Best Friends Animal Society and SPCA of Brevard Help Declare Inde-Pet-Dence This 4th!
Titusville, Florida (PRWEB) July 01, 2015 -- Food. Fireworks. Fun. That’s the scenario for millions of people that celebrate US Independence Day on July 4th, one of the year’s liveliest holidays.
Unfortunately, for pets that get frightened during the festivities, it can be anything but a celebration. Driven by a fearful reaction to fireworks and other loud sights and sounds, dogs and cats that flee from their homes often end up in municipal animal shelters.
“Nationwide, July 4th weekend is the busiest shelter intake time of the year. So, while many of us are celebrating a holiday, the shelters will be flooded with pets, many of which will never find their way home,” said Gregory Castle, chief executive officer of Best Friends Animal Society. “In order to avoid this heartbreaking scenario, we encourage owners to make the holiday as safe as possible for their pets.”
Best Friends Animal Society offers the following tips to help keep your pets safe over the holiday weekend:
• Bring all pets indoors whenever neighborhood fireworks displays are likely. Secure dogs in a room and play music or turn on the television to drown out the frightening sounds.
• Keep pets away from lit fireworks at all times, including your own backyard, as some will chase after the bright moving objects and are at risk to be burned or blinded in the process.
• Ensure that pets are wearing current identification tags.
• For the ultimate identification protection, all pets should be microchipped so that they can scanned at an animal shelter or veterinary office.
• If your pet does go missing over the holiday, check with local animal shelters immediately. Go to the shelter in person to identify your pet, rather than calling or emailing the shelter, as staff may not be able to respond in a timely enough fashion to ensure your pet’s safety.
To maximize lifesaving efforts in July, Best Friends Animal Society and the SPCA of Brevard are offering $25 “Celebrate Freedom” adoptions. Throughout the month, adopt any cat or dog over six months old to take advantage of the special reduced fee. This offer is valid at the Titusville Adoption Center as well as the Merritt Square and Melbourne Square Cat Adoption locations.
“We’re excited to participate in the Celebrate Freedom adoption promotion to help as many homeless pets as possible in Brevard find loving homes. Every animal saved is one step closer to realizing our goal of making this county a no-kill community,” said Susan Naylor, public relations coordinator for the SPCA of Brevard. “The more animals we can adopt out, the more we can rescue from the county shelter. It’s win-win for everyone.”
“Adoption isn’t just the most humane option when adding a four-legged member to your family, it’s convenient and cost-effective, too,” Castle said. “Our hope is that potential adopters will band together with the SPCA of Brevard to declare this 4th as Inde-Pet-Dence Day for shelter pets in their community.”
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About SPCA of Brevard
The SPCA of Brevard, Inc. is a private, non-profit organization with the mission of “protecting and providing a voice to the homeless animals of Brevard County.” Founded in 1979 in Titusville, Florida, the SPCA is the largest private no-kill animal rescue group in Brevard, finding homes for 2300 animals a year. It is the first adoption facility with free-roaming cat rooms in the County, allowing adopters to interact with cats in a more home-like setting. The SPCA of North Brevard Clinic also provides reduced-price vaccines to the public and has performed more than 50,000 low-cost spay/neuter surgeries since 1999.
The SPCA of Brevard is a participating member of the No More Homeless Pets Network, a program of Best Friends Animal Society that offers help and support to animal rescue groups that save lives in their communities.
For more information, visit http://www.spcabrevard.com.
About Best Friends Animal Society
Best Friends Animal Society is the only national animal welfare organization dedicated exclusively to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America's shelters. A leader in the no-kill movement, Best Friends runs the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals, as well as lifesaving programs in partnership with rescue groups and shelters across the country. Since its founding in 1984, Best Friends has helped reduce the number of animals killed in American shelters from 17 million per year to about 4 million. By continuing to build effective initiatives that reduce the number of animals entering shelters and increase the number who find homes, Best Friends and its nationwide network of members and partners are working to Save Them All®.
To become a fan of Best Friends Animal Society on Facebook go to: http://www.facebook.com/bestfriendsanimalsociety
Follow Best Friends on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bestfriends
About No More Homeless Pets® Network
The No More Homeless Pets® Network is a program of Best Friends Animal Society focused on building relationships and working with other rescue organizations and municipal shelters all across the country to end the killing of dogs and cats in our nation’s shelters. The Network is comprised of 501(c)(3) public charity animal welfare groups and shelters committed to saving the lives of homeless pets through active adoption and/or spay/neuter programs. Network partners are provided fundraising opportunities and adoption events, consultations with Best Friends staff, assistance with networking animals, and the opportunity to apply to Lifesaving Grants. Participation in the program is free of cost.
Susan Naylor, SPCA of North Brevard Inc, http://www.spcanorthbrevard.com, 321-501-7696, [email protected]
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