Impact

Medical care continues to be our biggest need, whether it’s shelter animals with life-threatening injuries and illnesses, or owners who face the prospect of surrendering beloved pets to area shelters because veterinary care is beyond their means – a situation exacerbated by the ravages of COVID. Your dollars provided more than a quarter-million dollars for medical care in 2021.

 

A nationwide shortage of veterinarians has heavily impacted the ability to spay and neuter shelter pets, owned animals, and feral cats. Nevertheless, you made it possible for us to spend more than $130,000 to spay and neuter hundreds of animals at area clinics. These efforts include an ongoing feral cat clinic that can accommodate as many at 50 cats weekly at the Community Spay Neuter Clinic at a cost of $10,000 to $15,000 every month.

 

Recognizing that rescue groups provide a critical safety net to help save shelter animals, your dollars funded cash grants to rescues that save animals with medical or behavioral issues that would otherwise present difficult fundraising challenges to cover costs. We also donated to and sponsored fundraisers for rescues and other animal-welfare organizations to assure their continuing vitality, including rescues that specialize in difficult-to-adopt dog breeds, community cats, and even the rescue of injured wildlife. We devoted almost $35,000 to rescues and other organizations and are expanding our efforts in 2022 as long as you make it possible.

The Front Street Animal Shelter initiated free, monthly vaccination and microchip clinics to ensure that all families have access to this crucial care. Your donations paid contract veterinarians to provide the state-mandated supervision of these clinics. In addition, you provided funding for contract vets and registered vet techs when needed in the shelter’s medical operations to ensure that Front Street is always able to provide quality care to shelter animals. Along the same line, our donors allowed us to improve medical care in the shelter by funding a dental x-ray to bring this needed care in-shelter rather than relying solely on outside veterinary care. Together, these initiatives cost more than $30,000.

 

We spent nearly $20,000 in 2021 to ensure that pets belonging to persons experiencing homelessness and other disadvantaged individuals and families receive pet care along with their own health care. Your dollars bought vaccines, microchips, flea and tick collars, leashes, dental chews, and more.