We are very excited to announce our first and second round of the Seresto® Circle of Love grant winners! Each of these organizations goes above and beyond to care for vulnerable animals in need of homes. Check out each of their stories to learn more about them!
Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control is a city shelter that pulls out all the stops when it comes to helping animals. The city and shelter recently received a “Better City for Pets” certification and they joined the million cat challenge. With a yearly intake of more than 10,000 homeless pets, they really do all they can to help as many animals as possible.
According to the shelter’s social media and marketing manager, Holly Eggelston, a Seresto® grant could really be a game changer with how they help their community.
“We frequently serve lower income citizens who do not have a lot of financial resources. Purchasing flea and tick prevention for their animals is often not an option,” Eggelston said. “During the summer months we treat all animals for fleas and ticks. Due to budgetary restrictions, it’s generally 30 days of protection and the adopter is then on their own for continuing preventative treatment. Being able to offer adopters eight months of protection would be a game changer for the animals in our community as that would get them through the warm months without the expense of monthly flea prevention.”
Connect a Pet is a small nonprofit rescue that is operated entirely by volunteer staff. They focus a lot of their attention on removing stress from
shelters that perform euthanasia by rescuing their most vulnerable pets. Often times that means rescuing the pets that might need more time before they can be adopted.
“We will frequently take on dogs that other rescues may shy away from,” volunteer Peggy Poirier said. “We have spent a lot of our resources on the medical needs of the dogs we have pulled. It is a true joy to see them go home, but it’s also a severe strain on our limited resources”
With their Seresto® product grant, Connect a Pet will not only help shelter dogs find their fur-ever home, they’ll also be able to send pups home with a Seresto® collar on their day of adoption.
Kirby Animal Services is a small government shelter that serves the city of Kirby, TX. Open since 2011, Kirby Animal Services takes pride in its community and strives to maintain the public health and safety of those living in Kirby – that includes shelter pets.
“We invest in seeking the best practices in finding shelter for animals that have been abandoned or abused,” said Tania Vazquez, assistant to the city manager. “Kirby Animal Services would like to increase and expand its services as we are experiencing a growth in our community.”
The staff at Kirby Animal Services hopes to use their Seresto® grant to better protect the pets in their care, and also to make a greater impact within the community.
This organization partners with small rural shelters and foster groups throughout Arizona and cares for over 4,000 cats and dogs per year. Due to extremely limited resources from the rural shelters and fosters, many pets are taken in with fleas and ticks, in some cases so severe that the animal can barely walk.
With the help of the Seresto® product grant, AAWL will be able to help prevent those fleas and ticks. Then the organization can take their budget originally allocated for flea and tick prevention and will, “be able to afford additional long-distance transport runs to remote, rural partners. [And] we’d be able to afford to intake and treat more puppies with parvo, dogs with distemper, cats with ringworm, more injured animals in need of specialty surgery than we are currently anticipating being able to afford to help,” says Director of Operations Christina Flanagan.
HSMC is a Florida-based shelter that helps over 1,600 homeless, surrendered, stray, and abused cats and dogs per year. It is this organization’s goal to rehabilitate these animals both emotionally and physically before getting them adopted into loving homes. Kirsten Tanner, HSMC’s Social Media and Volunteer Coordinator, said that the Seresto® collars “would be a blessing as in Florida with the summer heat…we have to be very diligent with our flea and tick preventative.”
Taking in over 600 cats a year, mainly from the streets, can mean a lot of fleas. Feral Feline Friends of East TN works with each cat to get them treated for fleas and ready to be adopted. “We would benefit from having these collars as a first step in flea prevention for adopting out happy pets,” said Vice President Deb Marsh. Seresto® collars will help these kitties begin their new lives protected from fleas and ticks.
Located on, “55 acres of rolling fields that are home to on average 175 dogs on any given day,” Carolina Poodle Rescue helps neglected dogs get back on their feet. When asked how a Seresto® product grant would impact their organization, volunteer Jackie Orr said, “Our dogs will continue to enjoy active lives filled with running and playing in fields and enclosed play areas. They will continue to share the natural outdoors with other animals.” With the gift of Seresto® collars, these happy pups will get playtime along with the prevention of fleas & ticks.
In Sparta, an economically depressed county in Tennessee, White County Animal Shelter has worked to drop the euthanasia rate to almost 0, down from 99.9% in the past 6 years. This dog-only shelter takes in many animals with health and skin issues that are the result of flea infestation. “Seresto® collars would be great for our long timers and also to make sure all the dogs adopted from our shelter have a great start with flea and tick prevention,” said Shelter Manager Stephanie Smith. Their grant will help focus their limited funds on other medical needs and helping more dogs.
This organization helps dogs of all ages throughout the Tri-State area of SW Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. They also receive animals flown in from other states. All of the dogs they care for are fostered by volunteers before transitioning to their forever homes. Grant Administrator Debbie Clark says that Seresto® would provide their rescued dogs a great way to “‘start off on the right paw’ in their new life.” Many of the foster families choose Seresto® collars prior to the dogs’ adoptions as well, so the product grant will help dogs awaiting their forever homes as well!
“Seresto® collars would allow our foster staff to function more efficiently,” said CEO Monica Stevens. She also remarked that the collars will help relieve foster families from the burden of maintaining a monthly flea and tick preventative. JARR is located in St. Helena, CA, an area where fleas and ticks are a year- round threat. Each dog is cared for in a foster home and most cats reside in Ella’s CatHouse, a space located on the JARR property. With the help of volunteers and fosters, JARR intakes almost 200 dogs and cats per year.
The Cat Network has been rescuing cats in St. Louis, MO since 1991. Their Seresto® product grant will make treating all the cats in their care a lot easier. “Receiving Seresto® for cats would enable us to continue making a difference for all of the cats that we rescue…while they are looking for their fur-ever homes!” said Board Member Kristi Hill.
Angels for Mistreated Animals is a foster-based rescue in Brooklyn. They take in about 65 pets each year. AMA’s long-term goal has been to open a no-kill animal sanctuary, and their dream will be coming true very soon! “There will be many dogs in one place- it will be crucial to help make sure that fleas and ticks stay away and we believe Seresto® is the way to go. We’re looking forward to using this product on all of our pets,” said President and Co-Founder Anna Khazanova.
This organization is located in Lancaster, CA and helps around 60 animals per year. Pickle Pants Rescue is dedicated to saving the lives of abused and neglected animals. Pets are brought to this organization at all hours of the day, many of them needing veterinary attention immediately. Having this Seresto® product grant will help animals get flea and tick prevention…especially if the vet is closed. The grant, “saves us from having to wait for the desperately needed flea and tick collars… that half of the animals we take in need especially if they are too afraid or traumatized to get in a body of water for a bath,” said Assistant Manager Miracle Fields.
This organization is a no-kill animal rescue in Columbus, GA willing to do whatever it takes to save lives and get animals adopted. Through their work, they take in about 2,300 animals a year. Out of all of these animals, about 75% of them are medical cases and many have mild to severe flea and/or tick infestation. One volunteer said, “It is our hope to use this grant for our shelter animals and then send them with their Seresto® collars into loving forever homes.”
Located in East Brookfield, MA, Second Chance Animal Shelter takes in almost 1,700 animals per year and helps thousands more with their subsidized veterinary care. Since this organization is the only animal welfare organization in Massachusetts that offers a full-service vet hospital, they take in a lot of medically needy animals. “We LOVE Seresto® collars and have them at all three of our veterinary hospitals that provide subsidized rates for pets owners in need. So, we know how well they work for the clients at our hospitals. We know how Seresto® collars are a help to all pet owners. To be able to have them for our adoption center for our adoptable pets would be wonderful. We always strive to provide the highest quality of care for our shelter pets and having Seresto® collars would be a great addition to the care that we provide,” said CEO Sheryl Blancato.
the public regarding the ongoing problem of animal cruelty and advocate strengthening our local, state, and national animal welfare laws.”
