By Susan Tallant/editor-in-chief
I can’t believe the Christmas season is already here, seems like just last week we were buying textbooks and getting ready for fall semester. Now, donation boxes for canned goods line the campus hallways, and angel trees are already in place at the mall.
With the spirit of giving comes another challenge—whom to give to.
A lot of people need help, and it’s hard to decide how to divvy up the funds, but sometimes our very best friends are forgotten. You know, the four-legged furry family members who are always there for us at the end of a long day?
More than 20,000 homeless animals make their way to the Fort Worth Animal Care and Control Center each year, but less than one third of them find a home—the other 14,000 plus need our help.
Pet lovers can show their giving spirit by donating to On Wings of Angels, a program allowing people to sponsor the adoption of dogs or cats facing euthanasia.
Sue Vesta, a Fort Worth Realtor, started the program after seeing so many displaced pets from Katrina. She couldn’t take in any more pets but wanted help, so she called Carla Strickland, a vet tech at the Fort Worth Animal shelter, and the two came up with a plan.
Here’s how it works:
Step 1: People with a house full of pets or no time for one of their own, give money to go toward adoption fees of dogs or cats facing the “e” word.
Step 2: Workers from the shelter determine whose future is at stake and place a special sticker on the cage to encourage a quick adoption.
Step 3: Fido or Fifi is now half price, so people who might not have enough money for the initial adoption fee but could otherwise provide a good home go home with a new best friend and perhaps a little money left over for food and supplies.
Strickland said the program has saved more than 175 animals from euthanasia since it started last year. Vesta said it might be “just a drop in the bucket” compared with what is needed, but if everyone did just a little bit, it would make a difference.
To do your “little bit” this holiday season, get your credit card and call 817-392-3737. For those without money, time is good. The shelter invites volunteers to help groom and exercise the dogs, spoil the cats or help with data entry.
