MEMORIAL DAY COOKOUT DONATIONS NEEDED!
“Friends of Hillsborough County Animal Services, Inc” will be having a cookout at the shelter on Memorial Day, May 27, 2013.
Approximate time will 10-2 (ish).
All funds will be going to benefit the animals at HCAS.
If you can help in any way, or with donations…We need the following items:
- Napkins
- Burgers
- Hot dogs
- Buns (hotdog and hamburger)
- Plates (foam or the heavier style opposed to the paper ones)
- Plastic Utensils
- Canned drinks (Variety, coke, 7up, (regular and diet) and maybe something like Orange Soda?
- Boxes of the small individual chip variety packs
* If anyone likes to bake and wants to donate some baked goods, those will also be accepted but would have to be dropped off the morning of the cookout.
As always we have little clue as to how much of anything we will need, but we are shooting to feed approximately 200 people. It would be helpful to know what we will be having donated by Wed, May 22.
If you can donate items, please take to the shelter as soon as you can so we canget a count on what we may need to purchase. If for some reason you can’t get items to the shelter please let us know and we will see if we can arrange pick-up.
And …if nothing else….please come down for lunch!!
***If you take the items during the week days, please ask for Lauryn Marshall (Ian’s Assistant)…she will see the items are put into the area where they will be stored and safe. If you drop items off on the weekend, please ask for Steve Scanlon or Loretta ..they will make sure the items stay safe till Monday.
IMPORTANT
Please email items you can donate to:
Nancy Latimer nancyblatimer@friendsofhcas.org
Jackie Osborne jackieosborne@friendsofhcas.org
Thank you to all for your support of FOHCAS..remember, IT TAKES A VILLAGE!
Bead Boutique of Brandon!
Thank you Bead Boutique of Brandon!! An FOHCAS “Villager” 
Don’t you just love these dog bones? The wonderful fused glass instructor, Laurie Authelet- Fuller, along with the owners mother, have made these pendants for customers to purchase. Please consider purchasing one for yourself, or as a gift for a dog lover. For each dog bone sold, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to FOHCAS.
Please consider making a donation today to help Friends of HCAS Inc., a not for profit 501c3 that focuses solely on the animals in need at our county’s shelter. FoHCAS is committed to enriching the lives of shelter animals, and improving the shelter’s live release rate, with community outreach, public education, shelter enrichment, volunteer mentoring, medical donations and off-site events to showcase shelter adoptables. BeadBoutique Brandon is proud to be a contributor to this worthy organization!
Guess who?
Last fall, HCAS ACO Renee Northrop dug a wounded, frightened, betrayed dog out of the dirt. On her hands and knees, with care and love, so the little dog would suffer no more terror or pain, NeNe (as her HCAS family knows her) gently excavated until she was freed. Officer Northrop then rushed the injured pup to seek emergency veterinary care. The dog that Hillsborough County, Florida and the nation learned to call “Phoebe” owes her life to the love, passion and dedication of this fifteen year veteran ACO.
You might call Renee Northop a “dog catcher”. Her friends and colleagues call her a “hero”
Oh, and here’s a recent picture of Phoebe – “the dog that was shot in the head”. She will never be abused, shot, buried alive or terrified again. She is home.
(Thank you Laura Page for the post)
Downtown Tampa Market
It started off a little shaky, but ended up being fun.
Thanks to the foster families who brought out their pups.
“Intake Stats” for April 2013
“Intake Stats” for Hillsborough County Animal Servives for April 2013
DOGS
TOTAL DOGS 786 Read more…
A widdle happy tail.
Janet McDonald, formerly of the Hillsborough County Attorney’s Office who handled HCAS cases, and is a champion for animals is the proud new mom of “Gilligan”. :) Thank you Ms. McDonald for saving a life!
National Pet Week
Today ( 4-27-2012) at 11:00 am is the first presentation of National Pet Week.
It will be held at the Lutz Branch Library
101 Lutz-Lake Fern Road, W. in Lutz.
(There will be 7 more coming up in May at other library locations).
The Happy Tail of “Boucher”
It’s now been over a year since we have had Boucher in our family, so I thought I’d drop you a little message letting you know how he is.First of all, we decided against heartworm injections and instead worked with our vet on a slower treatment plan with medicine. He was just re-tested on Friday and he is officially heartworm free!!! Yay!!! We had a feeling he was going to come up negative since he has become rather energetic in the past few months.
He has now learned to play with toys, though only soft ones. After months of ignoring all his toys, once day he just came in from walk, picked up a toy, and started running around! We are working on teaching him to fetch but he still hasn’t quite understood the concept. His favorite thing is a soft squeaky ball made to look like a stuffed cheetah.
He sits, rolls over, plays dead, and lifts his paw to shake hands on command. Once he got comfortable here he was pretty easy to train with some of his favorite treats. He used to be a bit shy with other dogs but he now loves animal friends. We go to the dog beach and he runs around and plays with all kids of dogs. Our walker takes him out with a Lab and they are best buddies. He even has neighborhood dog friends he loves to see when we take him out.
Some things didn’t change. He is just not a barker. He will bark back at a dog if the other dog starts it, but he so rarely barks in the apartment we jump a little if he does! Not at cars in the parking lot, not at dogs outside, not when the doorbell goes or the pizza guy knocks. If he sees a cat on a walk he does make a little squeaky sound. We joke he’s trying to speak cat!
He still loves a cuddle on the couch in the evenings, and will jump right into our lap or arms when we call him. He is every bit as loveable and sweet. When my husband’s family was in town for our wedding, his 3 year old cousin adored Boucher. He is great with kids! He was so sweet and obedient to that little boy. Good news for our future
He’s still so well behaved – We even took him on our honeymoon to Naples! (in Florida…not Italy!) His naughty habit is that he likes to sneak into our bed in the night, especially if it is cold. Most of the time we scoop him up and put him back in his bed, but I must admit we let it slide during the very cold nights!
Attached is a few more pictures of Boucher. I just wanted to thank you once again for taking care of our little boy before he became part of our family. You’ll never know how much it means to us every second he was being cared for instead of being alone and abandoned.
-Heather
Princess Josie and Friends
Princess Josie is 10 years old, adopted 5 years ago from HCAS.
The Chihuahua mix returned in a state of neglect and will need a rear limb x-rayed.
Princess Josie greatly enjoyed her day of sunshine and fame with Marti at Islands Fest where she met Dr. Jo Giovenco of FOX 13 TV. :)
Remember your donations will help us to continue to help animals like Princess Josie so they may have a chance to find their furever homes!
Come visit FOHCAS on Davis Island !
Come visit FOHCAS this Saturday (April 20)
from 10:00 – 4:00
on Davis Island for Islands Fest. :)
A Happy Tail
A story from a family who looked past the irregularities of a scabby faced pup and reaped the benefits. :)
This is Jenna. She was known in the shelter as Fifi.
We adopted her at the beginning of February from Hillsborough County Animal Services. She was diagnosed with generalized demodex mange. She had no fur on her face, was losing it in clumps all over her body, and was bleeding in some areas from the skin that had come off. 
But when we first met her, her personality did not match her looks. She was the happiest pup!
Since we’ve brought her home, she has been on treatment for the mange. All of her hair has grown back and she’s gained close to 20 pounds! She has found a great friendship in our other dog, Moose and she plays wonderfully with our 3 children, ages 5, 4, and 2. She couldn’t have been a more perfect fit for our family.
I wanted to share her Happy Tails story with y’all. I had seen another puppy on here that’s currently in the shelter and wanted to encourage everyone to look past the ick because there IS a great dog in there! ADOPT!
These little pitties went to the market….
Fabulous day at the Sunday Market in downtown Tampa 4-14-2012
Thank you to the terrific group of HCAS volunteers who spent the day with some awesome dogs changing minds and educating the public.
FOHCAS will be at the Tampa Downtown Market! Come visit.
Yep, it was a last minute thing. Read more…
Watch for more on the “Colson 9″
The “Colson 9″ on Baynews 9
Watch the story airing every hour this evening, (April 11) and visit Hillsborough County Animal Services daily from 10 until 7.
Mother’s Day is a month away (May 12).
Why not give a gift that supports us? Rescue Chocolate makes a donation to FOHCAS for every chocolate bar or truffle box ordered! Just notate “Friends of HCAS, Inc” on the gift note field on the cart before checkout. Easy and yummy!!
Attn:Volunteers!
ATTENTION HCAS VOLUNTEERS:
We have a new gate code. :)
Please contact Cathy Carr, your program leader or a lead volunteer for the number.
More “Village” help for the “Colson 9″
Getting some media help in finding the “Colson 9″ some deserving homes!
Look for for the “Colson 9″ on 10News, ABC Action News, and FOX 13. (Thanks to these stations who are part of, and helping our “Village”).
(Photos show Pam Perry)
The Colson 9
The dogs we’ve been calling the PC26 are now renamed the Colson 9.
Here’s their “press release”:
Earlier this year, Hillsborough County Animal Services was called to a residence on Colson Road in Plant City where 26 dogs were found tied out on short chains behind a circular wooden privacy fence.
Under search warrant, the dogs were removed and are now legally owned by the County.
After conducting health and temperament tests, staff and volunteers are working tirelessly to place the last of these remaining, special dogs into loving homes.
The “Colson 9″ are learning about second chances at the shelter on Falkenburg Road, and local media will begin featuring the dogs this week.
The case remains an active criminal investigation.
Like all of the shelter adoptables, the Colson 9 dogs will come spay/neutered, vaccinated, micro-chipped, and licensed. Adopters are encouraged to attend expert dog obedience and behavior training sessions — at no charge — on Wednesday evenings at the shelter.
The Animal Services team is making every effort to make these dogs, most of which are pit bull terriers, the skills they need to make it. The community can help by welcoming them with open minds and hearts.
Adopt daily 10 until 7, and thank you for your support.
Attention Cat Lovers!
CAT AMBASSADOR MEETING
SATURDAY – 13 APRIL – 1100/1200
CONFERENCE ROOM IN THE ADOPTIONS BUILDING
Are you a cat person – or do you want to become a cat person?
Please consider coming to our next HCAS Cat Ambassador meeting.
We are a small – growing – strongly dedicated group of Shelter volunteers – that are focused on improving the number of successful adoptions of Shelter cats and kittens.
Concerned about your limited cat/kitten knowledge or cat handling skills or dealing with the public?
We can help you with “hands on”, written, video and web based training/education materials.
So please come visit us on Saturday – 13 April at 11:00am.
We can give you the tools to forever positively change the lives of Shelter cats and kittens and really add to the value of many local families and children.
And you can personally share that Joy!!
Any questions – contact
Ron Heimburger
heimburger@mindspring.com
813-677-9361
The “Plant City 26″ Their Journey….
The dogs in this video were saved by Hillsborough County’s finest,from a dog fighting ring. Many of their counterparts did not make it,100′s died on the property they were seized from,some were so sick they didnt last long even with the very best care once they arrived at HCAS,sadly some were ruined beyond the scope of our help and did not pass the temperament test.THESE HOWEVER ARE THE SURVIVORS! THESE ARE THE ONES THAT BEAT THE ODDS! THEY ARE HEALTHY,HAPPY AND LOOKING FOR THEIR FOREVER HOMES!!!! Please if you can, foster or adopt,if you cant foster please consider donating towards their adoptions,if you cant donate please share this video! Help these suvivors continue to beat the odds!
These dogs are being featured at our shelter and are available for adoption, rescue, or foster. Hillsborough County Animal Services @440 Falkenburg Rd. Tampa, Fl. 33619
Washer Down..
Well, once again HCAS has a washing machine that went ‘ka-put’ :(
So, if you have any un-needed bedding material, please bring to the shelter. We accept towels, blankets, quilts etc. Or….if you have a new washer hanging around, feel free to bring it also…and if you can’t let me know..I will pick it up
“Intake Stats” for March 2013
“Intake Stats” for HCAS
3-1-2013 thru 3-31-2013
The reason we do what we do.
DOGS
Total Dogs: 807
Dogs Adopted 396
Dogs that died 8
Dogs Euthanized 290
Dogs RTO’d 113
CATS
Total Cats: 728
Cats Adopted 285
Cats that died 11
Cat Disposal 1
Cats Euthanized 417
Cats RTO’d 14
BIRDS: Total Birds: 76 ~ Birds Adopted 5 ~ Birds Euthanized 67 ~ Birds Relocated 3 ~ Birds Transfered 1
“OTHER” Total “Other” : 71 ~ “Other” Adopted 9 ~ “Other” that died 2 ~ “Other” Euthanized 49 ~ “Other” Relocated 2 ~ “Other” Transfered 9
TOTAL ANIMALS DISPOSTIONED FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH
1,682
Play Time!
Part of what the FOHCAS Mission Statement entails is to provide ‘shelter enrichment’ for the animals that may find themselves at HCAS for whatever reason. Some animals reside in our Investigation Kennels, or are part of our A.D.O.P.T program. These particular groups of dogs may remain at HCAS for periods of time ranging from weeks, to months…and in some cases much longer a year or longer.
The wonderful Volunteers of HCAS make sure that these animals, along with others, have ‘play’ time…either alone with just the handler, or as part of a ‘play group’ in which more than one dog may be out in one of our parks, just ‘being dogs’.
Toy’s can be wonderful elements for exercise of both body and mind of the animals. Some of the animals who enter the HCAS facility have NO concept of what a toy even is or what to do with it. watching pups be able to enjoy sunshine, a roll in the grass, and then have a toy to toss around, can bring a mixture of sadness and joy to those who watch. Many of these animals have been denied the most basic ‘luxury’ of those simple pleasures.
FOHCAS recently provided some “Jolly Balls” for the IK and ADOPT dogs. Volunteers have provided them in the past, but FOHCAS wanted to help. As tough as this particular toy (Jolly Ball) is, they don’t last as long time when tossed about by numerous dogs on a daily basis. But for now..they have a few that should get them by for a while.
Now…..we gotta find out what will bring our long-term cats some joy during their stay at HCAS.
