Spay and Neuter

Thank You BISSELL Pet Foundation!

We want to take this time to give a huge THANK YOU to our partner, BISSELL Pet Foundation. Through two of their programs, we have been able to help pets find their forever homes and pet owners get the spay and neuter surgeries their pets need. Ultimately, both of these programs help end pet homelessness! 

The first week of October was BISSELL Pet Foundation’s “Empty the Shelters” quarterly event. 10 kitties are in their forever homes this week thanks to Cathy Bissell and the Bissell Pet Foundation. Their “Empty the Shelters” effort helped sponsor reduced adoption fees for $25 or less at over 200 shelters and rescues across the country, including Planned PEThood of GA. 

Bissell began the “Empty the Shelters” event in 2016 as an effort to encourage more families to adopt a pet into their home. Since then, BISSELL Pet Foundation has expanded its “Empty the Shelters” reach to organizations in 47 states and Canada with over 500 partners. 

Below is a list of the adopted cats and pictures of a few of the adopted animals! We still have lots of cats and kittens in need of homes so view our adoptable cats here!

Happy life to Caramelo, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Ryder, Ebon & Estra, Fred, Babesita, Smokey, and Gretel! We are so glad you all found your forever homes! 

Through BISSELL Pet Foundation’s Spay/Neuter Grant, Planned PEThood has been able to help local pet owners safely spay and neuter their pets at a low cost or no cost. This helps end pet homelessness by preventing unwanted litters and decreasing the number of pets entering shelters. They have awarded grants in all 50 states and over 5,600 partner organizations. BISSELL Pet Foundation awarded Planned PEThood of GA $6,875 in funds to help more than 200 pets with free or reduced spay-neuter procedures.  Thanks to BISSELL Pet Foundation, pets, like Halo and Orianna, were able to get spayed and neutered. Thank you, BISSELL Pet Foundation and Cathy Bissell, for helping these pets in need! Remember, every Bissell product helps a pet in need. 

Bissell Empty the Shelter Event

Smokey
Johnny Cash
Hank Williams
Gretel
Fred
Ebon & Estra
Caramelo
Babesita

Bissell Spay/Neuter Grant

Orianna
Halo
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Newton County Residents and Their Pets Get the Help They Need!

 

This past Saturday, 224 pets received much needed assistance in Newton County. Planned PEThood’s outreach team, Go Fix Georgia, teamed up with Newton County Animal Control to provide free vet care and supplies to pet owners in need. In total, we were able to help 171 dogs and 53 cats and provide:

 

  • 194 rabies vaccines
  • 206 distemper vaccines
  • 193 microchips
  • 130 spay/neuter vouchers
  • 2,000+ lbs of pet food, leashes and collars

 

 

The need for outreach events like this was obvious. Hundreds of people lined up early in the chilly morning, some getting there hours before the event started. Owning a pet right now is hard. Vet care might be the last thing you can afford. These events help ensure the wellness of pets in the community and reduce overpopulation through free spay/neuter. We plan to continue working with Newton County and other counties to host outreach events like this in the future.

There were so many amazing organizations and volunteers that came together to help make this event successful. Without their support this would never have been possible. THANK YOU ALL!

Event Sponsor:

HALO (Hospice and Love Organization) – Newton County-based animal welfare agency 

Other Assistance Provided by:

Newton County Animal Control

Banfield Pet Foundation 

Atlanta Humane Society 

Petco Love 

Bissell Pet Foundation

GA Department of Agriculture

 

Free distemper vaccines were provided thanks to Petco Love and the vaccination campaign. The free vaccines are made possible through Petco Love’s national vaccination initiative, which is providing 1 million free pet vaccines to its existing animal welfare partners, including Planned PEThood of GA. An estimated 30% of pet parents do not take their pet to a veterinarian annually for preventative care. To address this critical need, we have partnered with Petco Love to make pet vaccines free and accessible in an effort to ensure the health and wellness of our beloved pets.  #VaccinatedAndLoved

 

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Celebrate National Feral Cat Day!

October 16th is National Feral Cat Day. It’s the perfect day to celebrate these kitties and learn what you can do to help them!

You’ve probably seen a feral cat roaming near you. They are found all over the country – around neighborhoods, apartment complexes, work, shopping centers, gas stations, schools, highway rest stops, warehouses, and any little hiding place you can imagine.

They often get a bad reputation and are labeled as mean, aggressive, and even unadoptable. In reality, they are just misunderstood. 

These cats live outside and fend for themselves. They fear and hide from people because they’ve never been properly socialized with humans. They may have been born outside, abandoned, or just wandered away. Often, they don’t want to be a pet and just prefer an outdoor lifestyle. No matter where they came from, they deserve a chance at life! Whether a cat’s home is in our houses or in our communities, they deserve our care, our support, and our love!

Without getting spayed or neutered, these cats can quickly multiply and become unmanageable with kittens, kittens, and more kittens. Just one female can have up to 24 kittens a year and 100 in her lifespan. 

The statistics can be overwhelming sometimes – how many cats are euthanized in shelters, how many kittens one unaltered cat can have, how many cats must be spayed/neutered before we can see a positive change in our community – it goes on and on. BUT – the best thing you can do to help these kitties is Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR)!

TNR is the most humane and effective method known for managing these feral cats and reducing their numbers. During TNR, cats are trapped and brought into a veterinary clinic, such as Planned PEThood, where they are spayed/neutered, vaccinated for rabies, and ear-tipped. After they’ve recovered from their surgery, these cats are returned back to their original outdoor homes. When left unaltered, these cats can reproduce, and before you know it, there will be dozens and dozens of cats living in your neighborhood. 

We strongly believe in TNR and we want to help you help these feral kitties! This is why at Planned PEThood of GA, we offer a variety of ways to help these community cats. We offer humane trap loans at NO CHARGE to the public plus we can teach you how to set up the trap and tell you some of our tips and tricks for TNR. We want to help you go out there and help these feral and community cats.

These cats deserve the world. TNR is the most loving thing you can do to help a feral kitty live their healthiest outdoor life. We hope you will TNR to help these kitties!

MAKE A GIFT TO HELP FERAL CATS

For additional questions, visit our TNR resource page or email communitycats@PEThoodGA.org

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Newborn puppy

Ignore Whatever You Are Doing – Newborn Puppies!

As we all know too well, sometimes things don’t go according to plan. In fact, sometimes the plan gets dropped out of a 30-story building and crushed by a bus as rain pours down.

Some days our spay/neuter clinic has an emergency, or a pet is returned a decade after adoption. Our Go Fix Georgia program gets a call about an injured dog in a rural shelter or a concerned citizen finds a mom cat with babies and doesn’t know what to do. In the end, we rack our collective brains together and figure out how to help the person or pet in need. After all, if we don’t – who will? We need your $25 gift today to help us continue these critical efforts. Give a gift now. 

SadieToday we want to share a story with you. A beagle named Sadie arrived for surgery at our spay/neuter clinic. It was business as usual, or so we thought.

Our veterinary team examined Sadie for surgery, and surprisingly she was not obese, as the owner thought. She was in fact pregnant and about to go into labor! The owner was unaware of the dog’s “situation” and would be unable to care for the family-to-be.

Luckily a wonderful foster parent was up for the challenge of birthing and caring for the new family. Foster homes truly save lives.

Newborn puppiesSadie’s owner agreed to allow Planned PEThood to care for Sadie and her babies for the next few months while they grow. After the babies are healthy and mom is spayed, Sadie will return to her forever family with one heck of a story to share. And Planned Pethood will find forever homes for Sadie’s puppies after they are spayed and neutered.

Sadie’s story is the perfect example of how your acts of kindness save lives. Please, make a gift now to help Sadie and animals like her.

Less than 24 hours after entering foster care, Sadie went into labor and gave birth to four healthy puppies, but the story doesn’t end there. Plot twist…

A few days later another dog entered our clinic pregnant. The owner was also unaware of their dog’s “situation,” and she needed an immediate surgery to save the babies. In a moment’s notice, our team prepared for a C-Section. It is in these moments that our team members truly shine. The room gets quiet as everyone focuses on the task at hand – SAVING LIVES.

Newborn puppy Newborn puppy Newborn puppy
Newborn puppies Planned Pethood staff with puppies
The three puppies survived the C-Section, but unfortunately mom was unable to nurse them. While we could have found foster homes to bottle feed the puppies every 2-3 hours, a nursing mommy dog would be best for their health. Well, it just so happened that Sadie was nursing her four puppies, so we gave it a try. Sadie met the three new pups and took them in as her own immediately. Now Sadie and her seven puppies are alive and thriving in a foster home! You can even follow their foster mom on Instagram @cat_ladee (yes we see the irony!)

  I wanted to share this story with you, because it paints a picture of how our staff members and foster parents work together to save lives daily. There is one important person we haven’t mentioned yet, and that is you!

Each one of our programs and services rely on you to support them, nurture them, and help them grow. Our team is a garden filled with different vital vegetables and fruits, but we need the sun to keep us alive. You are our sun. No matter how cloudy the day, we know you are there for us and will provide for us when we need you. Thank you for being there for us during storms and sunshine. We could never save these precious lives without you!

Newborn puppies
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COVID-19 Update: March 23, 2020

UPDATED COVID-19 RESPONSE: March 23,2020

All appointments for owned pets for March 24 through April 2 will be CANCELED out of an abundance of caution for our clients and staff.

Our facility will be closed for cleaning on Tuesday and Wednesday. We will re-open on Thursday 3/26 to provide surgeries for feral/community cats only. We know that Georgia shelters will be overwhelmed with unwanted kittens at the worst possible time if we can’t continue to sterilize community cats, so we want to provide the option for this critical population for as long as possible. We encourage trappers to continue trapping for surgery on Thursday 3/26. If you plan to bring more than 2 cats, please call to make sure we will have room for them. Cats may be dropped off between 7:30-8:30 Thursday morning, and must be picked up by end of day (boarding will not be available). Call 678-561-3491 with any questions or e-mail us at info@PEThoodGA.org.

 

Our lobby remains closed to the public, as recommended by the CDC. This is a fluid situation, and we will continue to provide updates. Thank you for your continued support during this challenging time.

 

Our spay/neuter clinic and vaccination clinics bring in most of the revenue that supports our rescue efforts, community cat program, and other initiatives. Closing to the public will put a serious strain on our ability to continue these programs, and to protect our dedicated staff members, during this crisis. Please consider making a special gift to our COVID-19 Emergency Fund today.


We WILL figure this out together. Cats and dogs across Georgia are depending on us to ensure their health and security. It takes a community of caring individuals to make an impact, and we thank you for being a part of our community. 

 

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Planned PEThood’s Coronavirus Playlist

Our spay/neuter clinic is open, and we are ready to see your pets. We have taken every precaution possible to ensure you and your pet’s health and safety. Call 678-561-3491 or email info@PEThoodGA.org with questions. We have appointments available next week. 

While following our new policies, our team is rocking out to our COVID-19 Playlist. Make sure to watch the drum solo at the end. What songs do you think should be in the playlist? So far we have:

  • Don’t Stand So Close to Me – The Police
  • I’m Still Standing – Elton John
  • Stayin’ Alive – Bee Gees 
  • In the Air Tonight – Phil Collins 
  • Don’t Worry Be Happy – Bobby McFerrin
  • Hot Blooded – Foreigner

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Rare Medical Case: 1 in 55,000 Animals

Sometimes things just don’t go as planned.
 
Last month a puppy visited our clinic from Newton County Animal Control. Our Go Fix Georgia program makes it possible for all Newton County pets to be altered before they go to their new homes. In this case, this sweet puppy named Merle came with a very rare medical condition. He had a scrotal hernia, which is so rare that most vets will never see one in general practice. In fact, this is the first one we have seen in over 55,000 surgeries. (Note: Click on the links to see the before and after images.)
 
We all knew going into this surgery that this type of hernia repair often requires followup, since closing a hernia in this area can result in development of a new hernia  Merle’s new mom was advised to keep an eye out for abnormal swelling after surgery. Sure enough, things started to not look quite right, and she brought him to an emergency clinic. Merle needed a second surgery –  more than an hour away from our clinic, on the weekend.   
 
Planned PEThood worked with the ER vet to ensure Merle got the surgery he needed at a cost of $800. We didn’t have $800 to spare. We weren’t obligated to pay this ER bill. But Merle’s new family couldn’t afford this unexpected cost, and we could not bear to think of the consequences if we didn’t help.
 
Merle’s second surgery went well and he is back with his new family – a healthy, bouncy puppy who has no idea of the danger he was in.
 
Things could have ended very differently for Merle. We were happy to help him, but the $800 we spent was not in our budget.
 
Would you be willing to make a gift today to help us replenish our funds?  It is because of your support that we can help animals like Merle, and we always want to be able to step up. Please, Donate Now. 
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About Planned PEThood

2860 Buford Highway
Bldg F, Suite 2
Duluth, GA 30096
678.561.3491
info@pethoodga.org

Planned PEThood of Georgia, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. EIN: 90-0516757

 

Our Mission

Helping pets and the people who care for them by providing innovative programs and affordable services that save lives.

 

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