No More Homeless Pets
Weekly News

September 12, 2004
From super adoptions to spay/neuter successes, people working together to bring about a time when there will be No More Homeless Pets.

• Spay/Neuter News
• Adoption News
• Feral Cat News
• Fabulous Fundraisers
• Community Campaigns

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SPAY/NEUTER NEWS

Indianapolis, Indiana - Since opening in 1999, Foundation Against Companion Animal Euthanasia has neutered 56,910 dogs and cats in Indianapolis. The addition of a second veterinarian this year and a $300,000 addition to the clinic building has allowed the clinic to increase its daily count to as many as 90 surgeries, up from about 50. This month, the clinic will offer 20 operations free every day. Read the article in the Indianapolis Star.

ADOPTION NEWS

Pontoon Beach, Illinois - Peppermint Patty, a three-year-old black and white cat, is being credited with alerting her new family to escaping gas just three days after being adopted from the Metro East Humane Society. Patty woke Sharon Priget by meowing and jumping up and down on her side of the bed. Priget pushed her off the bed and tried to go back to sleep, but the cat continued disturbing her, until she noticed the gas odor.

"Patty really did save our lives," Sharon Priget said. "Basically, she was letting us know that something wasn't right."

Los Angeles, California - Rover Rescue, which places dogs from Los Angeles animal shelters in loving homes, celebrated 500 dogs adopted with a celebration at the Redondo Beach dog park. Guests enjoyed live music, food, and a silent auction, while dogs enjoyed getting massages or visiting the pet psychic. And seven more dogs found homes through the event.

FERAL CAT NEWS

In a recent article, National Geographic explored the question of feral cats and bird populations. Michael Mountain of Best Friends explained that feral cats are not responsible for declining bird populations, which is caused by many factors, including habitat loss, pollution, pesticides, and window strikes.

"What we all need to do, since we all care about animals, is find real solutions [to controlling the feral cat population]," Mountain said. "Trying to kill off all the feral cats is not going to help the birds." Read the full story in the National Geographic News.

FABULOUS FUNDRAISERS

Yucaipa, California - Local senior citizens on limited incomes may be able to fit a pet into their budgets, thanks to a $15,000 grant the Yucaipa Animal Placement Society recently received. The Community Foundation Serving Riverside and San Bernardino Counties awarded the nonprofit, no-kill shelter the funds to help financially struggling residents who are over 65 to pay for a variety of pet-related costs, such as veterinary care, spay/neuter, or boarding for pets when seniors are hospitalized. Find the article in the Press-Enterprise. (Content is free, but you must register.)

Bend, Oregon - The Humane Society of Central Oregon is raising money for their new shelter by selling raffle tickets for a chance to win a Harley-Davidson Fatboy, valued at over $19,000. Learn more on their website.

St. Louis, Missouri - Ten shelters across the country will receive $10,000 grants from Friskies® brand cat food to build the ultimate habitats for their cats. More than 68,000 votes were cast on the Friskies website to select the winning shelters. Read the full story on Yahoo.com.

Kansas City, Missouri - Volunteers distributed 36 pallets (50,000 pounds) of cat food to 20 animal welfare groups, food banks, and feral cat caregivers last week. Donation of the food, transportation and delivery was arranged by a No More Homeless Pets in Kansas City volunteer.

Clanton, Alabama - The employees at Clanton's Timberline Properties decided to forgo eating out for lunch last week and kick in their lunch money, raising enough money to buy 400 pounds of dog food for the Chilton County Humane Society. Timberline's Melanie Stroud explained, "I said, you know, we spend $5 a day going out to eat. What about if we cooked here and everybody that eats puts in $5 for the humane society. Everybody loved it." Find the article in the Clanton Advertiser.

COMMUNITY CAMPAIGNS

Utah - No More Homeless Pets in Utah, a program sponsored by Best Friends Animal Society, received the fifth installment of a five-year, $9 million grant from Maddie's Fund. The nearly $1.6 million annual donation is used to increase the number of animal adoptions and promote spay/neuter as part of their program to reduce the number of homeless animals in Utah.

Because of the grant, shelter deaths have decreased 22% and adoptions have increased 60% since 1999. Also, 27,000 spay or neuter surgeries were performed in 2003 alone. The program has saved more than 11,000 animals since 1999. Read the article in the Salt Lake Tribune.

Nevada City, California - Sammie's Friends, a nonprofit group, pays as much as $400 to fix routine ailments for adoptable animals. Thanks to the efforts of volunteer coordinator Cheryl Wicks, 91% of the 2,000 dogs and cats brought to the local shelter in the last year were adopted. Six years ago, nearly two-thirds of the 3,000 dogs and cats were put down at the shelter. Find the story in The Union.