spay

Sometimes Love Means Letting Go

The idea of giving up a pet is unimaginable for most of us. However, there are individuals who find themselves in dire circumstances where this becomes their only option.

In early May, we received a heart-wrenching call from a woman who had been living in her car with her six cats, Tigger, Fluffer, Linus, Lucas, Major, and Cutie Pie. Despite her best efforts to care for them, she knew that their current living situation was unsustainable. She made the agonizing decision to surrender her cats with the hopes of us finding them new families, an act out of pure love.

Although it was an incredibly difficult decision, we are grateful that she placed her trust in us. Our hope is that by having her kitties under our care, she can find peace knowing they will be okay. 

Now, just a few weeks later, Tigger, Fluffer, and Linus have been adopted and moved into their forever homes. While leaving their mom must have been hard for them, they are going to be well cared for and loved – which is all their mom wanted for them. We know it won’t take long for the others to find their forever homes. We have called the woman to check on her situation as well and look forward to helping her in whatever ways we can.

Fluffer and his new mom

Tigger goes home

Linus and his new dad!

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Grinch Helps Habersham

On a cold and rainy day in December, 220 pets received much-needed assistance in Habersham County. Planned PEThood’s outreach team, Go Fix Georgia, teamed up with Habersham County Animal Care and Control to provide free vet care and supplies to pet owners in need. In total, 133 dogs and 87 cats received assistance and 150 pets received free spay/neuter vouchers. 

The need for outreach events like this is obvious. Hundreds of people lined up early in the cold morning, some arriving hours before the event started. For hours, staff and volunteers helped a continuous line of animals whose owners drove through the pop-up event. Habersham county residents do not have easy access to low-cost veterinary services, and as a result many pets in the community are unable to see a veterinarian and get basic care.

There were so many amazing organizations and volunteers that came together to help make this event successful – including the Grinch. His heart really did grow three sizes!

Without their support, this would never have been possible! THANK YOU!

Event Sponsored in part by: BISSELL Pet Foundation, Atlanta Humane Society, Petco Love, GA Department of Agriculture, Fi Nano Microchips

You can read more about the event in the local newspaper article.

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Keep the Mama, Not the Drama!

Earlier this year, a family reached out to Planned PEThood for help. They needed assistance with their kitties, Pumpkin and Reesee. Reesee had an accidental pregnancy and the family did not know what to do. They loved their animals so they wanted to do whatever they could to keep their kitties healthy and safe, but finances were tight. 

Thanks to our Keep the Mama, Not the Drama Program, sponsored by Orphan Kitten Club, we were able to get both pets fixed and take their two baby kittens, Jamie and Claire, into our rescue program.

The goal of this program is to help struggling pet owners with accidental litters keep their cats while we spay, vet them, and find homes for their babies. This ends the cycle, saves lives, and prevents future unwanted litters.

Their family is so grateful that we were able to find loving, forever homes for the kittens, plus they do not have to worry about their pet’s health anymore! No more babies! Yay!

Jamie and Claire found their forever homes quickly. Just look at their faces, how could they not! Sweet Claire was adopted at one of our Pet Supermarket adoption events and Jamie was adopted at one of our Petco adoption events.

If you or someone you know needs help from this program learn more or apply here. 

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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

Bissell Spay/Neuter Grant

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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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Giving Back to Gwinnett: Business RadioX Interview

Earlier this month Planned PEThood of Georgia was invited to participate in “Giving Back to Gwinnett,” a radio segment on Business RadioX.  

Listen to Lauren Frost, Development Coordinator for Planned PEThood, on Business RadioX.

The interview gives detailed insight into the vast array of services Planned PEThood of Georgia offers to the community. Planned PEThood is dedicated to helping pets and the people who care for them with innovative programs and affordable services that save lives.

Planned PEThood’s programs include operating a low-cost spay/neuter clinic that fixes 8,500 dogs and cats each year; offering low-cost vaccination clinics at least once a month serving more than 1,000 pets a year; and rescuing and rehabilitating about nearly 1,000 homeless pets each year. In addition to these critical services, Planned PEThood also offers community cat assistance such as humane trap loans, and its newest program, Go Fix Georgia, reaches out to rural and remote areas in Georgia in need to spay/neuter assistance. 

The first 15 minutes of the interview are dedicated to Planned PEThood of GA, and the second half of the interview features guests from Camp Dream, another Georgia based charity.

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70 Animals Receive Free Spay/Neuter and Rabies Vaccines with $5,000 Grant

70 cats and dogs in Lawrenceville will receive free spay/neuter surgeries and rabies vaccinations at Planned PEThood of Georgia on Feb. 25, Spay Day USA, thanks to a $5,000 grant from the Georgia Pet Foundation.

Georgia Pet Foundation

Feb. 25, 2020 is Spay Day USA. This national day is devoted to bringing attention to pet overpopulation in our country. When the day was created in 1994 by the Doris Day Animal League, 14-17 million pets were killed each year in shelters across the country. Today that number is way down, closer to one million, but  there is still a lot of work to do. “We are moving in the right direction,” says Planned PEThood Executive Director and Co-Founder Elizabeth Burgner. “There are people and communities that still need education on the importance of spaying and neutering their pets and financial help to make it happen. Many low-income families love their pets, but struggle to care for them medically. That is why we applied for this grant.” 

According to Gwinnett County Animal Welfare and Enforcement, a majority of their stray animal calls come from Lawrenceville, the largest city by population in Gwinnett County. Lawrenceville also has the highest poverty rate in the county, at 21.6%. For comparison, Georgia’s average rate is 16.9% and the national average is 14.6%.  Image result for spay day usa 2020

While this grant will not solve the overpopulation issue in Lawrenceville, it is a start. This grant from the Georgia Pet Foundation will cover free spay/neuter and Rabies vaccinations for 70 animals on Tuesday, Feb. 25, which is Spay Day USA 2020. Appointments have already been filled, but there is a waiting list to be considered if more slots open up or more funding becomes available. “We wish we could offer free services to everyone in need,” says Planned PEThood’s Development Coordinator Lauren Frost. “We are always seeking sponsorships for free services, and our regular prices are so low that with a little planning most people can afford them.” If you want to donate to our spay/neuter efforts please visit our donation page and select “Spay Day USA.”

Planned PEThood of Georgia offers low-cost spay/neuter services year-round at their Duluth clinic. Cost for surgery is between $50-$60 for a cat and $70-$110 for a dog. There are additional discounts for feral/community cats. 

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