The January-February 2012 edition of Paw Print is available for viewing online or downloading!
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Northern Kentucky Friends of the Shelter/SPCA (FOTS) has instituted a new low cost spay/neuter program for Northern Kentucky residents who may need financial assistance with this important service for their family pet.

Effective April 21, United Coalition for Animals of Cincinnati (UCAN) will begin transport service for spay/neuter services in collaboration with Friends of the Shelter. Dogs and cats will be picked at 7:30 AM at various locations in Northern Kentucky, transported to UCAN for spay/neuter surgery and delivered back the next day at 11:30 AM for pick-up by their owners. Individuals will pay only $15.00 for dogs and $10.00 for cats which will include a rabies shot if needed. The Friends of the Shelter will cover the remaining cost of the spay/neuter service.

"Our goal is to reduce the numbers of unwanted animals coming into area shelters" according to Bonnie Ravenscraft, FOTS president. "In the spring and summer, our local shelters are inundated with pregnant pets and unwanted kittens and puppies. We look forward to the day when Northern Kentucky has homes for all adoptable dogs and cats and spay/neuter services are absolutely essential to achieving this goal. Our voucher program will also continue for those who prefer to use local veterinarians for services."

For information about scheduling these services, please call 859-282-9084.

The FOTS funded "cat spay/neuter" program currently running in collaboration with Ohio Alleycat Resource of Cincinnati (OAR) called the "Neuterville Express" will also continue. Call OAR directly at 513-871-0185 for scheduling your cat or kitten.

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

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 for holiday gifts, 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. As of this date we have earned over $50.00 in less than six weeks.

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.

I see more and more of the Spay/Neuter License plates in our area. Do you have yours?

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.

 On October 15^th, Boone County Shelter started its spay/neuter of adopted dogs and cats from the shelter.

The fees will now be $120.00 for dogs and $90.00 for cats. For this amount the animal will have shots and worming, flea control if needed, microchipping, spay or neuter, dogs tested for heart­ worm and cats tested for feline leukemia and FIV.

Senior citizens have been getting pets free because Purina paid $50.00 for the adoptions and the person then had to spay or neuter the pet at their own expense. Now a senior who qualifies for the Purina program will pay $69.00 for a dog and $49.00 for a cat and Purina pays the rest. The senior will have no further expense.

Kenton County Shelter already spays and neuters all adopted dogs and cats before the animal goes to its new home. Campbell County shelter requires the person who adopts an animal to sign an agreement to spay/neuter the pet at their own expense. The fees vary at the local shelters for the adoption of pets.

The local shelters have volunteer opportunities. If you are interested and have time to give, call your local shelter to find out how you can volunteer. There are opportunities to help at the shelter, foster puppies and kittens, and other ways depending on the needs of the shelter. Most shelters require volunteers to be at least 18 years old.

Do you have a pet that loves people? Bonnie is looking for owners and pets to visit St. Luke Hospital, Harbor Side and Florence Park Care Centers. Many of the residents are former pet owners and they look forward to the visits with the animals. The group goes 3 mornings a month. You can commit to one or more Saturdays. Call Bonnie at 371-8380 for more information.

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. We have received their lists and are presently purchasing the items to be delivered to the shelters. 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.