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THE NEW SOLUTION FOR “KITTEN SEASON”: THE BIG MEOW!
Very Cool… Wish More Cities Offered This!
SEAACA & Pet-Connections Offer Exciting No-Cost Spay & Neuter Programs for Indoor-Outdoor Cats to Help Curtail Cat Overpopulation During the Spring Kitten Season
(LOS ANGELES, CA) January 5, 2012 – SEAACA (Southeast Area Animal Control Authority;www.SEAACA.org) and Pet-Connections, Inc. (www.Pet-Connections.org) are helping cat owners who live in the 14 cities served by SEAACA with the BIG MEOW, a program to provide no-cost spay and neuter services for owned free-roaming cats.
The kitten birthing season, which occurs from spring through fall, can overwhelm animal shelters and pet owners. Thousands of homeless kittens born during this protracted season can pose significant community and health concerns. The birthing period occurs during warmer weather months because that is when female cats breed. With preventive measures, such as the BIG MEOW, pet owners can help control the number of unwanted kittens and cats. Now is a great time to participate in this important program before your pet becomes pregnant. An un-spayed female cat, her mate and all of their offspring, producing two litters per year can result in thousands of cats.
The year’s BIG MEOW program features a variety of services for owned free-roaming cats at absolutely no cost to cat owners. Services include spay or neuter, microchip ID (so cats have permanent ID in addition to a collar), vaccines (FVRCP and rabies), one month application of flea and tick control and basic health care at the time of surgery.
“As we enter the ‘Kitten Season’, altering your owned cat helps reduce cat overpopulation and improves the health of your pet,” stresses Dan Morrison, Executive Director of SEAACA. “We believe the BIG MEOW will make a positive impact on our community and its pets.”
In order to participate in the BIG MEOW, cats must be four months to seven years of age. Only owned free-roaming cats are eligible (no feral or wild cats will be accepted). Additionally, cat owners must provide proof of residency in SEAACA service cities and each cat must be in a properly secured kennel or carrier.
To make an appointment and participate in this no-cost program-call the appointment line at 562-803-3301 ext. 251.
For more information about the BIG MEOW or SEAACA, please visit www.seaaca.org..
About SEAACA
SEAACA (Southeast Area Animal Control Authority) provides animal care and control services for 14 cities in southeast Los Angeles County and northern Orange County, including Bell Gardens, Bellflower, Buena Park, Downey, Lakewood, La Palma, Montebello, Norwalk, Paramount, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs, South El Monte, South Gate and Vernon. SEAACA’s Animal Care Center located in Downey reunites pet owners with lost pets and assists new pet owners with pet adoptions. SEAACA’s Animal Wellness Clinic, also located in Downey, spays and neuters all adoption animals plus provides vaccinations and micro chipping to the general public.
About Pet-Connections
Pet Connections Inc. is a national organization dedicated to developing coalitions between companion animals, individuals and the community to foster humane treatments of pets with mutual benefits to all concerned. The mission of Pet Connections, Inc. is to bring pets, people and communities together to end animal homelessness through our programs, which include The Pet Transport Program, The Big Meow, The Rescue Registry and Pet Corps Communities.
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“Pay It Forward” Community Launches to Sponsor Spay/Neuter for Pets
Website Connects Pet Owners with Pet Lovers to Help End Pet Overpopulation
NORFOLK, VA – May 3, 2011 – Life challenges, such as those brought on by the recent recession, often prevent pet owners from spaying or neutering their pets. However, with the help of the FiXiT Foundation and its new initiative launching today, GetYourFix.org, pet owners in need are now able to find sponsors to fund their pets’ spay/neuter to help prevent overpopulation.
“Every eight seconds, a dog or cat is euthanized in U.S. shelters because of overpopulation,” said Kellie Heckman, executive director, FiXiT Foundation. “With GetYourFix.org, we hope to put an end to this by helping those in need. Paying it forward is a common gesture in our society. This is an opportunity to do something for the greater good, as well as save the lives of millions of animals.”
GetYourFix.org is a website where pet owners can post a need for a “fix,” and “funders,” who want to have a direct impact on ending animal overpopulation, can connect with them and sponsor their pet’s surgery. Funders can connect directly with a low cost spay/neuter clinic or veterinarian to donate the funds or have FiXiT coordinate the surgery on their behalf.
“Many pet owners have already posted profiles to GetYourFix.org and shared their stories,” said Stephanie Downs, president of the board of directors, FiXiT Foundation. “Some of them note that they saved an animal from an abusive situation or abandonment and are unable to afford spay/neuter. Others mention that they recently lost their job or moved from poor living situations. Despite their economic status or how they became a pet owner, everyone should have the opportunity to spay or neuter their pets, and GetYourFix.org provides just that.”
There are countless heartbreaking stories of pet owners who want to spay or neuter their pets, but need a little help. One profile story is of Squeaky. Her owner is a truck driver that never planned on being a pet owner, as he knew he did not have the resources, but rescued Squeaky from an abusive situation. Once spayed and housetrained, Squeaky will accompany him on his long treks. There is also the story of Mepurr Clyde, a seven-month old kitten who was adopted for his owner’s autistic son. However, Mepurr has just began spraying, and the owner is unable to afford the cost of the surgery because she recently lost her job.
“The goal of GetYourFix.org is to close the affordability gap of spay and neuter,” said Downs. “With the increasing number of mandatory spay and neuter programs, and many without funding opportunities, GetYourFix.org is a way to connect needy pet owners with sponsors to ensure that they are able to comply with these programs while providing the best possible care for their pets.”
The FiXiT Foundation launched a year ago to end euthanasia due to pet overpopulation. Recently, it implemented a spay/neuter case study on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands to test various incentive programs to entice pet owners to spay or neuter their pets.
For more information about GetYourFix.org, visit http://www.getyourfix.org or text “FIX” to 22122. For more information about the FiXiT Foundation, visit http://www.fixit-foundation.org.
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New Foundation Takes Spay & Neuter to the Next Level
FiXiT Foundation Hopes to Prevent the Annual Killing of 4.2 Million Dogs & Cats in the U.S. NORFOLK, VA – December 21, 2010 – Over 12,000 animals are killed in U.S. animal shelters every day because of the overpopulation of companion animals. In 2011, the FiXiT Foundation is debuting to eliminate animal euthanasia due to overpopulation.
“Many animals are never given a chance at life,” said Stephanie Downs, president of the board of directors, FiXiT Foundation. “Over four million animals are killed a year because there aren’t homes for them. These statistics are heartbreaking, and we created the FiXiT Foundation to find a solution that works to prevent these staggering statistics from continuing in the future.”
The FiXiT Foundation seeks to find why populations are not spaying or neutering their companion animals. To do so, the organization is initiating a case study in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, named “The Island Project,” to test out various incentive programs to entice pet owners to spay or neuter their pets.
“The Island Project is a unique approach to determining how we can succeed at getting more people to spay or neuter their pets,” said Dr. Kellie Heckman, executive director, FiXiT Foundation. “Through the program, we are determining what works best in reaching different populations, such as low-cost services, gift incentives or free services. We will then implement the program in the U.S. to reduce the dependence on euthanasia in our animal shelters.”The Island Project will launch in early January and provide the FiXiT Foundation with scientific data on what works to reach a high level of awareness for spaying and neutering pets. In addition to The Island Project, the FiXiT Foundation is launching an initiative where people can sponsor pet owners in order to spay or neuter their pets.
“In initial research, we’ve found that affordability is a major factor in why people aren’t spaying or neutering their pets,” said Heckman. “Through GetYourFix.org, people will be able to connect with a pet owner to spay or neuter their pet..”
In addition to sponsorship opportunities, GetYourFix.org will connect pet owners to shelters in their areas that offer low-cost spay or neuter services. Currently, the FiXiT Foundation is partnering with animal shelters across the United States so all participants have accessibility to spay and neuter programs. The program is expected to launch in February 2011.
“Our goal with the FiXiT Foundation is to take spay and neuter to a new level so we can finally knock out the issue of overpopulation,” said Downs. “Right now, we are treating the symptom, but we need to treat the problem by removing the barriers to spay and neuter.”
For more information about the FiXiT Foundation, please visit http://www.fixit-foundation.org.ABOUT THE FiXiT FOUNDATION
The FiXiT Foundation was established to eliminate the dependence on euthanasia in the U.S. The organization hosts “The Island Project” in St.. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, to determine the best way to approach the lack of spaying or neutering pets in some populations. Additionally, GetYourFix.org is a resource to help Americans find sponsorship opportunities to spay or neuter their pets. For more information, visit http://www.fixit-foundation.org.
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