January-March 2021 Newsletter

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January-March 2021 Newsletter DONOR SPOTLIGHT - WAYNE CARMICHAEL Wayne Carmichael has been a FOJA supporter from the beginning. He was one of our first photographers for the online silent auctions we held for many years beginning in 2013. But more importantly he was our first donor to sign up for automatic monthly donations. As reliable as the sunrise each morning, on the 14th of each month FOJA receives a generous gift from Wayne. As a non-profit that relies on donations, we can’t overstate how important this is. FOJA spends its money in a "pay as we go” fashion and never commits to an expense we can’t cover, so knowing that money will be in our bank account is a godsend! One of Wayne's rescues "Patches" Wayne is not only a big-hearted donor, he’s also his neighborhood’s animal savior. Patches was a prime example and “had Wayne’s number.”  Patches was living in Wayne's neighborhood in a backyard with no shelter. She kept escaping her yard and coming to Wayne's porch to get out of the rain. So he took her in and cared for her. She had a tumor which Wayne paid to have removed. With Wayne, Patches found love, care and attention until she passed in Wayne’s arms.  Never one to take the credit that is his due, Wayne says “the real animal hero in our family is daughter Beth.” When she lived in Korea on a military assignment she was a tireless advocate for the poorly treated local dogs. Cold rainy nights would find her out covering the chained dogs with plastic and each day she provided food, necessities, and best of all: LOVE. Clearly the apple didn’t fall far from the tree! We honor Wayne as our Donor Spotlight with our endless admiration for all that he does for animals and our very sincere thanks for all of his support! HELP THE CAUSE You can help us save Jacksonville animals!  DONATE WITH CREDIT CARD DONATE WITH PAYPAL Be a Super Donor like Wayne Carmichael! Setting up a monthly automatic donation to FOJA is easy with PayPal!   Click the Donate with PayPal button above and be sure to check the box to make it a monthly donation.  URGENT SHELTER NEEDS Animal Care & Protective Services (ACPS) can always benefit from supply donations. Currently ACPS needs:  Martingale collars Calming collars Kitten bottles Miracle Nipples Snuggle Safe disks ¼ oz Boston round bottles Velveeta Pupperoni Supplies can be delivered to the shelter at 2020 Forest Street, Jacksonville FL 32204, Tues-Sun 12pm-6pm.  You can also have supplies delivered directly to the shelter by purchasing via the shelter's Amazon wish list. SPREAD THE WORD F O L L O W on F A C E B O O K F O L L O W on T W I T T E R F O L L O W on I N S T A G R A M INTAKE DIVERSION STORY - GIGI The Intake Diversion Program funded by FOJA is designed to intervene when pet owners surrender their pets to Animal Care & Protective Services (ACPS) in an effort to help owners who would keep their pets if we could find them a solution. ACPS staff identifies candidates for the program, and FOJA works with area veterinarians to provide free or low cost veterinary care. One such story is GiGi, a 7-year old dog surrendered to the shelter last year. GiGi's owner inherited her from her son when he died. She later learned GiGi had heartworms. She took GiGi to First Coast No More Homeless Pets to begin heartworm treatment, but soon realized she simply couldn't afford treatment. She turned in GiGi to ACPS as the last option to save GiGi's life. ACPS staff identified GiGi as an Intake Diversion candidate, and our Intake Diversion board member Carrie Good contacted her right away. Carrie got her a vet appointment the following week. Today, GiGi is undergoing heartworm treatment and doing very well. She was brought up-to-date on her vaccinations, and once treatment is completed, GiGi will be spayed. The owner now understands that heartworm prevention is not optional and saves money in the long run. She is ecstatic that she is able to keep her son's dog.  Name withheld upon request.   Donations from supporters like you allow us to fund this program so we can help owners keep their pets. HEART DOG OF THE YEAR - LIL DEBBIE Lil Debbie was featured in our 2020 "Holiday Hero" fundraising campaign. Lil Debbie was brought in as a stray by Officer Cindy Lowery on October 1, 2020. She went out to a foster parent just nine days later who cared for her through her cardio consultation and heartworm treatment. Once she completed treatment, Lil Debbie was put up for adoption. She wasn't at the shelter very long before she was scooped up by her furever person. Thanks to FOJA, Lil Debbie is heartworm free and living in a loving home.    When you donate to FOJA, you’re helping save the lives of these dogs! 3,899 Dogs Treated for Heartworm with help from donors like you APRIL IS HEARTWORM AWARENESS MONTH Each year, FOJA likes to remind everyone that April is Heartworm Awareness Month and of the importance of heartworm prevention.  Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal disease in pets. It is caused by foot-long worms (heartworms) that live in the heart, lungs and blood vessels, causing severe lung disease, heart failure and damage to other organs in the body. Heartworm disease affects our pet dogs, cats and ferrets. Our pets get heartworms from mosquitoes. Here in Florida, we have lots of mosquitoes which means our pets are in danger year-round. Once our pets are infected, treatment is costly and very difficult on the animal. FOJA urges everyone to give their pets heartworm preventive each and every month. If you can’t afford medicine for your pet, visit our resource page for options in the Jacksonville FL area. 30% of the dogs that enter the shelter system are heartworm positive. FOJA provides life-saving medication so these shelter dogs can be treated in-house at the shelter or through an adopter assistance program with seven participating veterinary practices throughout the Jacksonville area. FOJA’s mission is and will always be to do anything we can to get these infected dogs treated so they can move on to a healthy and happy life.  With wonderful supporters like you, we are able accomplish this.  As always, thank you to all of our very generous donors for being a part of Team FOJA! When you donate to FOJA, you’re helping save the lives of these dogs! ANOTHER FOJA SUCCESS STORY - PEARL You may notice something right off the bat about Pearl. She’s gorgeous! Her huge eyes pull you in. Also, she is missing an ear. When Pearl was brought into Animal Care and Protective Services (ACPS), she had both her ears. It was quickly discovered that she was having issues that weren’t visible at first glance. You see, Pearl had multiple growths in her ear canal, causing her discomfort. This was beyond the medical scope of ACPS’s veterinarians, so FOJA stepped in to help cover the cost of a specialist. First, we were able to rule out cancer, but since the growths were uncomfortable, we took the extra step of ear canal ablation (or in English, removal). This set Pearl up for massive success! Thanks to your donor dollars, Pearl is now happy, adopted, and living her best life with no more ear issues to be heard of (pun intended).   Donations from supporters like you allow us to help animals like Pearl so they can find their furever homes.  WAYS YOU CAN HELP Copyright ©2021 Friends of Jacksonville Animals, Inc., All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Friends of Jacksonville Animals, Inc. c/o Animal Care & Protective Services 2020 Forest Street Jacksonville FL 32204 Visit us on the web: www.friendsofjaxanimals.com