Free spay/neuter in San Antonio!

The City of San Antonio is taking another big step towards controlling the pet population.

Tuesday, the city announced a new partnership with "SPAY SA."

Once a month, the city will sponsor a free spay and neuter clinic. Spay SA says it will enable them to do an additional 1000 surgeries each month. That will help bring San Antonio closer to being a "no kill" community, and it will also help save the city money.

"In the long run, if we can reduce the number of stray animals, we can reduce the number of Animal Care Services, 10 years down the line," explained Kathleen McGowan of Spay SA. "So, our budget can reduce. Therefore, have a big impact on the city."

The city estimates it costs $3.00 per taxpayer to put down an animal. To sterilize the animal, it only costs 40-cents.

For more on getting your animal spayed or neutered, CLICK HERE.


**If you read this after the date listed, contact the organization/clinic.  Often times, they offer these services on a regular basis.  If not, these clinics may offer the low cost clinics once a month.  You can use the same contact information listed above.**

Low cost spay/neuter in Illinois

Tree House is offering free spay/neuter surgeries for low-income pet owners and rescued strays in Chicagoland for a limited time. This service is in recognition of spay/neuter month. Tree House has always offered a low-cost spay/neuter program but we realized that in order to reach our goal of no more stray animals, we needed to do even more.

Tree House has been able to expand its subsidized spay/neuter surgeries for rescued strays and for low-income pet owners in Chicagoland, thanks to a generous grant from the Brach Foundation. The Brach Foundation Grant has given us the opportunity to increase our veterinary staff time and dedicate more hours to performing these life-saving procedures.

If you are interested in registering for our Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Program, please call 773-784-5488 ext. 229 and leave a detailed message with your name and phone number. Appointments must be made in advance. Our program coordinator will get back to you to schedule an appointment.

The usual cost of a spay surgery is $45 for a rescued stray and $20 for *low-income pet guardians. The cost of a neuter surgery is $25 for a rescued stray and $10 for low-income pet guardians.

*low-income pet guardians are people receiving Public Aid or Disability (annual Social Security letter or medical card will be required as proof)

In addition to the Spay/Neuter surgery Tree House also offers the following services for Spay/Neuter clients only:

Feline Leukemia (FeLV) and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) testing ($15)
Topical Flea Treatment ($10)
PCR vaccinations ($5)
Rabies vaccinations ($10)

Contact Information 

**If you read this after the date listed, contact the organization/clinic.  Often times, they offer these services on a regular basis.  If not, these clinics may offer the low cost clinics once a month.  You can use the same contact information listed above.**

Walk for animals in 2009!

Minnesota, May 2- animalhumanesociety.org/walk 
Boston, Methuen and Hyannis, Sept. 13-mspca.org/site 

San Diego, May 2-sdhumane.org/site 
Atlanta, May 2- atlantahumane.org/events 
Seattle, Sept. 27- seattlehumane.org/explore/events 
Philadelphia, May 2- phillywalk.org 
Nebraska, Sept. 27-nehumanesociety.org/site 
Virginia, May 9- awla.org/animal-fundraising-walk.shtml 
Ohio, May 9- summithumane.org/events.asp 
Missouri, May 16- member.hsmo.org/site 
Indiana, Oct 11- cityoffortwayne.org/index.php 
North Carolina, May 16 - apswalk.org 
Maryland, April 26  - aacspca.org 

Jonathon is diabetic again?

I just got off the phone with the vet.  She thinks that Jonathon is becoming diabetic again.  *Sigh*  Last night, his blood sugar was 314. That was the highest it has been since last Monday, when his blood sugar unexpectedly shot up.  Tomorrow, I am going to take him to have a Fructosamine test.  This is a blood test that is used to measure the average level of glucose control over the past few weeks.  

"Feline diabetes is not the natural fate of hundreds of thousands of pet cats world-wide. It is, rather, a human-created disease that is reaching epidemic proportions because of the highly artificial foods that we have been feeding our feline companions for the past few decades. Without the constant feeding of highly processed, high carbohydrate dry foods, better suited to cattle than cats, adult-onset feline diabetes would be a rare disease, if it occured at all."

Elizabeth Hodgkins DVM, JD

Free spay/neuter in Atlanta!

The Atlanta Humane Society will spay or neuter 100 pit bulls or pit mixes free. The shelter received a $5,000 grant from the Holland M. Ware Foundation to do the free surgeries. Owners must call 404-875-6420 for an appointment, available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Dogs must be dropped off at 8:15 a.m. and picked up at 4 p.m. Dogs without proof of a rabies shot also will be given the vaccination free.




http://www.atlantahumane.org/





**If you read this after the date listed, contact the organization/clinic.  Often times, they offer these services on a regular basis.  If not, these clinics may offer the low cost clinics once a month.  You can use the same contact information listed above.**

Police officer charged with beating his two dogs-judge returns dogs to him!

A Newport News police officer has been charged with two counts of animal cruelty following complaints that he beat his two dogs.

According to a criminal complaint filed at General District Court, Rashad I. Brown, 32, a Newport News police officer since June 2005, admitted that he beat his dogs — a black Labrador retriever and a Boston terrier — with a hard plastic stick.

"He stated ... that it is not against the law to beat your dogs or kids in Virginia, (and that) he knows this because he is a cop," said the complaint, filed by Newport News Animal Control Officer Angie Gromlich.

William S. Wise, the superintendent of animal services, said in a statement that a call came into the city's animal control division on March 8. The caller said he or she witnessed a man kicking one of his dogs and heard him beating another at his apartment on St. Thomas Drive, in the Oyster Point area.

Upon responding to the scene, Brown encouraged his Lab, "Lilly," to act aggressively toward her, Gromlich wrote in the complaint.

First, she said, he commanded his dog in Spanish to come out of the apartment and get near the animal control officer. The dog obeyed, growling aggressively, the complaint said.

The animal control officer said she then asked Brown "several times" to confine the dog inside.

Instead, with the dog's nose only two or three inches from the animal control officer, Brown "was laughing and reinforced (the dog's) aggressive behavior" by telling her 'Good girl, good girl," in English, the complaint said.

"Mr. Brown stated that she was doing what she was supposed to do, that he had trained her to be aggressive, and this is what he wanted her to do," Gromlich wrote.

The animal control officer said in the complaint that she felt cornered and feared the dog would attack her.

Brown finally placed the dog inside, the complaint said. Gromlich and another animal control officer seized both animals from the property, and took them to a veterinarian.

Fresh abrasions and bruises on the dogs were "consistent with being struck by an object and kicked," Gromlich wrote.

Brown, who is a patrol officer for the Newport News Police Department, has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. He is scheduled to appear in General District Court on March 26.

A woman living in the apartment, Crystal Brown, was charged with one count each of having no license for a dog and no rabies vaccination, Wise said. Police spokesman Lou Thurston said that Brown, who patrols in the city's north precinct, is still on duty.


Brown now faces two counts of animal cruelty, according to court records. Those are Class 1 misdemeanors, carrying a maximum of 12 months in jail and a fine up to $2,500.


In addition to those penalties, the court might require someone convicted of animal cruelty to "attend an anger management or other appropriate treatment program or obtain psychiatric or psychological counseling," according to state code.

Brown was at Thursday's General District Court hearing, during which Judge Alfred O. Masters, Jr. determined to return the dogs.

"The law requires a hearing after a short period of time after the seizure (of the dogs)," Chief Deputy City Attorney Allen Jackson said. "The judge made the decision."

The charges are state code violations but could become city code violations, instead.

"We expect we will become involved," Jackson said.

After the incident, the two dogs were removed and taken to a veterinarian, who found "fresh abrasions and bruising consistent with being struck with an object and kicked," according to the complaint.

Brown, who's been with the Police Department since 2005, is scheduled to appear in General District Court on March 26. He's the sixth Newport News police officer since August to face criminal charges.



Sources:
http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/15346/VA/US/
http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/dp-local_nnanimal