A busy year at No More Homeless Pets in Utah
In 2004, No More Homeless Pets in Utah sponsored and participated in a variety of unique events to help the animals.
Learn about Best Friends’ work to make Utah no-kill
Various events to help pets in Utah
There was the "Donate 5 to Keep Utah's Pets Alive," a grassroots fundraising initiative. It's simple and effective -- the campaign asked that every Utah family donate $5 every year to support Utah's homeless pets.
The Pet Super Adoption events always result in hundreds of dogs and cats finding good homes. Every super adoption features activities for kids, live music, bake sales and of course, dogs and cats galore, all needing a loving home. The September Pet Super Adoption event resulted in 353 dogs and cats finding permanent homes.
The Lint Roller Party is one of the more popular events, enjoyed by people and their dog companions. This past year, the party hounds came out in droves to the party, held in the elegant new Salt Lake City Library. Several hundred dogs and their humans spent the evening socializing, listening to the live band, admiring the Bow Wow Haus display of architect-designed dog houses and feasting on gourmet treats.
Seventy animals found loving homes during the "Paws Across Utah" adoption event held in October in the parking lot of the Riverdale PETsMART. The event was part of Utah's Week for the Animals celebration. Several rescue groups and shelters brought their adoptable dogs, cats, puppies and kittens to the event. Best Friends Animal Society's humane education team put on "Kids and Critters," activities for children that included face painting, storytelling and arts and crafts. During the Paws Across Utah Holiday adoption event, held at the Ft. Union Petco, 131 pets went home with loving families.
The crew of The Big Fix on Tour, the mobile spay/neuter clinic, kept on rolling along during 2004. In the four years since the clinic began touring the state, the staff has spayed and neutered over 28,000 dogs and cats. Congratulations to the staff of the clinic and to all of those who have helped them become what they are today: the best mobile spay/neuter clinic in the nation (if we do say so ourselves)!
Partnerships with other animal shelters and rescues
An unusual relationship with West Valley City, the second largest municipality in the state has resulted in a decrease in the euthanasia rate from 63 percent to 37 percent, and the number of cats entering the shelter there has been reduced by nearly 50 percent with the help of a very successful feral cat trap, neuter, return program organized by No More Homeless Pets in Utah.
The Furburbia Pet Adoption Centers in Salt Lake City and Park City put on a "Spooktacular" Halloween adoption event. Furburbia, already known as the hip place to find your dog or cat true love, offered 20 percent off the adoption fee with every pet adopted going home with a trick or treat sack of tasty, pet-friendly treats. In December, more than 160 dogs and cats were adopted at Furburbia.
These unique and innovative projects put on over the years by No More Homeless Pets in Utah have resulted in a 27 percent decrease in euthanasia, a 60 percent increase in adoptions and 80,000+ discounted spay/neuter surgeries performed. By any measure, No More Homeless Pets in Utah has been a rousing success for the animals.
The goal remains to end the euthanasia of homeless dogs and cats in Utah.
2005 promises to be another successful year, with the staff devising creative new ways to find loving homes for dogs and cats in Utah.