Olive

At our last clinic, we met Toad, a handsome grey and white kitty who had been bottle-raised by the Lewis family. This morning, we met Toad’s sister, Olive, who lives with the Thornton family. Olive doesn’t know she’s a cat, though – she thinks she’s a pit bull terrier!

Sienna

This pretty girl lives with Sienna and another dog. Sienna is Olive’s canine “mom.” She takes her maternal duties seriously and kept close to Olive in line. Sienna even furrowed her brow with worry when another kitty meowed nervously. Too sweet!

Irene

Another canine-feline duo (trio, really) this morning was Irene the tabby and white cat and Doodle the black Pug. Doodle and Irene came with Whoopie, who needs to wait until she’s a little older for surgery.

Whoopie & Doodle

After the low temperatures of the February 10th clinic, we really enjoyed today’s unseasonable warmth.

Raymond

Sharing the morning breeze with us was early arrival Raymond. This big goof came from a shelter in North Carolina where his name was Rainman. His family didn’t want to confuse him too much, so they kept the sounds of his new name similar. Of course, everybody loves Raymond. His neighbor even says, “Hi,” to him first before going into his own house after work. Raymond lives in one of our more recently added target areas in West Ocean View.

Otter

Also from the Ocean View area was Otter, a big-pawed grey and white cat. Otter was abandoned when his people moved. His new caretaker, Scott, would see Otter when walking his dog. Scott saw that Otter was on his own and began feeding him. From there, Otter began to follow Scott on his walks. One day Otter followed him all the way home! Now Otter has a furr-ever family.

For more picture of today’s clinic, visit our Facebook page.

Pearl

Pearl Woolwine Craig came with her family, who heard about SpayHR from their friend, Michaela Allen. Ms. Allen has been helping the homeless cats in her neighborhood. Pearl’s canine companion, Diva, is too big for the mobile clinic, so she is being spayed at the Norfolk SPCA clinic next week.

Roscoe

Someone who is big, but not too big to fit on the van, is Roscoe. This handsome mix adores his family and stayed close during check in. Roscoe’s feline friend, Gazpacho, was also neutered at today’s clinic.

Toad

Another cute pair from the morning was Toad and Otis. Toad is a handsome grey and white long-haired cat whose name just doesn’t seem to fit. His person told us the story: She found an abandoned litter of neonatal kittens and syringe fed them until they could eat on their own. Every time she picked up one of the kittens, he peed on her – just like a toad! The rest of the litter found homes and Toad stayed with his adoptive “mom”. Toad came with Otis the puppy, who received boosters today and will be neutered at a near future clinic.

A big thank you to New Hope Church and Community Center for allowing us to use their parking lot this month.

SB 359 is a bill designed to permit more wide-scale trap, neuter, return efforts in our Virginia Communities. This Bill was introduced by the City of Charlottesville and presented to the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources by the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA. SB 359 was reported out (approved) by a 10 to 5 vote. This bill was discussed for over 40 minutes with opposition that we believe was simply not truthful in their statements. Fortunately the members of the Senate Committee were able to see through this smoke and mirror presentation and voted in favor of the Bill.

To read more, visit the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA Blog.

It’s especially important to thank Senator Deeds and your legislator (if she or he supported SB 359).

Additional links:

Richmond SPCA Blog

Waggin’ Tales Blog

check-in

Warmer but damp weather welcomed us this morning for the second January spay/neuter clinic.

Today’s participants heard about SpayHR in a variety of ways. Reinia Chatman heard about our program through a friend, who asked, “Don’t you want to get your dogs fixed, too.” Reinia had her female dog spayed through our program last month and today brought Pnutts, a handsome Dachshund, for neuter surgery.

Cookie and Sassy

Tiger

Tracy Hoskins read about SpayHR on Freecycle and scheduled her two dogs, Cookie and Sassy, and cat, Tiger, for surgery. What happy cuties! Tiger the cat is actually bigger than Sassy the dog (by two pounds, according to Tracy).

Maddi

Kathryne Hawryluk found out about the Norfolk Pet Project from Muddy Paws. (Thanks, Muddy Paws!) She rescued her dog Maddi from neglect and has been bringing this sweetie back to good health and proper grooming: Maddie was severely “matted” when Kathryne found her. After a much needed haircut, veterinary check up, and vaccinations, Maddi just needs her spay surgery. She’s a lucky girl.

Skitzo

Another lucky girl is Skitzo, who was found in South Carolina along Interstate-95. Jessica Oliveira was moving from Florida to Virginia when she stopped for a break. Skitzo was part of a large colony of cats living off I-95. She was friendly and looking for help, and Jessica obliged. After arriving in Norfolk, Jessica tried to find a spot for the small cat at one of our always full shelters. Though she already had plenty of pets at home, Jessica decided to keep Skitzo rather than risk her being euthanized.

Many free-roaming Norfolk cats are saved from euthanasia by community members who feed and more importantly spay/neuter them. In just a year, Michaela Allen has seen multiple litters of kittens resulting from the community cats (or unaltered pets) roaming her neighborhood. We’re glad to have helped her bring this population under control over the past few months.

We are working hard to help other Hampton Roads residents with feral and free-roaming cats in their communities. We welcome volunteers for all aspects of TNR to help us match the demand for assistance. If you can help, please contact us at arttnr@gmail.com.

SNip van

Friday 13th brought good luck this morning: 27 cats and dogs were spayed/neutered at our first clinic for the new year!

A number of people who attended the December 17, 2011 rabies clinic followed up with spay/neuter surgery for their pets. With surgery, we were also able to offer booster vaccinations to these returning clients. Today’s clinic continued our Holiday Gift to the Community project, made possible by a grant from the ASPCA.

Missy

Mischief Parkour McKnzie-Arivuzu, or Missy for short, returned for her boosters and spay surgery. In the cold, windy weather, she was kept warm by her dad’s jacket over her cage. Missy was found on the beach after Hurricane Irene. She’s safe now.

Tiny

Another cat who found a safe haven is Tiny, so named for his small size when found last year in the Ocean View Farm Fresh parking lot. According to his family, he was so small, he could fit in a teacup and had to be bottle fed back to health. He’s just just fine now, and his name is more ironic than descriptive!

Kisses

Kisses is a small dog with a big personality! While waiting for surgery, this fluffy fellow made sure no one got too close to his people. Kisses is more bark than bite, though, and we’re sure he lives up to his name at home. His companion Sky was more relaxed and appreciated some pets and scratches from us.

Norfolk community cats

The Thompson family helped more abandoned cats in their neighborhood. In addition to feeding them, they make sure the cats are spayed and neutered in order to control their population.

Thank you to New Hope Christian Community Center for allowing SpayHR to hold this month’s clinics in their parking lot. Thank you, too, to the PETA clinic staff.

To view more pictures from today’s clinic, visit us on facebook.

If you care enough to feed them, care enough to fix them.

Free and low-cost spay/neuter is available for outdoor cats.

Female cats can become pregnant at 5 months of age and will mate with their offspring to produce hundreds of kittens over a short period of time. Finding homes for litter after litter is not a long-term solution, and with 3 out of 5 cats being put down, shelters are not a good option either. The cost of an outdoor cat spay/neuter is not much more than a large bag of cat food – which is what you’ll need a lot more of if you don’t fix them.

Please, make things easier on the cats, your neighbors, our shelters, and you. Fix the cats you feed.

To schedule a spay/neuter:

www.spayhr.org

757-456-1215

Make a momma cat’s dream come true in 2012 and adopt her! Check out these lovely ladies just waiting for their own moms (or dads) now that the kids are all grown and out of the house:

Hildie

My name is Hildie, my shelter friends think I am 2 years old. I have spent the winter raising my family of seven, and my foster mom says I was the best mommy cat ever. Now that the kids are growing up, it’s time to find a home of my own. I would love a big family with other cats, lots of kids and a big hound if you’ve got one. I’m quite the diplomat and have gotten my foster mom’s dog to share scraps with me! I like to chat in the morning and prefer to hang out where the action is, particularly the kitchen counter, but I’ve been learning that humans don’t care for that! I like to chat with my humans in the morning. I prefer to hang out where the action is, particularly the kitchen counter, but I’ve been learning that humans don’t care for that! My nickname is Coyote, but I am learning my manners. Think you could find room for me? I promise you won’t be sorry!

Adopt Hildie from Norfolk Animal Care and Adoption Center.

Beatrice

Beatrice is the mother of Casper, Boogie, Black Stripe, Poker, Owl and Boo. As you can see from her pictures she seems to have some oriental in her line. She was found as a stray and needed a place to have her kittens, so we took her in. She is a very laid back cat; I think of her as my second dog! She is not much of a player, but does enjoy hanging out and being rubbed! She also loves looking out the window and just being at peace. She has been around dogs and does fine when not defending her kittens as she is quite the protective mamma! She is good with dogs, cats and reptiles and has also been around kids and does fine with them as well.

Adopt Beatrice through Animal Rescue of Tidewater.

Kiwi

My name is Kiwi and I came to Hope Center with my babies and I even nursed another litter that had no mom. I’m only 10 months old, a little bit shy, but very sweet. I’m spayed and current on my vaccines and I need a home.

Adopt Kiwi from Hope for Life Rescue, Inc.