Join Dallas City Councilmember Delia Jasso and Dallas Animal Services for the Kick-Off of the Dallas Loves Animals Campaign promoting animal adoptions and responsible pet ownership.

It looks like it’ll be a great day with fun activities and giveaways:

• Meet the Amazing Grace, the Dallas Loves Animals Spokesdog
• FREE Valentine’s Photos of You and Your Pet
• FREE T-shirt With Every Adoption on Feb. 12
• Goody Bags for First 200 Guests
• Low-cost Dog and Cat Vaccinations
• FREE Dog Beds for large dogs adopted on Feb. 12 (while supplies last)
• FREE Grooming Certificate with every adoption on Feb. 12 (Courtesy of The Petropolitan)

So when and where is this awesome event? It’s this Saturday, February 12, 2011. The agenda is as follows:

• 11 a.m. Press Conference
• 12 – 4 p.m. Event Activities
• 11 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Open for Adoptions

And it’s at Dallas Animal Services and Adoption Center, 1818 N. Westmoreland Road at I-30 Dallas, Texas 75212  www.DallasAnimalServices.org – For more information visit www.DallasLovesAnimals.com

View the event flyer here.

So when we were able to secure funding for 92 feral cat dens from the Petco Foundation, we were more than excited to play Santa for the felines at Dallas Animal Services last week! Each of the lost cat kennels now has a den and the cats are already taking full advantage of them.

The dens are cat-approved – photo: Dallas Animal Services

Experts believe that hiding places for cats in shelters are critical to reducing their stress. This will, in turn, hopefully improve adoption rates (and correspondingly reduce euthanasia numbers) by allowing cats to relax enough to demonstrate adoptable behaviors that otherwise remain hidden.

Reducing stress in shelter cats has also been shown to keep them healthier and safer.

To read more about this exciting improvement in the DAS cats’ situations, and to see more photos, check out Rebecca Poling’s Examiner article and slide show.

Emergency Animal Sheltering (EAS) is intended to prepare volunteers to serve at emergency shelters for pets and animals evacuated or displaced in the event of a disaster. Information covered in this course is vital for dealing with any large-scale animal sheltering operation. The training includes one and a half days of classroom instruction combined with tabletop exercises to give students an opportunity to practice new skills using practical scenarios.

For a full itinerary, course details and registration information, see the brochure on the Humane Society University site. There is pre-reading, and certificates will be awarded on completion.

Registration Fees and Dates:

$105 (before September 29, 2010)

Register early! Space is limited to 60 (a minimum of 35 registrants is required).

Registration deadline is September 29, 2010 – No refunds will be given after this date.

When and Where:

Saturday and Sunday, October 9 & 10, 2010
10:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. (Saturday)
11:00 a.m. ?-6:00 p.m. (Sunday)
Check-in begins at 10:00 a.m. (Saturday)

Training Venue:

REI Dallas Store
4515 LBJ Freeway, Dallas, TX 75244

Download the registration form here!

Whether you pull animals from Dallas Animal Services every week or even just one a year, this will be a great opportunity for you to meet the Lieutenant and get to know him. 

We think you will be pleasantly surprised.  He has the full support of Companions For Life and that of a number of members of the Animal Shelter Commission. 

But he’d like to hear from you.  What do you think he can do to keep Dallas Animal Services’ rescue program on track? What can be done to capitalize on the phenomenal increase in animals going to rescue since Mark Cooper took over?  How can Dallas Animal Services and the local rescue community work together to save even more lives?

This is your chance to offer your input and find out what his priorities are and what you can expect in the future. 

Where are we meeting?

The meetings will be in the conference room at Dallas Animal Services, 1818 N. Westmoreland, Dallas, 75212. 

When are we meeting?

You can chose from one of two dates –

• Saturday 10/2 from 9:30- 11:30 (please RSVP by 9/30/2010)

Or

• Thursday 10/14 from 6:30-8:30 (please RSVP by 10/12/2010)

Please RSVP to Rebecca Poling at info@companionsforlife.org so we’ll know who all is coming (and can order refreshments accordingly).  The conference room is a great meeting space, but it is not large, so please limit attendees to 2-3 per group in order to accommodate everyone. 

We hope to see you there!

The compliance training will culminate in a free 3-day mini-conference August 31st  – September 2nd, hosted by Companions For Life and open to staff from any North Texas area municipal shelter.

Companions For Life is bringing in experts from HSUS, American Humane, Humane Services International, and the ASPCA to cover a comprehensive agenda that should not be missed! Subjects range from animal handling and field safety, to dog breed identification, dealing with urban wildlife, disease control, customer service and compassion fatigue.  Continuing education credits are also available to animal control officers for this training.

Download the full agenda here.

PetsMart Charities is helping to cover travel costs for the speakers, but Companions For Life is looking for donors to help cover the remaining $500, as well as two small sponsorship of $ 150 each to provide refreshments for conference attendees. 

If you can help, please contact Rebecca at info@companionsforlife.org, donate via PayPal to info@companionsforlife.org or send a check to: Companions For Life P.O. Box 794073 Dallas, Texas.

After the success of our partnership with the HSUS in June, to bring Disaster Animal Response Team (DART) training to Dallas, we are excited to announce that we’re co-sponsoring another awesome training opportunity with the HSUS: Registrations are now open for a two-day HSUS Emergency Animal Sheltering workshop to be offered Saturday and Sunday October 9 & 10, 2010!

A mixture of theory and practical training, this workshop is intended to prepare volunteers to serve at emergency shelters for pets and animals evacuated or displaced in the event of a disaster. Information covered in this course is vital for dealing with any large-scale animal sheltering operation and essential to ensure we are prepared for natural and man-made disasters.

Cost is a very reasonable $95 (for early bird registrations received before August 29 – after that it goes up to $105) and registrations close September 29.

Register now and put it in your calendar: October 9 & 10 at the REI Dallas store – hurry, space is limited!

For more details, see http://bit.ly/97oKfl

The HSUS Disaster Animal Response Team (DART) is the premier basic training for animal disaster responders nationwide. This 3-day course is designed to familiarize participants with disaster situations and provide the background necessary to become an effective emergency animal relief responder.

Companions for Life are proud to partner with the HSUS to offer this workshop at the new Cowboy Stadium June 14-16th – this workshop is the only one of its kind in Texas this year so don’t miss this opportunity ! You must have this course to apply to be part of HSUS’ National Disaster Response team.

Cost is $150, workshop runs June 14th –16th; sign up by June 3rd.

Be quick! Space is limited to 50 (a minimum of 35 registrants is required).

REGISTRATION FORM AND COURSE DETAILS

• They built formal partnerships with local humane societies and animal rescues to remove animals from the county shelter before they’re killed.
• These no-kill shelters are also able to treat animals with some medical conditions that would otherwise mean death at the county shelter.
• Reaching out to rescue organizations across the country and sending animals with volunteer drivers to reputable groups as far away as Connecticut and New York has also helped to ease the pinch.
• Another part of reducing the euthanasia rate is getting owners to spay and neuter their pets – this has included making low-cost spay and neuter available all around the county in partnership with a local humane society, and giving animal control officers spay and neuter vouchers for pet owners who cannot afford the surgeries.

Some physical improvements have also enabled the county shelter to run more smoothly:

• Shuffling resources to make sure each of the county’s six animal-control officers have access to a computer and telephone line, so they’re not having to share.
• Installing a sewer system gives employees time back by eliminating septic tank floods and cleanups.

One more thing would further reduce euthanasia, and that is foster homes – somewhere for kittens and puppies to stay until they weigh enough to be spayed or neutered so they can then be adopted. This can be as short as a few weeks and can help ease the space pressure that drives euthanasia.

What is your local county shelter doing to improve adoptions or reduce euthanasia? We’d love to hear and share ideas!

Lately we have had a couple of rescue groups ask where anyone is finding heartworm medications to treat their dogs and so we asked around. 

According to a well-respected, rescue-friendly vet in Garland TX, while vets cannot STOCK Immiticide at this time, they can ORDER it. All your vet has to do is call Merial and order it. Merial is in the process of obtaining FDA waivers to source the medicine from their European supplier. This vet has treated six heartworm cases in the last month or so without any problems and there’s been no change in cost.

So we’re encouraging everyone who needs heartworm medicine to check again with your vets especially if you haven’t talked with them recently. Encourage your vet to call Merial and ask about getting supplies of Immiticide from their European distributors.

And if your dog has not tested positive for heartworm, be thankful and make sure you remember your dog’s heartworm preventive!