Monday, December 22, 2014

Sad faces.

Every holiday season, between the joy of spending time with family and friends, are the same television scenes: slickly produced commercials from national humane organizations featuring pitiful, sad faces of animals needing help. Dozens of these commercial flash across the screen each day.

Hundreds of those sad faces are right here in Walton County. Dogs abandoned on dirt roads. Boxes of kittens dumped at the shelter. Skinny, mange-infested puppies. None of these needy animals will appear on television, but all need our help. 

Walton Animal Guild has worked behind the scenes for years to make a difference in our community. Our small budget doesn't allow for flashy commercials, but our financial needs are just as important.

WAG is an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff. One hundred percent (100%) of our donations go toward our programs.

We've never taken a shortcut on medical care for our fosters, or euthanized an animal for expense-related reasons. But veterinary costs can add up quickly.

Maggie needed orthopedic surgery. Pepper required several days of intensive care after coming out of the shelter, plus a later surgery for bladder stones and treatment for gastroenteritis. Jake and Banjo needed treatment for heartworms. Holly needed emergency surgery for an intestinal blockage. They are all healthy and happy now, but total costs for vet care of these five animals was in excess of $5,000.00.

They're not the only rescue animals who needed additional medical treatment this year. Mange is common in rescue animals and many of our dogs required weeks of treatment. An orphaned litter of six pups were bottle fed formula from the age of two weeks. Another litter of seven pups dealt with skin issues for several month, requiring regular skin scrapings, antibiotics, and other treatments. Our commitment to their health is absolute, but the financial challenges are plenty. When the funding runs out, we have no choice but to ignore other shelter animals in need.  

Banjo

Jake

Pepper

Holly

Maggie

Holly


WAG is totally supported by animal loving individuals and businesses who care about making a difference in our community. We need your donations to continue helping deserving pets like these! Consider making a holiday gift to WAG and help us change the world for more dogs and cats. Here's how your donation helps:

$25 vaccinates a dog. 
$50 neuters an animal
$100 spays a female dog or cat
$200 rescues an animal and provides the veterinary care needed to start their journey toward a new home. 

 You have the power to save a life. Please make your donation today!








Paypal links are also on our website homepage at www.wagwalton.com

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Mom's retired!

Here are a few of the mother dogs that we've "retired" from the breeding game in 2014. As moms of the puppies enrolled in our puppy prevention program, WAG provided each with a free spay surgery. These furry ladies are now enjoying a puppy-free life with their owners, while their babies are happy and loved in their new homes. We call that a win-win!







Puppy Prevention success

Here are a few of the latest puppies enrolled in our Puppy Prevention program. There is a total of 9 puppies in this litter. Although a few may already have homes, all will be spayed/neutered before going to their new families. Puppies were given their first vaccines/deworming today at Paradox Clinic and will be available for adoption after January 1. We'll be spaying mom later. Thanks to owner Alicia for letting us help her with this mom and babies - this will be the last litter for mom dog Scully!

The Puppy Prevention program enrolled twelve mom dogs and litters during 2014, with a total of 63 puppies. That's a LOT of dogs! And thankfully, there are 75 less breeding dogs in our community.




Friday, December 5, 2014

Giving shelter.

Cold weather is coming. When temperatures drop, there are plenty of animals who need the warmth of a doghouse to escape the elements.

We recently took several bales of hay, shavings and a plywood doghouse to Walton Co. Animal Control to be distributed to families in need. Each bale of hay provides bedding for approximately 5 doghouses. The colorful doghouse was built as a student project by Madison D and will keep some grateful dog very cozy.


WAG will provide additional donated/purchased doghouses to families by referral from Walton Animal Control officers through the Huts for Mutts program. If you'd like to build a doghouse or can donate a new/used doghouse to keep an animal warm, contact us at wagwalton@yahoo.com.