April is National Heartworm Awareness Month!
Did you know approximately 10% of the dogs we receive at our shelter test positive for heartworm disease? Many years ago, with a lack of available resources, this resulted in a poor prognosis for these dogs, with few people willing to take them in. Now, thanks to our heartworm sponsorship program, we cover the treatment costs for all adopted and rescued dogs through the partnerships we've established with Ocoee Animal Hospital, the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando and Snip-It.
Heartworm disease is a treatable condition. Orange County Animal Services endorses the American Heartworm Society treatment plan as detailed here:
https://bit.ly/3vq49WV. In short, a few veterinary visits on a specific timeline with medication and injections will cure this disease and rid the heart of the worms. If untreated, the condition causes damage to the heart that will result in a fatality for the dog.
To celebrate our heartworm disease sponsorship program, bring awareness to heartworm disease as a whole and to highlight our dogs with the condition, we are reducing the adoption fees for these dogs to $30 for the month of April. That adoption fee covers the spay/neuter, initial vaccines and microchip identification. The fees for all remaining dogs are $55 and $40 for cats.
We invite you to take a look at all of our available pets on our website here:
http://ocnetpets.com/Adopt/AnimalsinShelter.aspx
Partnership with Feline Logic
Through the remainder of calendar year 2024, Animal Services is partnering with local cat behaviorist Monika Kropp of Feline Logic LLC, who has offered to provide a free behavior assessment and therapeutic intervention for select cats struggling with socialization/other problem behaviors. For more information on this partnership, please email AnimalServices@ocfl.net and/or monika@felinelogicllc.com.