“Helping People Help Animals”



Overview of Animal Network Accomplishments 1999-present:

The Animal Network was founded in 1999 as MCOLA, a grass roots organization wishing to convince Manatee County to provide dog parks in Manatee County. Once our first dog park was completed, we expanded our mission to helping our entire animal community, thus the name change to Animal Network. We have partnered with shelters and rescue organizations to raise awareness of shelter and rescue animals for adoption, promote spay and neuter programs, and become more effective as a united front. We are active members of Commissioner Carol Whitmore’s “Manatee Animal Coalition” in Manatee County, and are working hard to make the “Support No Kill Manatee” goal be reached.

Canine Christmas Festival - Annual Fundraiser www.caninechristmas.com

• FUN Fundraiser with shelter & rescue pets for adoption, vendors, Animal Network Grill Team, entertainment and much more. The purpose of this event is to promote awareness of adopting from pet shelters & rescues. Held the 3^rd Saturday of November each year at Bishop Animal Shelter, Bradenton, Florida. All proceeds are spent helping animals in our community.

Promote No-Kill Manatee County

In April 2011, three Animal Network personnel and 2 of the top staff people from Manatee County Animal Services attended Nathan Winograd’s No-Kill seminar in Houston. Nathan Winograd is known as the father of the no-kill movement; this trip introduced us to his innovative ideas, and we returned home believing that Animal Network could help our Animal Services lead Manatee County to become a No-Kill community. We became the first county in Florida to have our County Commissioners pass a resolution to become no-kill …we promised them we could do this without requiring extra funding during this terrible economy. We have set our goal to be a 90% “save rate” by December of 2012, and are meeting monthly goals.

We are working hard in our community to promote no-kill, raise funds for publicity and spay/neuter programs, medical assistance, facility improvements, and to attract people to volunteer for various programs to help get more animals adopted.

Our Animal Services is very innovative. They opened a downtown adoption center in 2011, and it is so successful that they are currently building runs in an adjoining storefront to double their capacity. We now have a “Picture them Adopted” team of professional photographers who volunteer their time to take good pictures of the dogs and cats for adoption. We have a “Big Dog Walkers” club who walk the dogs at Animal Services to keep them from getting cage stressed. We have a progressive community that is excited and responding to our challenge to them to help in some way.

Pet Emergency Fund Provides funding to assist people and their pets in our community

**$50 medical certificates: for sick pets whose owners cannot afford an appointment with a veterinarian. A medical certificate provides a way to immediately get a pet into a veterinarian for assessment & treatment. Certificate eligibility is determined by individual situation.

**Domestic Violence Victims’ Pets: work with Hope Family Services to board pets if victim goes into Hope Family Services Shelter. Victims often will not leave their pets behind when they want to escape domestic violence, because abuse of the pets will escalate once the human victim leaves. Boarding is a maximum of 2 – 3 weeks while the victim receives assistance and counseling from Hope Family Services, during which time an exit plan is developed for the pet(s).

**Heartworm Treatment for Animal Services dogs transferred to Rescues:

Reduces the expenses of the rescues and encourages them to take heartworm positive dogs, which increases the number of pets lives saved at Animal Services.

Saving lives of injured animals from Animal Services

Due to budget and space constraints, Animal Services cannot keep dogs & cats with medical issues and they are routinely put to sleep. Animal Network takes many of these animals, puts them in a foster home, pays for medical treatment, spays or neuters them, provides shots and a microchip, and then adopts them to good homes.

Examples:

• Jerry: 60# boxer mix hit by car, kissed AS officer as he was carried in to vet’s office. Vet did surgery, placed a pin in his leg, fostered 6 months while healing, put up for adoption.
• Sparky: 55# pit bull mix chained in back yard, badly embedded collar. Vet did surgery, in foster 3 months, put up for adoption
• Champ, 65# pit bull mix, high heartworm positive. Treated, fostered 3 months, put up for adoption
• Phaedra: Siamese cat, pregnant and ready to deliver, dumped at Animal Services. Had litter of 4 kittens in our foster home, all are well and will be adopted to good homes.
• Sugar: white cat picked up by neighbor’s complaint to Animal Services, had been tied in the yard on a rope. Had infected sores around her neck, very pregnant. Animal Network fostered her, she and her kittens will be adopted to good homes.

Kitty Korner Division of Animal Network:

contact Lindalee Anderson: [email protected]

• Kitty Korner Division of Animal Network rescues adoptable cats and kittens: includes taking in stray, abandoned and owner turn-in cats, providing medical treatment & care in foster homes, spay or neuter, and micro-chipping before adoption. We are the adoption partner at Petsmart in Bradenton, Fl
• Kitty Korner does feral cat trap-neuter-release. Any kittens caught in traps that are young enough are fostered and tamed, provided medical assistance, spayed/neutered, given current shots, microchipped, then are adopted to good homes through our Petsmart Adoption Partner program, we house our cats for adoption in their Bradenton, Florida in-store Adopt-a-Pet area.
• Provide funds, food, traps, and pay for spay/neuter for people who care for feral cat colonies and individuals who wish to help free-roaming community cats in their neighborhoods

Shelter & Rescue Group Assistance

• Provide funding assistance to animal rescue groups in Manatee County.
• Provide funding for Microchips and Advantage flea control for Animal Services adoption animals.
• Provide employee appreciation lunches for Shelters & veterinarian offices to thank their employees for their dedication to helping the animals, and to boost employee morale.
• Provide funding for heartworm treatment for rescue groups who transfer heartworm positive dogs from Manatee County Animal Services.

Promote spay/neuter programs

• Awarded $20,500 Animal Friend’s Spay/Neuter Grant 2009 to spay/neuter 200 pit bulls & pit bull mixes, and 300 feral and free-roaming cats. This grant money was spent for surgeries at MC Humane Society’s low-cost spay neuter clinic.
• Refer individuals to the Humane Society low-cost, and County Free, spay and neuter programs in our effort to assist Manatee County become a “No-Kill” community by alleviating pet overpopulation.
• Provide Animal Network Grant Funds to spay/neuter owned pets at the Humane Society if they do not qualify for the Free County program, and cannot afford the Humane Society low-cost certificate program
• Provide humane traps and funding for trap-neuter-release of feral and free-roaming cats.

Political Involvement

• Serve on citizen boards and advisory groups involving animals.
• Follow animal cruelty and neglect cases through the States Attorneys Office and court system to be sure these cases are prosecuted to the fullest extent.
• “The Shirts” in Manatee County court rooms dealing with animal neglect/cruelty: we wear “No Animal Cruelty” t-shirts in court to alert the attorneys and judges that animal lovers are watching.
• Guardian ad Litem program for pets in cooperation with Animal Services. Guardians are appointed by Animal Services to speak in court for the voiceless animal victims of abuse.
• Public relations program to advise citizens what to do if they suspect animal cruelty or animal fighting.