Woods Humane Society will hold its second free pet vaccine clinic this month for San Luis Obispo County dogs and cats on August 25, 2023. The free DAPPv Canine and HCP Feline vaccines, which help prevent parvovirus and distemper in dogs and panleukopenia in cats, are made possible through Petco Love's national vaccination initiative to provide another one million free pet vaccines to family pets in need.
The appointment-based pet vaccine clinic for publicly owned pets will be held at Woods Humane Society’s North County campus at 2300 Ramona Road in Atascadero, California on Friday, August 25th, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. In addition to the free DAPPv Canine and HCP Feline vaccines, Woods will also offer other vaccines and services at low cost.
“Thanks to our ongoing partnership with Petco Love, we are excited to offer the community the opportunity to protect their pets from deadly diseases for free,” says Woods CEO Emily L’Heureux. She explains that the free vaccines help reduce the risk of pets contracting common, deadly viral infections that are highly contagious and easily preventable with a vaccine.
Dr. Amanda Hefner, DVM, Director of Veterinary Services at Woods says, “In June, we took in a litter of kittens that turned out to have the dangerous panleukopenia virus, and because they were unvaccinated, they became ill. Thankfully, our dedicated medical team was able to quickly quarantine the kittens, perform life-saving emergency treatments, and nurse them back to health. They are now vaccinated, altered, and living healthy lives with their adopters.”
Susanne Kogut, Petco Love President, notes that when these preventable diseases enter busy shelters, they not only endanger one pet’s life, but can spread quickly, cause multiple deaths, and lead to higher expenses and reduced adoptions in that shelter. “By creating greater awareness and making this crucial preventative care more accessible to pets not currently receiving these lifesaving vaccines, we can prevent the dangerous spread of disease.”
To make an appointment for the vaccine clinic, visit www.SpaySLOCounty.com. For more information, contact Woods Humane Society by calling (805) 543-9316, or visiting 875 Oklahoma Ave., San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 or 2300 Ramona Rd., Atascadero, CA 93422. Woods is open to the public daily from 12-5 p.m., with adoption hours from 12-4 p.m. Learn more about Petco Love’s lifesaving impact at PetcoLove.org.
About Petco Love
Petco Love is a life-changing nonprofit organization that makes communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since our founding in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, we’ve empowered animal welfare organizations by investing $350 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. We’ve helped find loving homes for more than 6.7 million pets in partnership with Petco and organizations nationwide.
Our love for pets drives us to lead with innovation, creating tools animal lovers need to reunite lost pets, and lead with passion, inspiring and mobilizing communities and our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners to drive lifesaving change alongside us. Is love calling you? Join us. Visit petcolove.org or follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to be part of the lifesaving work we lead every day.
In celebration of National Pet Vaccination Month in March, Woods Humane Society will provide free vaccinations for San Luis Obispo County pets on March 18, 2023. The free vaccines are made possible through Petco Love's national vaccination initiative, which is providing another one million free pet vaccines to existing animal welfare partners, including Woods Humane Society, for family pets in need.
Parvovirus and distemper in dogs and panleukopenia in cats — the most prevalent deadly diseases affecting pets — are preventable with the simple DAPPv Canine and HCP Feline vaccines that will be offered for free at the clinic. Woods is partnering with Petco Love to make vaccines accessible and affordable for the estimated 30% of pet parents who do not take their pet to a veterinarian annually for preventative care.
The appointment-based Pet Vaccine Clinic for publicly owned pets will be held at Woods Humane Society’s North County campus at 2300 Ramona Road in Atascadero, California on Saturday, March 18th, from 9:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. In addition to the Petco Love free DAPPv Canine and HCP Feline vaccines, Woods will also offer other vaccines and services at low cost.
“We are thrilled to again be able to offer the community a free pet vaccine clinic during March’s National Pet Vaccination Month thanks to the ongoing support of Petco Love,” says Woods Interim CEO Emily L’Heureux. “These lifesaving vaccines are crucial to ensuring the health of local pets. We encourage SLO County pet owners to take advantage of this no-cost resource and make an appointment before openings fill up.”
“It is heartbreaking when any pet suffers or dies from a disease that could have been prevented. It is further exacerbated when unvaccinated pets come into busy shelter kennels, where these deadly diseases can spread quickly, resulting in multiple deaths, skyrocketing expenses, and hindering saving pet lives,” said Susanne Kogut, Petco Love President. “By creating greater awareness and making this crucial preventative care more accessible to pets not currently receiving these lifesaving vaccines, we can prevent the dangerous spread of disease.”
For more information about vaccine distribution, contact Woods Humane Society by calling (805) 543-9316, or visiting 875 Oklahoma Ave., San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 or 2300 Ramona Rd., Atascadero, CA 93422. Woods is open to the public daily from 12-5 p.m., with adoption hours from 12-4 p.m. Learn more about Petco Love’s lifesaving impact at PetcoLove.org.
February is National Spay/Neuter Awareness Month, and yet San Luis Obispo County, like many counties nationwide, is struggling with a severe shortage of veterinarians to perform these important procedures which help manage local pet populations.
Woods Humane Society has searched near and far for nearly a year to hire a full-time veterinarian to help them meet the high demand for affordable spay/neuter surgeries in SLO county.
“Our nonprofit operates the county’s only two low-cost spay/neuter clinics and we perform an average of 5,000 of these surgeries per year for locally-owned pets as well as for shelter animals at Woods, SLO County Animal Services, and other rescues,” explains Woods Humane Society CEO Neil Trent. “In 2022, even without being able to staff full veterinary teams as we’d hoped, we still managed to perform 5,456 spay/neuter surgeries. However, in the last few months, we have not been able to keep up with demand and have had to temporarily postpone taking any new appointments from the public.”
Trent says that the nonprofit organization is desperately in search of qualified veterinarians to help them continue offering a high volume of sterilizations in order to manage pet populations and reduce the instances of unwanted litters of puppies and kittens in our county.
“A slow-down of any kind in spay/neuter efforts can have a significant ripple effect on our local pet population. With shelters full across California, and with spring kitten season on the way, the veterinary shortage and the resulting restrictions on spay and neuter surgeries will only negatively impact an already dire situation. It is our top priority to recruit and hire veterinarians so that we can carry out the Woods mission and keep the SLO County shelter from experiencing the same overcrowding and unnecessary euthanasia that many other county shelters in this state are experiencing.”
To learn more about applying for the open staff veterinarian position at Woods Humane Society, visit woodshumanesociety.org/get-involved/employment-opportunities.
Woods is located at 875 Oklahoma Ave., San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 and at 2300 Ramona Rd., Atascadero, CA 93422, and is open to the public daily from 12-5 p.m., with adoption hours from 12-4 p.m. For more information about Woods, visit www.WoodsHumane.org or call (805) 543-9316.
