Helping Hands for Rural Paws kicks off in Hollywood
June 28, 2018
Charleston Animal Society’s three-year rural animal welfare pilot program, “Helping Hands for Rural Paws,” launched on Saturday, June 23, in Hollywood, SC. Funded by WaterShed Animal Fund, the program will offer animal care services, including vaccines, wellness checks and spay-neuters to animals in rural communities across Charleston County.
“Many of the families we saw on Saturday had never seen a veterinarian before, because they live so far away from pet services they need,” said Charleston Animal Society Senior Director of Anti-Cruelty and Outreach Aldwin Roman. “The goal of Helping Hands for Rural Paws is to bring animal care services to those that need them.”
The need is definitely there. Here are some statistics from this first event:
- We provided direct veterinary services to 68 petsfrom 42 families.
- We served 51 dogs, and 17 cats.
- 136 vaccinations,68 flea doses, and 68 deworming doses were delivered.
- 42 pets were signed up for spay/neuter appointments, filling all the slots for the next two spay/neuter events. There are still approximately 20 walk-up slots available.
- We estimate we had another 40 pets that wanted to sign-up for spay/neuterthat will serve at future events.
- Media is invited to attend Spay-Neuter event in Hollywood on June 27th, 8am – 3pm.
The program is expected to serve over 1,100 animals per year in the southern and northern areas of Charleston County, focusing on the communities of McClellanville, Awendaw, Johns Island, Wadmalaw Island, Hollywood, Ravenel, Meggett, Rockville, Adams Run and Edisto Island. Charleston Animal Society’s Simon Greer Mobile Spay-Neuter Clinic will deploy to each of these communities as part of the ongoing outreach program.
The goal of Helping Hands for Rural Paws is to enhance the standard of care in isolated areas through accessible, affordable veterinary care along with humane education. The success of the program will be determined by various annual measurements including elevated pet care, increased spay/neuter, increased access to preventive care and wellness, reduced animal cruelty and decreased pet overpopulation.
“The WaterShed Animal Fund is pleased to support Charleston Animal Society in their quest to bring much needed services to animals in rural communities. Rural animals are often forgotten about in the greater animal welfare movement and programs such as Helping Hands for Rural Paws will act as a model for other communities,” said Christy Counts, President, WaterShed Animal Fund.
VIDEO AND PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE AT: https://drive.google.com/open?id=13i5mUThzr2qYfp-zDyerOQI2sovUo6eI
