The May-June 2012 edition of Paw Print is available for viewing online or downloading!
Click here to see a list of all editions of Paw Print.

It’s time for the Friends of the Shelter 2013 Calendar Contest!

It’s our fourth year for our popular Pet calendar. It’s an important fundraiser for our organization and lots of fun for our participants! Enter a great picture of your favorite 4-legged friend and see his/her furry face on the pages of our 2013 calendar. All the rules can be found on our flyer found at the Calendar 2013 tab.

Low Cost Spay/Neuter Services

Friends of the Shelter has assisted hundreds of families in the Northern Kentucky area in accessing these important services for their companion animals. If you or anyone you know needs financial assistance to have your animal "fixed" we have a variety of low cost services available:

• We can offer "vouchers" which will reduce the cost of this surgery through your local veterinarian
• You can access a transport which will take your dog or cat to low cost spay/neuter clinics in Cincinnati. Your pet will be transported back the next day. These transports are provided from various locations in Northern Kentucky.
• You can transport your animal yourself to UCAN or OAR. Appointments are necessary for all services.

To find out more about these services, call (859) 282-9084 or print the application available here, complete it and mail to Friends of the Shelter, PO Box 93 Union , KY 41042. Someone will be in touch with you to help you access low cost spay/neuter.

You may call OAR directly at 513-871-0185 to find out about transports for cats or kittens only.

At this time, there are no family income limits for these services; however, we ask those families who can afford to pay full cost for spay/neuter surgery to do so. This will allow us to help more families who could not otherwise afford this important service.

It's PetFest time again!

The 10th annual PetFest will be held at Boone Woods Park in Burlington on Sunday June 24 from 11 AM to 4 PM.

This popular event will feature contests, a pet psychic, silent auctions, information on pet therapy, pet supply booths, photography booths, dog trainers, adoptable animals from a variety of local rescues and fun for the entire family. Boone County’s Adoption Waggin’ will also be on site with shelter cats and dogs for adoption.

This event is an important fundraiser for our organization and we hope to see you there! If you can help in any way, contact us at friendsoftheshelter@fuse.net and volunteer. We always need help setting up and breaking down displays as well as preparing baskets for the silent auction.

We are asking for your help in promoting this event.  You will find a flyer at the PetFest tab that we hope you will post in your neighborhood at your beauty shop, convenience store, vet office or any public place that will allow it.

You will also find a letter for soliciting silent auction gifts. Most of us frequent businesses who would be willing to donate if asked. If all of our members and friends would ask for just one donation, we could have another great event that raises significant funds for our efforts on behalf of Northern Kentucky’s companion animals.

See you at Petfest!

We thank all the businesses who allow us to place our doghouse banks at their establishments for donations from customers. We hope you will patronize them and perhaps drop in some change while you are there. They are as follows: 

Miscellaneous Businesses:

P.C. Repair Shack, Classic Car Wash (Industrial Rd.), Metzger Eye Care, Tractor Supply, Bi-County Co-Op, Heart of Healing, Healthy Alternatives, Paperphanalia

Veterinarians:

Shelby Street Veterinary Hospital, Hebron Animal Hospital, Burlington Pet Hospital, Florence Animal Clinic, Middendorf Animal Hospital, Union Pet Clinic, Walton Animal Clinic, Oakbrook Veterinary Hospital, Ft. Wright Pet Care.

 Pet Stores:

Jack's Aquarium and Pets, Crescent Springs Complete Pet Mart, Planet Pet

 Groomers: 

Especially Dogs, Doghouse Groomers, Your Best Friend Pet Salon

Introducing the Kroger Community Rewards Program- New for 2012

If you have a Kroger Plus shopper’s card you can easily help us raise funds at no cost to you!

Many of you have been familiar with Kroger’s Neighborhood Reward Cards which have rebated a portion of your purchases to Friends of the Shelter. Last year we earned nearly $2000. through this program.

This program is being replaced with the Kroger Community Rewards Program which should be easier for our members, friends and supporters to use. Effective May 1, the program will now be run entirely through your Kroger Plus Shoppers card and it will not be necessary to “load” your reward card as you may have done in the past. Any balance remaining on your current card will be available for use as before.

All that is required is that you register your Kroger Plus Shopper’s card through an easy online enrollment at www.krogercommunityrewards.com. Specify Friends of the Shelter (#80594) as your designated charity and a portion of your purchases will help support our important work. If you use your telephone number at check out, please make sure it is linked to your registered card. If you need assistance with registering your card, please contact us at friendsoftheshelter@fuse.net

We hope to have many more participants in the program now that it is easier to use.  Please spread the word with your family, co-workers and friends and let’s get everybody registered. With your help we can raise significant funds for low-cost spay neuter programs in our community.

We now have two locations where you can place paper to be recycled and we get the money from the company. One bin is in Verona at the Verona Market near the gas pumps, and the other is in Burlington at the Forcht Bank on Route 18.

You can place newspaper, catalogs, junk mail, and office scrap paper, etc. They do not want cardboard, phone books, plastic, metal or garbage placed in the bin. If these items are placed in the bin the whole thing is dumped and we get no money for that load. 

As you search and shop on-line this year, don't forget goodsearch.com and goodshop.com.

If you choose Friends of the Shelter Union, KY as your charity, you can earn money for the organization without additional expense to you. This can really add up.

Take a minute to look through the participating merchants and you'll find most of the businesses you typically shop with. You can book airline tickets, hotels and car rentals through this site. Please spread the word and encourage your friends and family to use goodsearch and goodshop.

We are grateful to all our members and friends who help with our various fund-raisers.
They are:
Doghouse Banks in local businesses
Pet pictures with Santa
Paper Recycling
Aluminum recycling
Cat adoptions at Complete Pet Mart
Annual Raffle
Annual PetFest
Derby Party
Remke Rebates
Kroger Rebates
Memorial Plaque
Cash donations
If you want information about any of these, call one of the officers or board members listed at the top of the Paw Print.

The plates have a Beagle and a cat, paw prints and carry the message Spay and Neuter Your Pets.

The extra money for the plate or renewal goes to the State Spay/Neuter Fund to help Kentucky residents who need help with altering their pets. Please consider getting one of these plates when you renew your license plate on your vehicle.

Each year Friends of the Shelter asks the Boone, Kenton and Campbell Shelters what equipment they need, but don't have in their budget. We use money earned from our fund-raisers to buy some of the needed items. This is one way we show our appreciation to the shelter staff and hope this helps make their job easier.

In a recent article in USA WEEKEND magazine by Steve Dale, some shocking things were brought to attention about how cats are treated in the U.S. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association cats outnumber dogs by more than 10 million (82 million to 72 million).Many of these cats are adored by their owners, but cats are more neglected than dogs, more often relinquished to shelters than dogs and less often taken to veterinarians than dogs.

Only 2% to 5% of lost cats at shelters are ever reclaimed and more cats than dogs are given up at shelters by their owners. About 30% of dogs in shelters are reclaimed by their owners. Sadly well over half those shelter cats are never adopted and most are euthanized.

We need to educate the public to how unique and wonderful cats are. They are not small dogs, but they can be as devoted, affectionate and fun in a different way, but definitely fun.

Many of you know that you can go to petfinder.com to see what animals are available at local shelters.

Did you know that you can now donate a dog bed to your local shelter by going to their web site and logging on to the Donate a Bed Program? The maker of Kuranda dog beds has teamed up with petfinder.com to help homeless pets. All of the beds and fleece pads are provided at deep discounts. This is another way you can help your local animal shelter.