Over a dozen puppies are already getting a new lease on life thanks to the generosity of a special donation, in honor of a very special shelter dog. This month, Claire Kilpatrick made a generous donation to Friends of Oakland Animal Services in honor of her late Collie, Mickey, to establish Mickey’s Medical Fund, an emergency medical fund for shelter animals at Oakland Animal Services. Mickey was adopted by Kilpatrick in July 2008. He passed away in 2015.
Oakland Animal Services has received a large number of stray puppies with parvovirus over the past several months. (Canine parvovirus is a highly contagious viral disease that can produce a life-threatening illness – it can affect all dogs, but unvaccinated dogs and puppies younger than four months old are the most at risk.) Previously, the shelter would immediately euthanize puppies with parvo but under the shelter’s new leadership and with the support of generous donors, OAS is now trying to treat many of these puppies. But treatment is not cheap – costs can run as high as $3000 per puppy. The most recent crew of “parvo puppies” are currently thriving in foster homes, well on their way to making full recoveries, and many will be available for adoption soon. Here are just a few of their photos:
And there are many more animals in need – cats in need of dental extractions or with leg injuries, lovely dogs with major orthopedic needs or in need of tumor removal, rabbits who require attention of small animal veterinary specialists, and more. “The reality of running an open-admission public shelter is that pets often come in with serious, but treatable illnesses,” explains Director Rebecca Katz. “Whenever possible, we try and treat these animals so they can recover and find new homes.” Oakland Animal Services receives city funding but with so many other municipal agencies and competing needs in the city of Oakland, the agency is left with less than what it needs to operate at the level the community demands. Friends of Oakland Animal Services and donors such as Ms. Kilpatrick ensure that the shelter can enrich the animals’ daily lives in the shelter and go beyond that to save those animals that were traditionally deemed unsaveable.
Director Katz encourages members of the public to follow in Kilpatrick’s footsteps and make a donation to help support the emergency and special medical care of shelter pets in need: https://www.oaklandanimalservices.org/
Members of the public are also encouraged to consider being “foster parents” to a puppy recovering from parvo or mange (no significant risk to adult dogs in the home) or a cat recovering from surgery or any one of the many animals in need of a little extra TLC. More information about the dog foster program is available at: http://www.palseastbay.org/
