Category: HSTB News

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Tampa, FL. (May, 2022) – Humane Society of Tampa Bay received a $200,000 grant investment for 2022 & 2023 from national nonprofit Petco Love during a special celebration at Westshore Petco at 136 S. Westshore Boulevard in Tampa, Florida. This took place on May 19th at 11 a.m. in support of their lifesaving work for animals in the Tampa Bay area.

Petco Love is a national nonprofit leading change for pets by harnessing the power of love to make communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since its founding in 1999, Petco Love has invested $330 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. And Petco Love helps find loving homes for pets in partnership with Petco and more than 4,000 organizations — like ours — across North America, with 6.5 million pets adopted and counting.

“The Humane Society of Tampa (HSTB) is a leader in animal welfare in an area of Florida where a lot of work is still needed to create lifesaving communities for animals,” said Susanne Kogut, president of Petco Love. “Despite the pandemic, HSTB continues to partner with their local Petco for adoptions and works tirelessly to improve the lives of pets.”

The investment in the Humane Society of Tampa Bay is part of more than $30M in investments recently announced by Petco Love to power local organizations across the country as part of its commitment to create a future in which no pet is unnecessarily euthanized. Petco Love recently celebrated the one-year launch anniversary of Petco Love Lost, a national lost and found database that uses pet facial recognition technology to simplify the search for lost pets.

Petco Love grant of $200k to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay

“The Humane Society of Tampa Bay tremendously appreciates Petco Love supporting the lifesaving work that our shelter provides day in and day out for the Tampa Bay community,” said Sherry Silk, Humane Society of Tampa Bay’s CEO.

For more than 100 years, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay has been dedicated to ending animal homelessness and providing care and comfort for companion animals in need. Named a Four-Star Charity by Charity Navigator and accredited by AAHA, the standard in veterinary excellence, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay is dedicated to the highest standards in animal sheltering and veterinary care. The Humane Society of Tampa Bay’s adoption programs, affordable veterinary services, community outreach efforts, and volunteer opportunities are essential to the health and well-being of animals across Tampa Bay.

For more information about the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, visit humanesocietytampa.org. Learn more about Petco Love here: petcolove.org.

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About the Humane Society of Tampa Bay: For more than 100 years, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay has been dedicated to our vision of leading the way because every life counts. Named a Four-Star Charity by Charity Navigator since 2008, designated a Platinum Participator with GuideStar, and accredited by AAHA, the standard in veterinary excellence, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay is dedicated to the highest standards in animal sheltering and veterinary care. Our adoption programs, affordable veterinary services, community outreach efforts and volunteer opportunities are essential to the health and well-being of thousands of animals across Tampa Bay. Visit humanesocietytampa.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube to learn more about our programs and the animals we help every day.

 

About Petco Love: Petco Love is a life-changing nonprofit organization that makes communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since our founding in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, we’ve empowered animal welfare organizations by investing $330 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. We’ve helped find loving homes for more than 6.5 million pets in partnership with Petco and organizations nationwide.

Our love for pets drives us to lead with innovation, creating tools animal lovers need to reunite lost pets, and lead with passion, inspiring and mobilizing communities and our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners to drive lifesaving change alongside us.  Join us. Visit petcolove.org or follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to be part of the lifesaving work we lead every day.

 

 

We are excited to team up with AGoldPhoto Pet Photography to create a Fundraising Coffee Table Book titled, “Tails of Gratitude – A Collection of Thank You Notes from People to Their pets” in an effort to raise much needed funds for the shelter.

The goal of the project is to raise $7,500 which could help the shelter vaccinate 260 animals, spay/neuter surgeries for 110 animals and shelter 375 animals for 1 day.

Participation in the book will be facilitated via an application process and successful applicants will be guaranteed a double page spread in the book and pay a $150 registration fee, 100% of which will be donated to the shelter. The book is set to publish late November/early December 2021.

Photo Shoots will take place at AGoldPhoto Pet Photo Studio, located in South Tampa. Participants will get to select their favorite photo for the book and have the opportunity to purchase printed photographic artwork for their home or office. “We’re so grateful to be the recipient of funds from this coffee table book project with AGoldPhoto Pet Photography.” Said Sherry Silk, CEO of Humane Society of Tampa Bay. “2020 was a challenging year, not only for the shelter, but for pet parents as well. We can’t wait to see what pet parents want to thank their pets for.

“We’re beyond excited to launch this project with the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. Our pets are part of the family and we’re thankful for them every day.” Explained Adam, Co-Owner and Photographer of AGoldPhoto Pet Photo Studio” The funds raised from this project will help shelter animals in need and bring pets and their people closer together through photography”

The application to participate in the project can be found at agoldphoto.com/book.

About AGoldPhoto Pet Photography
AGoldPhoto Pet Photography is made up of a husband and wife team, Mary and Adam Goldberg. The couple started taking photos of adoptable animals at Humane Society of Tampa Bay in 2016 and have since opened their own photo studio in South Tampa. They have raised over $250,000 for animal shelters and rescues all over the country.

What is TNVR?

TNVR is the internationally proven practice of humanely trapping, spaying/neutering, vaccinating, ear tipping feral or outdoor cats and then returning them to their neighborhoods. Successful TNVR involves a volunteer caretaker who provides food and water.  TNVR has been shown to be the least costly, most efficient and most humane way to stabilize cat populations. There is a lot of bad information from people who do not like cats and  from some media in our community. These are the facts.

Why TNVR?

TNVR stabilizes the outdoor cat population (fewer to no births), resulting in lower animal control costs, reducing nuisance complaints by residents, addressing neighbors’ concerns, alleviating public health concerns, and improving the cats’ lives.  Additionally, cats provide rodent control for the neighborhood or businesses. Cats put in this program are unsocial and therefore not unadoptable.

Saves Lives

Since 2008, through our TNVR program we have helped over 60,000 outdoor cats. It gives cats a second chance at life as feral cats are unable to be adopted since they are unsocial.

Improves Quality of Life

TNVR improves outdoor cats’ lives. As long as there is someone to feed the cats, they can have a good life.

TNVR Keeps the Community Safe

Through TNVR all outdoor cats are administered a rabies vaccine.

Long-Term Solution to Stabilize Feral Cat Population

Leaving the cats where they are and spaying or neutering them through TNVR is the only hope for these cats. They would be euthanized in a shelter because they are unsocial. Sterilizing a sufficient percentage of the cats breaks the reproductive cycle and the combination of sterilization and attrition can gradually lead to a reduced population.

Nuisance Behavior Reduced

The nuisance behavior often associated with feral and free-roaming cats is dramatically reduced; including the yowling and fighting that come with mating activity and the odor of unneutered males spraying to mark their territory. Male urine spray smells are eliminated.

TNVR Saves Taxpayer′s Money

Catching and killing cats has been a futile effort used by animal control and shelters across the country for decades. Continuing an approach that is clearly not working is a waste of taxpayer dollars. TNVR works and saves taxpayer’s money by reducing cats in our public shelters.

Meet the Official Dog of the Mayor’s Office!

Mayor Jane Castor adopted Cookie from us this week and we couldn’t be more thrilled! She came to us as a owner surrender and Mayor Castor heard about her story and fell in love with her.
Stay tuned with us on our social media accounts to hear updates on how Cookie is enjoying her new role!
Want to help Mayor Jane Castor re-name Cookie? Leave your suggestion on her puppy poll!

What does it mean?

AAHA stands for the American Animal Hospital Association. AAHA is the only veterinary hospital association in America that provides accreditation to companion animal hospitals. The accreditation process for veterinary hospitals is voluntary, that means that a veterinary clinic has to want to become AAHA accredited because they want to be the gold standard for medical care for their four-legged patients.

To become accredited takes rigor and a serious investment of time and money. There are more than 900 standards that are evaluated in person every three years.

AAHA has outlined specific protocols, checklists, and guidelines that every accredited hospital must abide by. These protocols, checklists, and guidelines describe the way to practice medicine at the highest level. To become an AAHA accredited hospital, a complete practice audit is performed by the association to evaluate everything from the practice’s medical record keeping to surgery protocols to ensure that the hospital is following these AAHA guidelines and are, in fact, practicing the highest quality of medicine.

The Humane Society of Tampa Bay Animal Hospital has been AAHA accredited for five years (since June 2014). We were the first animal hospital in Florida to receive/maintain this prestigious accreditation and only 15{7745412d95a2321b406eae40e1de3a46791e79f925cd769a0bc2e92f1240c8bc} of animal hospitals in the United States are AAHA accredited.

Standards

AAHA accreditation ensures accredited hospitals are using the most up-to-date technology and requires that veterinarians that work at accredited hospitals stay up-to-date with the latest developments in veterinary medicine through continuing education.

AAHA is continuously updating their standards to meet the changes and updates in veterinary medicine. To stay accredited, a veterinary hospital must pass an audit every three years to show that the practice has updated their practice protocols to meet these changes as well.

Examples

Some examples of practices that AAHA accredited animal hospitals are required to use that some non-accredited animal hospitals might not have include:

  • – Aggressive handling or restraint is prohibited
  • – An oxygen delivery system for critical patients that cannot breathe
  • – Dental X-Ray to better be able to identify and treat dental disease since 90{7745412d95a2321b406eae40e1de3a46791e79f925cd769a0bc2e92f1240c8bc} of dental disease is hidden below the gums
  • – Designated surgical suite
  • – Designated treatment area
  • – Pain assessment is considered part of every patient evaluated

Source: www.aaha.org

Why we decided that we wanted to become AHHA accredited?

We believe that pets are an important part of the family and if accreditation is required for human hospitals than it is just as important for veterinary hospitals.

We wanted to give our clients a tangible way to know that they can trust that we are practicing at the highest level of medicine and feel confident that their pets are being well taken care of at our animal hospital.

In short, WE TRULY LOVE ANIMALS and want to ensure they are well cared for regardless of level of effort, time and cost.

On May 1, 2019 we broke ground on the community’s NEW shelter!
We are beyond excited to begin to build for the future and continue to lead the way because EVERY LIFE COUNTS!
We taped the event for you to watch at your convenience.
SPOILER ALERT: Watch Mayor Jane Castor at 5:45 and an actual building be crushed at 17:25!

We received a call that a frail, thin dog was spotted in a field on Hanna Avenue. Our Community Outreach Manager, Darlene Esposito, immediately responded to the situation. Darlene along with two other staff members (Crystal Lufriu, Lead Kennel Attendant & Dana Johnson, Foster Care Coordinator) approached the scene and at first were unable to see or hear the reported dog. They walked back deep into the field and noticed a shed. Upon careful observance, the team began to hear small cries coming from shed. The shed was locked, but Darlene noticed a small hole underneath the shed. She immediately began to make her way under the shed following the whimpering noises. After a few minutes of searching, she found the source of the cries – 8 puppies!

Darlene carefully pulled all 8 puppies from underneath the shed with the help of Crystal and Dana. The puppies were immediately brought to our medical suite and assessed. All puppies appear to be in good condition and are approximately 14 days old, but this is not the end of this rescue tale…

We needed to rescue their mother. Darlene returned to the field that night and after making a careful assessment of the situation she decided to set a trap and was able to successfully retrieve her in the morning. The mother to these pups was malnourished and in need of care. Our team reunited the mother with her puppies and began giving her the medical attention she needed.

Mom has been named Winter and her puppies are named – Wanda, Wilbur, Whoopi, Waldo, Wren, Willa, Wade, and Winnie. All dogs are doing well! We are currently working back with our foster database coordinating a home for all 9 dogs so that mom and babies can stay together.

Watch footage of the incredible rescue tale: