In loving memory of Loreen Desrosiers - January 2023

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While we see a fair amount of the ‘hard stuff’ in what we do…we mostly see more than our share of stuff that makes our hearts fill up with joy.

Today’s clinic was no exception.

Today’s clinic was sponsored in honor of a life well lived. A life filled with kindness and compassion. A life filled with giving to others.

Today’s clinic was sponsored in loving memory of Loreen Desrosiers.

Loreen was a long time client of Johnstown Animal Hospital and would often donate funds to the office for them to use for owners who might struggle to pay their vet bills. While we never got a chance to meet Loreen, we KNOW she would have fit right into the SAVE Ohio Pets family…we have the same mission it would seem.

We are truly, TRULY honored that Loreen’s family and the JAH staff chose SAVE as their charity of choice when they asked for donations in lieu of flowers.

When you look at the faces of the 38 and that came to clinic today, say a quiet (or out loud) ‘Thank you’ to Loreen for inspiring her friends and family to continue to pay it forward.

We couldn’t think of a better way to start 2023…we hope we made you proud today, Loreen.

A 'ruff' start to the year

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SOP crew is sad…a little mad too, but mostly sad.

You see, we were robbed.

This might have been (kinda) OK if it was just us but the reality is, it was our COMMUNITY that was robbed.

Our VOLUNTEERS.

Our DONORS.

Our SUPPORTERS.

OUR CLIENTS AND THEIR BELOVED DOGS AND CATS who struggle to make ends meet each month…they were robbed.

ugh.

You see, we keep all of our pet food donations (including what we JUST received from a local pet store), as well as donated treats, and random supplies in a rental storage unit that stays in the parking lot of the Ohio Health Center, (where we hold our clinics). This has never been a great option for us but quite honestly, we simply haven’t had a better way to store donations on a tight budget.

Anywho , we certainly have a TON to be grateful for so we won’t let this slow us down BUT we would like to ask for some help…

•We would LOVE to hear from you if you know of a local business who may have warehouse/storage space, close to downtown, that might be willing to work with us.

•We would also love to hear from anyone that would like to make a donation of dog and cat food so we have food for February’s clinic.

•Most importantly, we would love to help those that broke into our storage unit. If you need food for your pets, please call us or stop by clinic (after you get through what you have ).

Need help beyond pet wellness? We’ll do our best to provide you with other resources that can help with whatever you need. Seriously…no questions asked.

We know the stolen items won’t be recovered but also we know our sad hearts will heal, and we’ll keep working out booties off because we love our community and the animals and people in it.

Check out the ABC6 Story:

https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/suspects-steal-6000-worth-of-pet-food-from-columbus-non-profit-save-ohio-pets-being-collected-for-low-income-pet-owners-1-19-2022?fbclid=IwAR2f1dcNRxw4CZjrtNCkysLpEt9iZ2etMahFrG7SJS49F-vGpYgWjPVUUds

Thank you for being a friend!

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What a wonderful day for the animal community!
On January 17th the community came out in full force, with open hearts, to celebrate one of our world’s fiercest animal advocates. To say we are honored that so many chose to honor her legacy by supporting our work is truly humbling…we raised just over $1,800!

We aren’t able to thank everyone individually so please know how deeply we appreciate each and every one of you. Our continued promise is to never take this ‘job’ or your donations lightly, and we vow to work hard to make you and Betty proud!

#bettywhitechallenge

Deck the halls with dog and cat treats - December 2021

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Deck the halls with dog and cat treats Fa la la la la la la la la

December clinic full of dog feets

Fa la la la la la la la la

Don we now our Winter sweaters

Fa la la la la la la la la

Hope our clients all feel better

Fa la la la la -la la - la- laaaaaa!!

SOP clinics are a wrap for 2021 and we are pretty sure Santa’s NOT going to give us coal in our stockings this year! Over 60 animals received wellness checks, wholesome food, and holiday gift bags today…and pet parents were treated to hot coco and homemade cookies.

We said “Happy Tails” to one of our faithful friends and volunteer doctors. Shes moving on to warmer weather but we know she’ll make a difference in the lives of animals wherever she goes! We love you and will miss you terribly, Dr Cristin Rieskamp

Thank you to our volunteers, donors and supporters for a great year of helping pets and their parents stay together!

See you next year friends!!

Our biggest clinic of the year - November 2021!

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November 7th was our largest wellness clinic of the year!

Our volunteers worked. their. booty’s. off. and their hard work paid off, because 72(!!!) cats and dogs got wellness checks, vaccines, and high quality snuggles all for Free.

Yeah…you read that right, FREE!

Do you need help getting preventative or wellness care for you dogs or cat? Head over to our website and check out our “contact us” section to see if you qualify for our services.

Want to help ensure that we can continue our work for years to come? Check out the “ways to give” section of our website.

Wanna give our amazing volunteers a virtual high 5? Give us a a review on our FB!

*Special shoutout to the 1st time volunteers from our friends at Northstar Family Dental. These ladies stepped up to volunteer (without know what the heck I they were getting themselves into) and jumped right in with helpful and loving hands! Thank you…please come back.

12 Hours - October Wellness Clinic

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12 hours.

12 long, hours.

12 long, hard hours.

12 long, hard, GLORIOUS hours.

12 long, hard, glorious, hours of spaying, neutering, and vaccinating animals of Franklin Co.

In the same 12 hours we were at clinic, an estimated 2,052 animals were euthanized in shelters across the U.S.

*Thats 1.5 million each year.

It’s a sad number (like…the saddest) but one that motivates us to keep putting in those long clinic hours.

The other thing that keeps us going, and (literally) keeps our doors open is our amazing donors. Today we want to give a special SOP shout out to our clinic sponsor @MarciaPerry, and her canine companions Paddy and Olivia Marcia is always supporting local animal organizations, and she is a true voice for so many 4-legged furries in need! She’s supported our work for many years and we are FURever grateful for her generosity in covering the cost to spay or neuter 46 dogs/cats, and vaccinate 19 animals at today’s clinic.

So here’s to many more long, hard, glorious hours of clinics to prevent more homeless animals…and to prevent more homeless animals from being euthanized alone in a shelter.

Healthier Pets - September Wellness Clinic

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43 animals crossed our threshold today, and 43 animals are just a little healthier for it.

The Conversation

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THE CONVERSATION:

Client: “How much do we owe you?”

SOP: “Nothing ma’am. We’ve covered all vaccines and medications for your dog’s skin issues, today!”

Client: “Really?? I pulled money from my emergency fund b/c I thought I’d need to pay for today’s visit!”

SOP:

THESE are the conversations we love having and make what we do worth it!! While we can’t cover all the medical issues we see at our wellness clinics, we do the best we can to help our clients with some of the more easily treatable/preventable diagnoses we come across, (fleas, ear infections, skin issues etc). and they don’t pay a dime for those!

*If there is an issue that is beyond our scope, we provide suggestions as to where the client can receive the best, lowest cost care for their pets.

THE NUMBERS:

39 wellness visits, 44 spay/neuters, and a bunch of happy pet moms and dads = a happy and successful SOP Sunday!

THE THANK YOUs:

So many NEW volunteers today! You stepped up when we were in a pinch (not knowing what the heck you were getting into), worked your butts off, and helped these fur babies live a little bit happier and healthier lives.

To our regular volunteers…you know we love you and your giant s, right??

We (all) get by with a little from our friends...

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We don’t talk about this side of our work much (because of the importance of privacy for these clients) but we do a lot of work with those who live on the land with their pets. Recently, our friends at Mt Carmel Outreach Services asked us to check in on a dear client of theirs. This client, a Veteran with the sweetest emotional support dog, needed his dog looked at for a bad limp. Our wonderful volunteer veterinarian Dr. Hess went out to assess the injury. While there, the Veteran informed us that he needed to go in hospital for medical treatment but that he keeps putting it off because he can’t bring himself to leave his dog. Our team called in reinforcements and reached out to The Animal Health Organization who graciously agreed to board the dog for free! This allowed both the human and the canine to heal before being reunited!

This is what happens when we all work together to make our community better. This truly lies at the heart of what we do and why we do it.

We can all use a little help from friends now and again.