See this post and our other posts at the Paws and Prayers Rescue Blog 


This year we are implementing Operation Meow! Operation Meow is our personal declaration to find homes for 1,000 cats for 2012! Last year we adopted out 626 cats, but with our main cat gal, Kelly, leading the charge, we KNOW we can accomplish the tremendous goal Jen D'Aurelio (our Executive Director) has set for us!

Operation Meow's primary goal is for finding homes for cats in need. That being said, we are hoping, whether successful or not, that just by leading this campaign we can help raise awareness of the real problem- the over-population of felines. And, of course, getting those 1,000 cats all spayed/ neutered will help cut the cycle of over-breeding so that we can help maintain the feline population's numbers which means less cats and kittens winding up at the shelter. Less shelter cats means less cats being euthanized which means more happy kitties! :)

How you can help:

Share. Spread this post. The more people know, the more they can empower themselves to become responsible pet owners and to set a great example in their community.

Adopt. When it comes time, always opt to adopt a rescue or shelter pet. You are not only saving that animal, you are helping to save all future animals that may find themselves in the same predicament. By supporting your local rescue and shelter, you are supporting all homeless and neglected animals in your area

Advocate. Help find animals homes by sponsoring them online. Urgent Ohio Dogs (UOD) features dogs on the chopping block in Ohio in hopes someone will see them and adopt them, rather than letting them get to the alternative. Facebook's "share" button allows you to easily save photos and bios of dogs with everyone on your friends' list. The more exposure they get, the greater their chances are of being saved. UOD is currently working on an Urgent Ohio Cat page soon to be released as well! Nationally, you can advocate for Pet Pardons which posts dogs and cats on death row all throughout the United States (they are also operating in Canada now too). 

Volunteer. The more volunteers a rescue or shelter has, the more balanced the workload becomes for everyone. Essentially this means that everyone can focus more on finding the animals homes as others are chipping in to help with the daily upkeep, whether it be helping out with feeding, socialization and/ or exercise. 

Donate. As mentioned earlier, we are only able to have a cat program because of our wonderful supporters. Funds are extremely limited for animal rescue and we can only save who we monetarily are able to save. Whether donating to us or another worthy rescue/ shelter, you are directly benefiting the animals and giving rescues/ shelters the means to continue their wonderful work.

Alter. Spay/ neuter those pets! Spunky may be fine now and may be an indoor pet, but when he escapes that one time, you don't know what he's doing... But we have a good idea! Also, neutering your males eliminates the chance of testicular cancer and greatly reduces the chances of prostate cancer. Spaying reduces or eliminates the chances of uterine or ovarian cancer as well as mammary tumors. For more info click here. One of a Kind Pets Spay and Neuter Clinic also offers a low-cost feral cat spay/ neuter package, which helps reduce the numbers of feral cat colonies that also drive up the feline population. If interested in learning more about One of a Kind Pets, click here.

As humans, it is our responsibility to help bring dignity and enrichment into the lives of all living creatures. Whether those creatures be neighbors that don't understand the responsibility of pet ownership, a feral cat colony that you could help catch and release to get spayed/ neutered or an animal on death row you could fight tooth and nail to find a new family for, you (and everyone else reading this) must take responsibility. In the end, there is not much to lose, but oh-so-much to gain! Whether we hit 1,000 cat adoptions this year, or not, we know that Operation Meow is going to be a huge success! :) read more ...

See this post and our other posts at the Paws and Prayers Rescue Blog


Saturday morning we had received an anonymous phone call from a woman that was upset with our adoption fees. She was interested in a puppy whose fee is currently $300 (the highest that any of our fees will ever go). The woman believed that we were a scam and "knew" that she could get an AKC puppy for the same price as one of our beloved mutts. She felt that if we were trying to find good homes for our dogs, then we should be "selling" them for much cheaper. Of course, a valid point if we were actually selling our dogs. But we don't sell dogs, we adopt them out.

The thing about rescue is that you are rescuing animals that not everyone wants. You are taking in animals that not everyone can invest the time, money and love into. You are saving animals that others had already deemed "unadoptable." If we were taking in adorable, medically sound, behaviorally stable, youthful dogs, we probably could afford to simply give some dogs away. But we're not that rescue.

Our rescue is the rescue that takes in the seniors, the dogs that jump at the cage and bark at you while at the pound, the sick, the frightened, the deformed, the truly left behind. These dogs do not find homes quickly. In the meantime, they live not in a kennel but in a loving foster home where they are given special one-on-one attention. Our fosters are provided toys, crates, food, treats, collars, leashes, bedding and just about anything else a cat or dog may need to live comfortably in their foster home environment. Fosters are also provided needed items for training and behavioral issues. All of these cost money. All of our fosters have these as needed.

Of course, that just covers the basics. We also medically update our cats and dogs. This includes the spay/ nueter, feline leukemia test, FIV vaccines, dewormer, rabies vaccines and monthly flea preventatives for our cats. For our dogs it's spay/ nueter, DA2PPvL vaccines (distemper, adenovirus, parvo, etc), rabies vaccine, bordetella vaccine (kennel cough), heartworm test, dewormer and monthly heartworm and flea prevention. Again, all of these cost money. Again, every animal needs and receives this care as age and health allows.

Now that is our basic medical updating. This is not including the 60+ dogs that tested positive for heartworm with each costing hundreds of dollars to treat. We had one foster dog that was in such advanced stages of heartworm that she had to forgo the treatment twice. Add that to our dogs with cherry eye, with double cherry eye, with ACL tears and the ones unlucky enough to contract viruses like parvo and pneumonia. Add those to the cats from hoarding cases with mange and ringworm, upper respiratory infections and coccidia. Add those to our seniors, like Olaf, who end up with cancer or skin tags or need bad teeth removed. Add that to the rare, but still present, mystery cases that cost thousands of dollars in exploratory surgeries to find out they have something one in a million dogs don't even contract. Medical miracles, these guys.

Take all of that debt already accrued and add that to this little factoid. Our average cat costs about $90 to update medically. After that $90 is spent, we can still only adopt the average cat out for $60. That is a loss of $30 per cat with every adoption, on average. There is a reason that so many cats are euthanized on a daily basis both locally and afar. There is a reason we are one of few groups that take in cats, and that's the reason. Last year we adopted out 626 cats. If those numbers held true for every cat (which this isn't including special cases requiring more money or taking into account the kittens we were able to adopt out for $100) we would be looking at roughly an $18,000 deficit from simply having a cat program.

We can't adopt every cat out for $90. We can't adopt out a dog that has been treated for heartworm for $379. We cannot adopt out a dog that had pneumonia for $1,212. So how do we stay afloat? read more ...

Last week we found homes for 31 animals!  Incredible!  My favorite was the cat Gato.  He was adopted by a younger boy and his family.  To watch Gato sit on this little boy's lap while he petted him in the middle of PetsMart, is was amazing.  I kept expecting him to try and run, but, he had found a lap and he wasn't giving it up!  (dogs are STILL in the lead if you are keeping track :-).  I love rescue!   

Still need a Summit County Dog License?  We are selling them at Chapel Hill Petsmart Saturday 11-3. $14, check or cash... 

This weekend we will be out at Chapel Hill and Macedonia PetsMart and the Green Pet Supplies Plus.  We have around 25 cats at Chapel Hill PetsMart, come out and meet them! 

An update on Oliver.  He is the most adorable dog I have ever seen.  Who needs ears anyway?  After what happened to him, he just wiggles his butt and kisses your face.  Thanks to everyone that has helped us to help Oliver.  Check him out on our adoptable dogs page!

WE ARE ALMOST IN 4TH PLACE!  WE CAN WIN THIS!  PLEASE HELP!!!  Want to help us to win $300,000?  Simply by clicking a link on your computer?  You do?  I thought you might!  Simply go to the Animal Rescue Site at by clicking here and click to donate a bowl of food and then it shows you how to pick a shelter to vote for.  Pick us!!! 

Have you  been considering fostering, please let us know.  We could really use the help!  To get started, just fill out our fostering application by clicking here.  Remember, we supply the food, crate, medical: you supply the love!  Check out the animals needing a foster home by clicking here.  If you don't see one that you are interested in, we can always find you one, there is no shortage on dogs that need fosters!

Come out this weekend and hold dogs and help with cat adoptions!  Here is a link to sign up to hold dogs..Click here to come hold dogs! 

Here are the dogs we got in last week...

Billy - Manchester terrier mix

Biscuit - boxer mix puppy

Bishop - lab mix male

Jax - lab mix male

Hooper - husky mix puppy

Hutch - male sharpei mix

Kramer - black lab mix

Mabelle - black lab female

Moo - senior male chi mix

Opal - whipper mix puppy

Oscar - boxer mix male young

Palmer - husky mix puppy

Shihtzy - adult female shih tzu

Tug - husky mix puppy

 

I hope to see all of you this weekend!  Please pass this email on to your family and friends, and anyone else that might be looking for a dog or cat.    

Have a great weekend!  

 

Jen