility in Southwest Ohio yearly for the past 4 years.  P&G donates a matching contribution of $25,000 and lots of volunteers who do a one day face lift of the facility.  The volunteers are all employees of the Pet Care division who take time away from their busy day job to improve the lives of the animals coming through the facility, help increase adoptions by making it a pleasant environment for potential adopters and improve the work environment for the staff and volunteers who tirelessly care for the orphans who need lifesaving help.  The  lucky recipient this year was Humane Society of Greater Dayton (HSGD) in Dayton, Ohio.

Paws for a Cause 2011 got underway bright and early on a beautiful September morning.  We lucked out as the weather earlier in the week was cold and rainy and the forecast for the next day was rain.  Overall, there were about 175 P&G Pet Care employees that descended on the scene to offer up their talents and makeover the building of 17 years.  Projects for the day included painting wall murals, landscaping, installation of agility equipment in the dog parks, cleaning around the exterior of the building, and installation of a patio and new cabinetry inside.  It was really amazing to watch the transformation of the site throughout the day.  Everyone was clearly on a personal mission to ensure the work was completed before the day ended.    Of course, there were lots of folks taking breaks to stop and visit the adoptable dogs and cats.  After all, the animals were the reason we were there.
The mission of HSGD is “building loving relationships between people and pets.”  I think this syncs up well with the mission of P&G Pet Care which is “to enhance the health and well-being of more dogs and cats.”  Together we can enhance the lives of both people and animals by joining forces to promote pet adoption through shelters and then maintain their health with exceptional nutrition once they are adopted.  We are a pet passionate group of people.  Events like this bring out that passion and help remind us why we are in the animal business.  We came away with the satisfaction that we contributed to the community and made a difference in the lives of people and the animals.  A day of sweat and sore muscles the next is little price to pay to help the orphans needing homes. 
Adopt from your local shelter or rescue, you will be saving a life.  

The troops are arriving.


  

Before…..



After!

  


The patio project



Take me home!
The new agility course.



One of the many artists.





Hangin’ with the dogs





To Cut is to Cure…….

….pet overpopulation.   The numbers are staggering.  The statistics are heart wrenching.  It sickens me everytime I think about the number of animals that die every year due to overpopulation.  On average, 11,000 dogs and cats are euthanized daily in the United States as a result.  Multiply that number by 365 days and you get a whopping 4,015,0000.  Wow. 
It might surprise some, but euthanasia due to overpopulation is the number one cause of death of healthy dogs and cats.  It is not feline leukemia, cancer or heartworm disease as one might think.  The great news is that this problem could be cured and has improved tremendously over the last 40 years.  As many as 20 million animals were euthanized yearly before 1970.  It obviously is not an overnight fix but it can be resolved if communities as a whole continue to make the effort. 
Being a surgeon at heart,  the title of this blog is a favorite of mine.  Every surgeon would like to believe this to be the case but of course, it is not true for all situations. But in the case of pet overpopulation, it rings true.  Surgical alteration of dogs and cats is quite simple.  It involves removal of the reproductive organs which are the testicles on a male and the ovaries and uterus on a female.  The procedure is not technically difficult  and the animals recover amazingly fast and return to normal within a few days.  In addition to the prevention of breeding, spay/neuter prevents conditions such as pyometra (a life threatening uterine infection), ovarian cancer, and behavior issues such as roaming which can lead to a multitude of life threatening situations. 
Pet overpopulation also has detrimental effects on the community as well.  Hoarding situations often are the result of an individual who tries to feed and help the strays at an extreme level, leading to horrific living  conditions for both human and animal.  Stray animals are at risk of developing and spreading disease that can be threatening to human health such as intestinal parasites and rabies.  People that work in shelters, often suffer from “compassion fatigue” caused by the frequent exposure to euthanasia of healthy, happy animals.   
Fortunately there are Herculean efforts taking place to make a dent in that enormous number of 4 million killed.  Today, nearly every community has a low-cost, sometimes no cost, spay/neuter program making the procedure affordable for most people.  Some county and state governments around the country have mandated that all animals within their communities be altered including  adopted animals from humane organizations.  A billionaire orthopedic surgeon and founder of Found Animals has offered a $25 million prize to the individual that develops an affordable chemical sterilant able to be used in both male and female cats and dogs.  These efforts alone will not fix the problem.  Education of the pet owning public is first and foremost.  This responsibility lies with everyone working or involved in the animal care world to increase the awareness around this ongoing problem we face. 
Please be a responsible pet owner and have your pet spayed or neutered and educate others about the benefits.  You will be saving lives!

For more information on spay/neuter:
ASPCA-cat spay/neuter
ASPCA-dog /spayneuter
OSU Vet Med-spay/neuter
Spay Ohio
Amercian Humane Association-spay/neuter

Helen’s Vision

During a recent visit to southern California, we spent some time at Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe just north of San Diego. HWAC is a not for profit animal adoption center that was started in 1972 by a woman (Helen) who had a vision. This is not your typical animal shelter in the low rent district, euthanizing animals, and a depressing place to visit. Quite the opposite actually. The center is located in the most expensive community in the United States, has a pet boarding facility, an equine and small animal veterinary clinic, educational programs, children’s summer camp, a therapeutic riding program and does 3000 adoptions a year. Wow! Of course, none of that is possible without its committed volunteers and staff who run the center like a well oiled machine.

The success of the center stems from its involvement in the community and how it is managed verses a typical animal control facility. President Mike Arms has been in the shelter business for over 30 years. Notice, I said business. He runs the center and makes decisions using successful business and marketing principles, not emotion which is often how these types of organizations are managed. Of course the emotion is there wanting to save animals and keep them from being killed but he has proven time and again that shrewd decisions based on business is how it is done. Mr. Arms shares these principles and teaches them to shelter organizations around the world with the goal of saving the lives of animals and adopting them into their forever family.
The center is located on 12 acres surrounded by Jenny Craig’s horse ranch and multi million dollar homes. The buildings are older and serve the purpose but currently the center is undergoing construction. They are building a new veterinary hospital and administration offices which will later be followed by new adoption and boarding facilities. Once completed, the center will be a state of the art facility continuing to serve and improve the lives and welfare of animals in the community. We talked to several employees during our visit and it is obvious that they all serve the vision of founder Helen Woodward to “make the world a better place for people and animals”.

Be sure when you adopt an animal visit your local shelter and save a life. If you have extra time, volunteer and make the difference in the lives of orphaned animals-help save lives and find them their families. To learn more about Helen Woodward Animal Center visit http://www.animalcenter.org/.