Snip Snip Hooray

World Spay Day 2012

 

Today—February 28—is World Spay Day 2012!  World Spay Day is presented by The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International, in partnership with animal welfare organizations such as PAWS, to shine a spotlight on spay/neuter as a proven means of saving animal lives.  

During the month of February, as part of the national Spay Day campaign, PAWS is offering low-cost spay and neuter surgeries, along with other local shelters and clinics in Western Washington.  The goal of Spay Day is to end the suffering of homeless and neglected animals in our community by preventing unwanted litters.

If you’ve ever wondered why spay and neuter is such an important issue, or if you haven’t already spayed or neutered your pet and you’re considering doing so, here are some good reasons to consider:

 

1. Your pet will live a longer, healthier life. For female pets, spaying helps prevent uterine infections and breast cancer.  For males, neutering helps prevents testicular cancer, if done before six months of age.


2. Spay/Neuter is cost effective.  The cost of the spay/neuter surgery will far outweigh the costs of caring for a brand new litter of puppies or kittens.  It will also save you money on trips to the vet when your male gets injured in a fight with another male!


3. Your pet will be better behaved.  Spaying or neutering your pet will reduce many bad behaviors which result from the mating urge, including aggression and marking of territory.


4. Spaying and neutering helps fight overpopulation. Each year, millions of companion animals suffer as strays and are left to fend for themselves.  Spaying and neutering will help reduce unplanned litters.

 PAWS will be running this Spay Day promotion, with heavily discounted spay and neuter fees, through Thursday March 2.  Find out about Spay Day events in your area, or make an appointment today!

Find Love During Our Valentine's Adoption Special

 

Valentine's Day may be over, but there's still time to find true love! We'll be running our Valentine's Adoption Special through this coming Sunday, February 19.  Come in anytime this weekend and we'll take $25 off the adoption fee for select animals. Plus, adopt any cat or dog this month and we'll throw in a delicious treat from our friends at Seattle Chocolates. Come fall in love today!

 

Your Pet Making a Difference for PAWS

Please vote for a PAWS pet!

Today—and throughout the month of February—you can show some love and help PAWS earn critical, lifesaving spay/neuter funds with the click of a mouse. It’s easy! Just vote for any one of the animals listed on the PAWS page in the World Spay Day 2012 Pet Photo Contest.  

 

Here's how:

• Visit the photo contest page on the Humane Society World Spay Day website.
• Click on the “Search Pets” tab.
• Next to “Filter by Local Organization:” click on “United States.”
• Select WA as your state.
• Click on our shelter name: Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). A vote for any of the pet photos shown in this view directly benefits PAWS!
   

Have a cute dog or cat of your own?  You can enter your own pet’s photo in the contest. Ask your friends, family and colleagues to vote for your pet's photo ($1 per vote).  Each vote means a $1 donation to PAWS!

 

The earlier you enter, the more time you’ll have to get votes and raise critical awareness and spay/neuter funds for PAWS.

Vote now for a PAWS pet or upload a photo of your pet to get started.

The animals at PAWS thank you for your support!

Get Sweet on Animals This Valentine's Day

 

Looking for ways to make your Valentine's Day a little sweeter?  Give some love not only to your special someone, but to a homeless or shelter animal as well!  If you're not sure how to get started, we've put together a short list of ways that you can be a sweetheart for animals in your community:

 

1. Support your shelter. Shelters provide a variety of rewarding opportunities to help animals in your community.  Share the love by volunteering your time, fostering a sick or newborn animal, making a donation, and more!
2. Live Humanely. Show your love for animals by considering their welfare in the every day choices you make.
3. Spread the word.  Write a letter to the editor of a local paper, share posts from PAWS' blog to encourage others to speak up, or become a fan of PAWS on Facebook and spread the word about important animal issues.
4. Spend some quality time. It's the day of love, so shower your pet with some!  Take your pup to the dog park and throw around the ball, or curl up with your cat to watch a movie.  Spreading the love starts at home! 

 

These are just a few ways to show animals some love this Valentine's Day, but there are many more ways that you can help animals every day. Visit paws.org to find out how! 

Thank you for being a champion for animals!

A Very Sweet Valentine

 

February is the month of love, and PAWS wants to help you find the perfect Valentine. So we've teamed up with Seattle Chocolates to bring you a very sweet Valentines day special!  February 11-19, we'll take $25 off the adoption fee for selected animals.  Plus, adopt any dog or cat during the month of February and our friends at Seattle Chocolates will send you home with a delicious treat! 

Come in and find your new sweetheart today!

Spay Day 2012: Saving the Lives of Companion Animals

 

Every year, PAWS takes in and shelters thousands of homeless cats and dogs.  With no family to care for them or warm bed to sleep in, these animals often come to PAWS cold and hungry.  Which is why PAWS has joined forces with HSUS and Humane Society International for the annual World Spay Day campaign to shine a spotlight on spay/neuter—a proven way to save the lives of companion animals, feral cats, and street dogs.

During the month of February, as part of the Spay Day campaign, PAWS will be offering low-cost spay and neuter surgeries, along with other local shelter partners and veterinary clinics in Washington State.

This annual effort helps end the suffering of unwanted and homeless animals in our community by preventing unplanned litters. Spaying and neutering is good for the community and a great way to help our animal friends live longer, healthier lives.

 

How you can participate:

1. Schedule an appointment. Look through the list of participating clinics and contact the clinic nearest you directly to make an appointment.
2. Tell a friend. If your pet is already altered, please encourage your friends and family to do the same for their animals. Share with them the benefits of spaying and neutering.
3. Enter the Spay Day Photo Contest!  If your pet has what it takes to win, enter their photo and ask your friends, family and colleagues to vote for your pet's photo ($1 per vote).  Each vote means a $1 donation to PAWS!
4. Not in Western Washington? Visit the HSUS Spay Day page to find an event in your area.

 

We hope you will join us in championing this very important cause. You can find out more about PAWS' participation in Spay Day 2012 here. Thank you for your support!

Call to Action: Help End the Suffering of Homeless Animals

Please take five minutes today to send an email to your representative and help us get SB 5151, the Spay/Neuter Assistance bill, on the budget. 

This can be done in just two easy steps:  

Step 1.  Use this letter template to help formulate your message. The key point is to emphasize the financial and community benefits of the bill.

Step 2. Email a copy of your letter to the members of the Senate Ways & Means Committee. The email addresses of the members of the committee can be found here.

Please contact info@savewashingtonpets.org if you need assistance with writing your message or identifying your legislator.

This bill will help put an end the suffering of unwanted and homeless animals in our community by preventing unplanned litters. Spaying and neutering is good for the community and a great way to help our animal friends live longer, healthier lives.

On behalf of PAWS and the animals in our community, thank you!

Show Off Your Pet, Win Prizes, Help PAWS Save Lives!

Is your pet the cutest?

Does your four-legged companion have what it takes to win this year’s World Spay Day Pet Photo Contest? Enter now to find out!

Each vote for your pet's photo means a $1 donation to PAWS, to help us spay or neuter even more animals after Spay Day (February 28, 2012) is over.  After you enter, please take advantage of the photo contest’s easy features to share your pet's photo and story with your friends and family, and ask them to vote!

More than 100 people who enter the contest will win prizes ranging from official recognition on the World Spay Day Pet Photo Contest website to an iPad 2 and iPod! The two Grand Prize winners will each win the privilege of awarding a $5,000 grant to the eligible World Spay Day event organizer of their choice. (Hint, hint—choose us!)

 

Here's how to enter your photo:

1. Upload a photo of your pet on the Humane Society Photo Contest website.
2. From the drop-down menu, select PAWS as the organization you would like to benefit from the votes on your pet's photo.
3. Ask your friends, family and colleagues to vote for your pet's photo ($1 per vote).  Each vote means a $1 donation to PAWS!
4. At the end of the contest, PAWS will receive all of the money designated to us by entrants (you) and by voters.

 

The earlier you enter, the more time you’ll have to get votes and raise critical awareness and spay/neuter funds for PAWS.

Upload a photo of your pet now to get started!

Thank you for your support!

45th Adoption of our 45th Year

PAWS has been adopting animals into loving forever homes since 1967.  To celebrate, we recorded the 45th adoption of our 45th year as an organization!  Congratulations to adopter Mackenzie Mangold and her new furry best friend, Ozzie.  Take a look!

 

Anniversary of a New Home

Bramble lets out a friendly warbling meow as he slowly stretches his hind legs. Pacing in front of the large window, he gazes at the birds while inviting passersby to stop and say hello. This handsome black and white gentleman is one of the many cats in residence at the PAWS Cat City facility in the University District, which today celebrates its one-year Anniversary in this new space.

On January 11 of last year, PAWS moved its Cat City facilities from a small, cramped office space in Greenwood to this bright, state-of-the art facility on Roosevelt Way. The new-and-improved Cat City features three separate cat colony rooms where kitties like Bramble can lounge on cushioned bedding, socialize with others cats and roam freely without being confined to a cage. It also features a fully separate visiting room, a station for washing dishes, and a bright and inviting common area for staff and volunteers to greet and counsel prospective adopters.

“Functionally, we have a lot more workspace,” says Cat City Supervisor Steph Renaud. “In the old place, we literally had a sink in the bathroom that functioned as a place to wash hands AND cat food dishes. Now we have space to exercise the animals and give them even more one-on-one attention.”

With its meet-and-greet rooms and large windows, the new facility is designed to showcase Cat City’s eligible four-legged felines, and encourage visitors. So far, it’s a huge success. In the first year of operation, Renaud says they have seen a leap in adoptions. Despite having 42 fewer kittens than average in the past year, Cat City saw a 31% increase in adult adoptions (including bonded pairs and senior cats aged 7 and up). And most importantly, says Renaud, “It’s that many more cats that are living in a colony setting rather than in a cage.”

The new facility also boasts a large retail section to meet the needs of pet-owners and their furry friends alike.

“We have lots of toys, brushes, beds, catnip—basically anything you’d need to get started” says Renaud. Cat City even sells starter kits for first-time adopters, which includes necessities like a litter box and cat bed, plus other toys and goodies that cats will love.

It was a long journey getting to the new facility, but Renaud says that in the end it was worth the wait. “The animals are happier, the staff and volunteers are happier, and that’s the best of both worlds.”