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A New Life for Loki

A New Life for Loki

By SNN Admin | 15.06.2023

Laura saw a photo of Loki sitting in a chair outside in a Lost and Found group on Facebook and knew she had to bring him home. Laura brought Loki to our Crandall clinic to get neutered, vaccines, a microchip, Bravecto, Heartworm test and prevention, and a nail trim. He was covered in ticks and fleas when she picked him up. We were able to help her with the cost by offering the Act of Kindness to cover the Heartworm and Flea and Tuck prevention. She is “so happy to be able to get him completely checked out and make sure he is healthy because we already fell in love with him!”

Will you donate to support the next pet in need?

 

Estrella finds her way home

Estrella finds her way home

By SNN Admin | 18.05.2023

Estrella was brought in by a trapper to be spayed. While getting her ready for surgery, one of our vet techs noticed she had already been spayed so, she scanned her for a microchip – which she had. We were able to contact her owner who had been looking for her for over a week. Estrella’s owner was so excited to get her back.

Make sure you microchip your pet so you can find them if they get lost.

Will you donate to support the next pet in need?

 

A Little Help Goes A Long Way

A Little Help Goes A Long Way

By SNN Admin | 18.05.2023

Angelica heard what she thought was a raccoon moving around her trash can. She went outside to check and found a 1-year-old puppy she named Canelo. Angelica could tell he was hungry and scared. Once she brought Canelo inside her home, she knew she had to keep him. Angelica brought Canelo to our Dallas clinic to get neutered and vaccinated. After hearing Canelo’s story, the staff offered her the Act of Kindness. The Act of Kindness covered Canelo’s neuter and Bordetella shot. Angelica said, “I appreciate it so much. I couldn’t have afforded it.”

Will you donate to support the next pet in need?

 

Targeted Trap Neuter Return Program

Targeted Trap Neuter Return Program

By SNN Admin | 01.05.2023

It is funny sometimes how life steers you in the right direction, even when you are stubborn and convinced it is not what you should be doing. When I moved to Texas in the late aughts, I was convinced that my life path was to help wildlife and conservation. Needing to pay rent and make ends meet certainly helped me to open my mind a little, but I still wasn’t sold. When I took my first job in domestic animal sheltering, I thought it would be temporary; yet, here I am nearly 15 years later committed to trying to help cats and dogs. Honestly, I waffle between being a cat person and a dog person, but it is thanks to our feline friends that I have grown and continued to find inspiration and passion in this challenging field.

The first shelter I worked at didn’t have a community cat/shelter return program. Feral cats were trapped, brought to us, and lived in a colony-type room where no one could touch them. No one adopted them; they lived their lives in this room of 10-20 cats until the end of their lives. I was brand new to the industry, but I knew from the beginning that this was just not right. When I started a new position at a bigger municipality, I was thrilled to discover their Shelter Neuter Return (SNR) program, and immediately gravitated to ways I could help. I became one of the voices for returning all community cats we possibly could, and as I grew in my career, I became the lead over the program and got to dip my toe into public speaking and presenting about the program at regional conferences to help others learn from my experiences and programs.

Around this time, I also moved into a house that had been unoccupied for years with a pretty basic renovation job. On my first night in this new rental, I heard a clamoring outside. I turned on the outside lights thinking surely there is an intruder, and instead, I found my car covered in 10+ cats. I had been talking the talk for a while, but I knew it was time to walk the walk too. I figured out where to get traps and spent months getting all the cats on my block fixed through the SNR program. I felt proud to be involved in the process, and it is utterly thrilling to catch and release a cat.

After years of being involved in SNR programs, supporting public TNR, and being proud of the number of cats we’d fixed and vaccinated, I started to feel discouraged again because it just never seemed to end. All of the effort had been incredibly meaningful for each cat, but year after year kitten season comes and orphaned babies come into the shelter and don’t make it, even when everyone does so much to try to save them.

So, what are we missing? Thankfully, greater minds than me have been evaluating these programs and asking similar questions. So, we finally have data to show what works and what doesn’t. In 2019, an article was published in Frontiers, “A Long-Term Lens: Cumulative Impacts of Free-Roaming Cat Management Strategy and Intensity on Preventable Cat Mortalities.” This article explains the different management approaches to free-roaming cats and what results from these different approaches. The analysis shows that high-intensity TNR is the most effective and efficient approach.

Now that we know what works, how do you approach that in a community like Dallas that has so many competing areas of need? We knew we had to get a grasp on the problem and analyze the data we had available to find a solution. By reviewing years of data from Dallas Animal Services related to kitten intakes, cat complaint calls and SNR cat intake locations, we found that there were consistent hot spots where we could pilot this high-intensity TNR model.

Last month we launched our pilot program in partnership with Dallas Pets Alive, Operation Kindness, Feral Friends, and Dallas Animal Services. We started with outreach block walking to get a sense of where the problems are at the micro level and to find allies in the community to help us with trapping locations. We coordinated with numerous trappers to help us with getting the volume of traps needed. We wrangled everyone we could to help set traps and pickup up. With all of the work and effort, we had less than a 50% catch rate, so I felt discouraged at first. But, those 21 cats we caught are a start of something great that will have an impact, and it was a huge learning curve. We have since gathered more allies, and next time it will be even better!

I think the most amazing thing about this new pilot program has been how everyone is stepping up as a community to help, and how incredible the community we are working in has been at receiving this crazy group that is knocking on their doors at 9 p.m. with traps and again at 7 a.m. the next day at pickup. We were welcomed into so many houses and backyards, and there were so many expressions of gratitude from people who love their community cats, but who have known for a long time that they needed help and did not know what to do.

In a community like Dallas, this is not a short-term project, but we are committed to continuing down this pathway so that when we look back 10 years from now, we will see the impact at our shelters and in our communities. And in the meantime, it will be the thrill of the catch and the heartwarming camaraderie that keeps us going to continue our mission to end pet overpopulation and unnecessary euthanasia in shelters.

Teddy gets help from the Community Pet Care Program

Teddy gets help from the Community Pet Care Program

By SNN Admin | 27.04.2023

Teddy was suffering from respiratory issues, a runny nose and severe congestion, so Ellen brought him to our Fort Worth clinic to take advantage of the Community Pet Care program. The program includes expanded wellness services to help with common ear issues, eye issues, skin issues and upper respiratory infections for only $40 thanks to PetSmart Charities. We were able to prescribe Teddy antibiotics and topical eye ointment. Also, now that we are a distribution partner with Don’t Forget to Feed Me, we were able to provide Ellen with bags of cat food to take home.

Teddy is from one of the many cat litters taken care of by Ellen. Luckily, she lives in one of our free ZIP Codes where spay and neuter, core vaccinations and microchips are funded by the Saving Hope Foundation. She was overjoyed about getting Teddy taken care of and so happy her other cats could be helped as well. She even paid it forward with a donation so that other pets like Teddy can get the care they need too.

Will you donate to support the next pet in need?

 

Missy gets the vaccines she needs

Missy gets the vaccines she needs

By SNN Admin | 27.04.2023

Jeremy has had Missy for over 8 years. He brought Missy in today during Wellness to get her yearly vaccines. He wasn’t sure what vaccines she needed, but knew she needed them. He wanted to get her heartworm tested and on prevention but couldn’t quite meet the cost. We decided to use our Act Of Kindness to try and help him out. He was very much appreciative and Missy didn’t mind either. Missy is a very happy and joyful dog. Jeremy cares for her and wants her happy and healthy.

Spay Neuter Network has created an Act of Kindness Fund to add additional support to the communities we serve. Every month, the staff at each of our clinics has the opportunity to give free services to a family needing a bit of help. This can be surgery, vaccinations, or medication they need for their pet but can’t afford.

Will you donate to support the next pet in need?

 

Jesse found the resources needed to keep Rough

Jesse found the resources needed to keep Rough

By SNN Admin | 27.04.2023

Jesse agreed to watch Rough for 2 weeks. 2 weeks turned into forever. Jesse brought Rough to our Fort Worth clinic to get neutered. He lives in one of our free Fort Worth zip codes so Rough got neutered at no cost thanks to the Saving Hope Foundation. Rough also received a Heartworm test and a year’s supply of Heartworm Prevention. His name may be Rough, but he is one sweet little guy, who has a loving family that wants the best for him.

Will you donate to support the next pet in need?

 

Hudson took advantage of our affordable prices

Hudson took advantage of our affordable prices

By SNN Admin | 27.04.2023

Nancy’s daughter found Hudson on the side of the road. When Hudson’s owner couldn’t be found, she decided she just had to keep him! They brought Hudson to our Crandall clinic to get neutered and rabies vaccine. Hudson is a calm, easygoing dog. He loves barking at birds. Nancy and her family were happy and excited to bring Hudson to our clinic for our affordable services.

Will you donate to support the next pet in need?

 

Jamal gets a clean bill of health

Jamal gets a clean bill of health

By SNN Admin | 21.03.2023

Jamal, a very curious and adorable black kitten, got his first round of kitten shots at our Fort Worth clinic. While at the clinic, Jamal took advantage of our new Community Pet Care Program which includes expanded wellness services to help with common ear issues, eye issues, skin issues and upper respiratory infections for only $40 thanks to PetSmart Charities.

Jamal is harness and leash trained. He loves to be able to walk around smelling everything. Next up for Jamal is to get him neutered!

Will you donate to support the next pet in need?

 

Dumplin found a new home while playing in the rain

Dumplin found a new home while playing in the rain

By SNN Admin | 21.03.2023

Dumplin was found on Cinco de May in 2022 in San Antonio. It was rainy that day, and Cindy and Steve found her running around playing in the puddles. They put her in their car and fed her tortillas. They couldn’t find the owner, so she became one of the family. They debated naming her tortilla or puddles, but their son decided to call her Dumplin. They knew she needed to get spayed and vaccinated, and when they saw that we were having free surgeries for our grand opening, they jumped at the opportunity. They got in line at 5:30 a.m. to make sure they could get her in for surgery. Thanks to grant funds covering the surgery, they were able to get her tested for Heartworms and she got her bordetella vaccine.

Will you donate to support the next pet in need?