making tracks spring 2010

2010

Humane Society of Tampa Bay

March 6, 2010

Newsletter of the Humane Society of Tampa Bay Spring 2010

Join Us!!!

Pets for Seniors Page 3Bark in the Park Page 4A Story of Survival Page 6 Wellness Clinic Expands Page 9

InsIde ThIs Issue

Making Tracks • Newsletter of the Humane Society of Tampa Bay

I am happy to report to you, our loyal supporters, that we met our 2009 goals! We completed 5,305 adoptions of dogs, cats, puppies and kittens. We sterilized 10,245 dogs and cats in our low cost spay/neuter clinic. Many of these were feral or free roaming cats which have thousands of kittens each year. We fed over 23,000 dogs and cats for a total of almost 300,000 pounds of pet food so that people would not have to give up their pets because they couldn’t afford to feed them. We also made monthly deliveries of pet food to 124 homebound and elderly pet owners so that they wouldn’t have to share their “people food” with their pet. We opened our Wellness Clinic on May 2, 2009 for Saturday appointments and we have seen over 1,364 clients. In

January we extended our hours to Friday and on March 7, 2010 we will be open on Sundays. We are providing life saving vaccinations, heartworm tests and medications to animals at very affordable rates so that the owners will not have to turn their pets in to a shelter. The Humane Society of Tampa Bay’s main focus is still on adoption of homeless animals and offering low cost sterilization and preventative care to animals. We will also continue to put our resources in to the community by helping dogs and cats and their owners so that they can keep their pets in this difficult economy. Stay tuned for an exciting and productive 2010!

Sherry SilkExecutive Director

[email protected](813) 774-4309

Board of DirectorsPresident:

Holly O’Brien

Co-Vice Presidents:Curtis Brown

Joanne Spurlino

Treasurer:Audrey Hirst

Secretary:Cynthia Sarff

Mary BirrellTrenton H. Cotney

Tara HoodConnie Johnson

Linda ReitzJoanne Rice

Advisory Board:Victoria J. Alvarez, P.A.

Councilman John DingfelderCommissioner Rose Ferlita

Richard GonzmartShelley Harper, D.V.M.

Callum Hay, D.V.M.Dennis McCullough

Dominque MellowMelissa Mueller, D.V.M.

Bob ReinaDavid Rieth

Susan RiethKaryn Ringhaver

Allison RobertsBill Zingalie, D.V.M.

Editor:Lisa Knight

[email protected](813) 367-2078

Contributors:Sherry Silk

Pam BackerDr. Karla BardCathy BellatinBrandi BurketNancy McCallBen Moehnert

Layout & Design:DebraRobertsDesign,LLC.

Making Tracks is a newsletter published quarterly

free of charge to our donors by the Humane Society of

Tampa Bay located at 3607 N Armenia Ave, Tampa FL 33607 For further information please contact the Editor: Lisa Knight

813-367-2078

Letter from the Executive Director

Sherry SilkExecutive Director

HSTB Completes it’s 5,000th Adoption!!

The 5,000th adoption for 2009 went to Vanessa Johnson with the adoption of Rider, a 12 week old black kitten. Tracy Smith and Jamie Wilson helped process the adoption.

Rider going home with his new mom!


Pets for Seniors…Each year Purina® awards the Humane Society of Tampa Bay 50 reduced cost adoptions for seniors aged 60 and older. A $50 discount is available to the first 50 seniors who apply at the Adoption Desk.

Senior dogs and cats make terrific companions for senior people! Older animals are often overlooked at shelters, but make great pets. Most are already housetrained and much calmer than younger pets. In addition to obvious companionship, taking care of a pet also helps to reduce one’s blood pressure and stress levels, decreases depression and encourages more exercise. Please consider adopting a senior pet today!

During 2009 the Humane Society of Tampa Bay saw tremendous growth in the number of under aged animals needing help. In response to this need, Stephanie O’Quinn-Surber recently became our Foster Care Coordinator. For the year prior Stephanie worked at HSTB as an Animal Attendant. As the Foster Care Coordinator Stephanie now helps find foster homes for underage puppies and kittens, pets that need help with socialization and special needs animals. Currently we have 88 animals in foster care. HSTB provides foster parents with all the necessary food, supplies, crates, etc. The foster parents provide the time and love! If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a foster parent, please contact Stephanie at either [email protected] or call Stephanie at 813-876-7138 x 2221. Welcome aboard Stephanie!

Meet our new Foster Care Coordinator…

“Lovely Girl” going home with Leota Gillette using the Pets for Seniors Program.


Bark in the Park 2010

2010


“Bark O’ The Irish”Fundraising Walk for the Animals

Saturday, March 6, 2010 8:30am – 12:00 noon

Al Lopez Park in Tampa 4810 North Himes Avenue

You can make a difference! Collect donations as a “pack” or individual walker to help the Humane Society of Tampa Bay provide shelter, food, spay/neuter services and medical care for the thousands of animals that are relinquished to our shelter each year.

For more de-“tails”, to download a registration form, or for sponsorship and vendor opportunities, please contact Cathy Bellatin at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay Special Events department at (813) 876-4150 or log on to:

www.humanesocietytampa.org or www.firstgiving.com/hstb

8:30amRegistration, demonstrations, sponsor/

vendors open. 10:00am

One mile walk begins.

Pet contests begin immediately after the walk.

Activities will continue until noon.

Form a “PACK” or walk as an individual ⇲Collect donations from co-workers, friends ⇲and family Create your own ⇲ FREE WEB PAGE

View the pet friendly demonstrations ⇲Take part in the dog treat hunt ⇲Enjoy doggie arts and crafts ⇲Visit the many vendor & sponsor booths ⇲

Compete in pet contests: costume, pet/owner look alike, silly dog tricks and best themed attire- ⇲ Bark O’ The Irish. Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each category.


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A Story of SurvivalBy Sherry Silk

Often times Hillsborough County Animal Services will call us to take cruelty cases that need extra care and fostering until they are ready to be put up for adoption. When they called us about Betty Boop and Coby, the staff was shocked to see the 2 emaciated dogs. They were skeletons. What is more shocking is that they were owned by 2 brothers who kept the dogs in a cage and said they just couldn’t afford to feed them. (This is certainly untrue because HSTB offers free food to people who are in need). They are being charged with cruelty to animals by Hillsborough County Animal Services. We hope that the judge will never allow them to own animals again. Both dogs were put in a foster home and started to gain weight steadily. They are both very sweet and just love to be with people. They will be put up for adoption as soon as they are strong enough. Remember to call HCAS at 813-744-5660 if you see an animal neglected or abused.

Pitbulls in our Community…Across this country, shelters are full of pit bull and pit mixes. HSTB does put them up for adoption (many shelters do not) because we know how great the dogs can be. Because of the stereotype of the breed, they often sit in our shelter for a long time before we can find the right owners. We are so happy that the recent calendar “Pin Ups for Pit Bulls” actually featured one of our animals. Thank you to Lisa Presnail for doing the beautiful photograph. We are also gratified that the family that owns the Tampa Bay Lighting adopted “Willow”, one of our favorite pit bulls. We received Willow from her owner who was in the military and was going overseas. He could find no one to adopt his pit bull so he brought her to HSTB since we are a no kill for space shelter. Willow now has the perfect home with the Koules family. Don’t you just love happy endings?

Coby arriving at HSTB. He weighed just 20 pounds and was so weak he had to be carried in.

Betty Boop arriving at HSTB. She weighed just 15 pounds, less than half her recommended weight.

HSTB’s kitten, Eli, is featured on November’s calendar in “Pin Ups for Pit Bulls”.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Presnail, Little Pet Project.

One of our friendly pitbulls, Willow, going home with Shereen Koules.


Great work Holly!

My shelter dog, Holly (whom we adopted at HSTB) saved my life last night. I am a type I diabetic who uses an insulin pump. I was having trouble with my pump yesterday and, after it woke me several times, I decided to sleep on the couch so it wouldn’t disturb my husband, Skip. At 4:00 a.m. Holly woke Skip from a sound sleep with her loud crying and barking. He found me on the couch, drenched in sweat and unresponsive due to a low blood sugar. He said I had just enough lucidity to drink the soda he offered me followed by Karo syrup. Holly saved me by alerting my husband to the problem. We are so grateful to the HSTB for the work you do. Holly is our second shelter dog...we won’t look anywhere else for a pet.

Gratefully, Philis Wickens

Holly Saved my Life!


Volunteer of the Quarter...By Ben Moehnert

This month’s volunteer of the quarter is Keith Orsini. Keith has been a volunteer at HSTB for 6 months and has almost 200 volunteer hours. Keith works with the cats and assisting the public with adoption visits. Keith takes the time to get to know the cats as much as possible, especially our longer term residents. He even created “Fast Fact Cards” that highlight a cat’s name, age, adoption fee, and personality. Keith often comes in before his volunteer shift to update these cards that help the public and other volunteers so much. In addition, Keith helps our Outreach Coordinator by doing outreach events, providing information on HSTB and all of our programs. Keith always has great ideas, and is a huge motivator to the staff and other volunteers. Thank you for everything you do for the animals and HSTB. Keep up the good work!

Pedicures for Pets…By Dr. Terry Spencer

While you don’t need to soak their paws and paint their nails, it is important to keep your pet’s nails trimmed short. When your pet’s nails are too long, they can click on the floor, catch in your curtains, cause your pet to slip and slide, and can actually break off and leave the painful “quick” exposed causing your pet to be lame for weeks. Some very neglected pets have nails so long they embed into their paws, resulting in pain with every step.

When is the best time to trim your pet’s nails? Start early and trim often! Begin when your pet is a puppy or a kitten by getting them used to letting you handle their paws and touch their nails everyday. When puppies and kittens are very small, you can use the same nail trimmers you might use on your own nails to keep the sharp tips clipped. As the pet grows however, you will need to purchase a nail trimmer designed for pets. Nails might need to be trimmed every couple of weeks. It depends on what sort of surfaces your pet walks on and how much exercise they get. Very active dogs that spend time walking on sidewalks may wear their nails down enough that they only need an occasional trim. Indoor couch potatoes might need a trim every two weeks. Cats that don’t have access to a variety of scratching posts might also need more frequent trims.

To prevent cutting back too far, take only tiny “nips” with your clippers. For dark colored nails trim just until you see a white spot in the center of the nail indicating you are close to the “quick.” For very long nails, it is best to trim every two weeks than to risk an injury. What to do if you accidentally cut a nail too short and it starts to bleed? First, apologize to your pet! Secondly, coat the tip of the nail with cornstarch, baby powder, or a commercial styptic powder to help it clot.

Technician Alice Parnell helps trim an adoption dog’s nails.


HSTB’s Wellness Clinic to expand!When we opened our affordable Wellness Clinic in May, we knew that there was a huge demand for affordable vet care. There has been such a large demand, that we are happy to announce we will now also be open on Fridays (effective January 22) and Sundays (starting March 7). The Wellness Clinic offers many services including:

To make an appointment call813-870-3304.

(Walk-ins are also welcome)

Wellness Clinic HoursFriday 9am - 3pm

Saturday 9am - 3pmSunday (beginning March 7) 9am - 3pm

HSTB offers extremely competitive pricing on flea and heartworm prevention products. In addition, a small amount of the price goes towards fundraising for HSTB. Please consider purchasing your flea and heartworm products at HSTB available during our regular business hours.

HSTB Offers Affordable Flea Prevention Products

Cat ProdcutsRevolution

Frontline PlusAdvantage

Capstar

Dog ProdcutsFrontline Plus

AdvantageCapstar

ComfortisHeartguardRevolution

Tri-Heart Plus

Follow Up From Last Newsletter…Many of you asked about Noel & Breeze, the two dogs that were rescued from living in a 3 foot backyard area and tied to chains. We are happy to tell you both dogs have found a great home!

Physical Exams•Vaccinations•De-worming•

Nail Trims•Heartworm Tests & Preventative medication•Wound Treatments•

Noel (now named Mya) going home with her new parents Brenna & Mike Abell. Noel will enjoy

hiking and boating with her new family!

Breeze went home with Timothy Smith and Kelli

Holleman. She will be the “only child” and is sure to

be spoiled!


Successful Adoptions...The Dada family actually came in from Orlando looking to adopt a kitten they saw online and instead fell in love with the adult cat Happy. It was perfect, everyone who knows Happy understands why his name is that, this cat is the best!!!! He grabbed on to the daughter with his bear hugs and that was it!!

When MacDill Wingman Alexander Wright agreed to perform at the opening ceremony of the November 14th Pet Adoption Expo held at the Florida State Fairgrounds, he had no idea he wouldn’t be leaving alone! He fell in love and adopted an 8 week shepherd mix named Chardonnay.

During our Veteran’s Day promotion veterans received $1 off an adoption fee for each month served in the military. Ruby and her brother Max, both 6 months old, were adopted by James Wysong, a first time cat owner and a veteran who served our country for four years! The total adoption fee for both cats was a whopping $2! How can that picture not make you smile?

Robie was a skinny little puppy that was transferred to us with the name “Goner” because he was so skinny they didn’t think he would make it. He had put on a little weight and had a nice photo shoot with a local photographer. Robie went home with The Ledcaulr’s who have two children ages 10 and 13. They are going to crate train him and Mom can’t wait to start running with him! They were such nice people and we are all thrilled for them and Robie!

“My fiance and I adopted our adorable coonhound from the Humane Society of Tampa Bay a year ago this month. His name is Homer (previously called Elvis). We also adopted our chow/shepherd mix 10 months ago from HSTB, his name is Troy (previously called Pluto). We just want to tell you again this Christmas how extremely grateful we are that you brought our two wonderful dogs into our lives. Not only did they find their forever home, we found our forever dogs. Again, and I don’t think we can say it enough, thank you, thank you, thank you. For helping dogs, cats, and humans find their soul animal, day after day. We appreciate you!”

-Sarah TurnerHomer Troy


Bob Reina, of Talk Fusion, recently visited our shelter and noticed that some of our dog beds were broken. He surprised us by purchasing brand new Kuranda beds (the Cadillac of all dog beds!) for each of our dogs. Not only did he buy them and put them together, he brought his office staff to our shelter to help give each dog their new bed. The dogs love them Bob!

Special Thanks!

Special thanks to DelMonte Foods for donating 8,000 pounds of dog

and cat food to HSTB!

Thanks to Ameriprise Financial for 2,000 pounds of pet food!

Special thanks to Downtown Dogs, Hyde Park Village, Interior Spaces, Inc., International Plaza, MacDinton’s Irish Pub, Mastro Subaru, John Parker, Pet Smart, Shapes Total Fitness for Women,

Skippers Smokehouse and Wine Exchange Bistro!

Thank you to the following groups for donating a day of work at the shelter!Blue Cross/Blue Shield

Chai-Jewish Singles Group Citigroup

Thank you to the following groups and individuals for having pet food drives!Ameriprise Financial (Lance Becatti)

Anne FontaineBull Market (Brittany Stevenson)

Delta AirlinesDowntown Dogs

Jones Lang LaSalleLine X

Michael Murphy Gallery Social Zombie Club

Erin Smith

PCL Civil Constructors, Inc. (Judy Robilatta)Robert Harwell Planning & Construction

Tania RomeroSt. Catherine’s Church

Tampa Bay Buccaneers & The Glazer Family FoundationTampa Bay Lightning

TECORE Management Group (Eric Brown)WAG Pet Boutique

USAA

Dedicated to ending animal homelessness and providing

care and comfort for companion animals in need.


3607 N Armenia Ave.Tampa, FL 33607

(813) 876-7138

Adoption Hours:Sunday

Noon - 5:00 p.m.MondayClosed

Tuesday & WednesdayNoon - 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Friday, SaturdayNoon - 5:00 p.m.

Spay/Neuter ClinicMonday - Friday

7:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.(813) 870-3304

Wellness ClinicFriday

9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.Saturday

9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.(813) 870-3304

Call for an appointment

March, 201022nd Annual Bark in the Park

Bark O’ the IrishSaturday, March 6th - SAVE THE DATE!!

8:30am-12 noon at Al Lopez Park

Raise funds for the Humane Society of Tampa Bay and have a doggone good time! We invite you and your furry friends to dress up in your favorite St. Paddy’s Day attire to help us celebrate! Visit www.firstgiving.com/hstb to learn more about how YOU can make a difference by forming a pack

and walking for the animals or becoming a sponsor/vendor for Bark in the Park 2010.

May, 2010Tuxes and Tails

Saturday, May 15th - SAVE THE DATE!!6:00pm-11:00pm at the Tampa Convention Center

Tickets - $125 per person

Join us as celebrity models team up with their pets or with a Humane Society of Tampa Bay adorable adoptable to strut their stuff on the catwalk. In addition to the fashion show, attendees will be treated

to an evening of live entertainment, a high end silent and live auction and a sumptuous dinner.

Calendar of Events

Special Events are added frequently so please check our web site for updates: www.humanesocietytampa.org/special-events

making tracks spring 2010

Documents

humane society of tampa

tampa fl

seniors page

tracks newsletter

adoption of rider

th adoption

park page

adoption of homeless