Happy National Pet Appreciation Week!

June 9th, 2023 | Posted by CCadmin1* in Animal Welfare | Feel Good Story | Healthy Pets | Healthy Pets Initiative | Humane Pennsylvania | Microchipping - (Comments Off on Happy National Pet Appreciation Week!)

Written by Maggie McDevitt, Humane Pennsylvania Media Specialist

It’s National Pet Appreciation Week! Pet Appreciation Week was started by the American Veterinary Medical Association in 1981 to raise awareness of the benefits of pets in our daily lives. To celebrate, we’d like to highlight a few simple ways you can show your pet how much you appreciate them this week and support Humane Pennsylvania.

  1. Plan a Day at the Dog Park

There’s nothing more exciting to a pup than heading to the wide-open spaces of Humane Pennsylvania’s Danielle Ruiz-Murphy Dog Park, located at 503 S. Center Road (Rte. 82), Birdsboro, PA 19508. Our dog park is equipped with two large play areas; one for active dogs and one for our pups who are a little on the shy side! There is plenty of room for zoomies, and your dog will sleep soundly after a day full of play!

  1. Schedule a Check-Up

We can show our pets that we appreciate them by going the extra mile to keep them healthy and up-to-date on all of their wellness needs. You can either schedule an appointment at our full-service, nationally-accredited Humane Veterinary Hospitals or you can bring your pet to a Healthy Pets Walk-In Clinic or Pay-What-You-Can Neighborhood Clinic to get them updated on their vaccines. With a variety of services, ways and times to access them, and variable pricing, HPA is here to help keep your pets happy and healthy at home with you. During these visits, you may also opt to microchip your pet, which helps increase your pet’s chance of coming home to you, if they ever get lost.

  1. Bring Them to Baseballtown!

Did you know that Humane Pennsylvania is a proud sponsor of the Reading Fightin Phils’ Bark in the Park Nights? On select Sundays during the Summer, you and your pup can enjoy America’s favorite pastime together! The best part? We have complimentary tickets available for pickup! If you are interested in attending a Bark in the Park game, check the Fightins schedule and contact our Events & Interim Volunteer Coordinator at [email protected] or 610-750-6100, ext. 232 to reserve your tickets! All ticket requests must be made at least 48 hours before the desired game date. Tickets are first-come, first-serve. Please be sure to include your pups in your ticket count.

  1. Stock Up on Treats and Toys

What better way to show your pet that you appreciate them than showering them with new gifts that they are sure to love? Shop for some new goodies for your pet on Amazon. You can also buy some treats and toys for our shelter pets, using our Humane Pennsylvania Amazon wish list, and have your donations shipped directly to us!

  1. Have a Day Date at a mini Pints for Pups

Now through October, we have several mini Pints for Pups dates scheduled at local breweries and wineries around Berks and Lancaster Counties! These events are dog-friendly, and each event directly benefits the animals in our care! You can find a full list of 2023 mini Pints for Pups tour stops at HumanePA.org.

 

  1. Get Your Pet a Friend!

The more the merrier! Show your pet you love them by browsing our adoptable pets and bring home a new furry friend from one of our adoption centers. They’ll be so excited to have a new companion to play and snuggle with and you’ll have another pet to love and appreciate! What could be more paw-fect?

  1. Make an Honorary Donation

The perfect way to show that you appreciate your pet is by making an honorary donation to Humane Pennsylvania. Your donation will provide lifesaving services and help us find loving, forever homes for the animals in our care. You’ll be paying it forward while honoring your furry best friend in a meaningful way that helps other animals.

While every day is our chance to show how much our pets truly mean to us, Pet Appreciation Week is special because we can formally express how important our pets are, and how happy they make us. It is our chance, as humans, to repay them for being our furry best friends and for loving us unconditionally.

 

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By Humane Pennsylvania Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr. Alicia Simoneau, DVM

Last month, something big started for pets and their caretakers in our community. Did you hear? Humane Pennsylvania’s Healthy Pets Walk-In Clinic opened its doors at the Freedom Center for Animal Life-Saving at 1801 N. 11th Street in Reading!

Humane Pennsylvania (HPA) staff had been planning the venture for quite some time, and the pandemic delayed the greatly anticipated opening of the Healthy Pets Walk-In Clinic for far too long.

The concept of the Walk-In Clinic grew out of HPA’s pioneering Healthy Pets Initiative, which provides meaningful access to veterinary care for all in need. This clinic was made possible through the visionary generosity of the Giorgi Family Foundation and Jay Rosenson, in memory of Eileen Rosenson. Their leadership is helping HPA build the best communities anywhere to be an animal or animal caretaker.

The new Freedom Center, which opened July 1, 2021, included space for the Walk-In Clinic, but it took nearly a year to come to fruition. The Walk-In Clinic features two exam rooms and a comfortable lobby at the entrance at 11th and Bern Streets.

The Walk-In Clinic adds to the continuum of access to veterinary care for Berks County and surrounding communities. Access to affordable veterinary care for every community member is central to Humane Pennsylvania’s mission. HPA has many different ways for animal caretakers to access vet care, depending on their needs: Humane Veterinary Hospitals in Reading and Lancaster, Neighborhood Pay-What-You-Can Vaccine and Microchip Clinics, and now the Healthy Pets Walk-In Clinic.

The HPA Healthy Pets Walk-In Clinic offers comprehensive preventative vaccinations, care, and advice, without an appointment — and it’s designed to serve more community members at an affordable price point of only 60% of normal veterinary hospital rates.

Humane PA’s Healthy Pets Walk-In Clinic will be open every Wednesday and Friday, from 9 am to 1 pm. The clinic is first come, first served.

Current services offered for dogs: Exam with a veterinarian ($32, required with any other service), Vaccinations ($14-15), flea and tick preventatives ($9), deworming (starting at $9), Microchip (Free, including registration, with every exam).

Current services offered for cats: Exam with a veterinarian ($32, required with any other service), Vaccinations ($14-15), flea and ear mite preventatives ($9), deworming (starting at $9), Microchip (Free, including registration, with every exam).

At this time, no sick or injured care is provided at the Healthy Pets Wilk-In Clinic. Please contact Humane Veterinary Hospitals in Reading or Lancaster or another veterinary hospital to make an appointment for sick or injured care for your pet.

Visit humanepa.org for additional hours and to see what services will be provided in the coming months.

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May Is National Chip Your Pet Month

May 16th, 2022 | Posted by CCadmin1* in Animal Health | Healthy Pets | Healthy Pets Initiative | Humane Pennsylvania | Humane Veterinary Hospitals | Microchipping - (Comments Off on May Is National Chip Your Pet Month)
By: Dr. Alicia Simoneau, Chief Veterinary Officer

Should you have your pet microchipped? Absolutely yes, no bones about it.

Microchips save lives! The majority of reunions that animal shelters facilitate between pets and their owners happen because the pets are microchipped and registered with up-to-date contact information.

You may not think your pet is at risk of becoming a stray, but what might happen if someone visiting your home would leave a window or door unsecured? There’s also a chance that a weather event or other accident could damage your home and cause a pet to stray.

Accidents happen. Microchipping is kind of an insurance policy

Also, you can save money by getting a lifetime license when a dog is microchipped and spayed or neutered.

What Is a Microchip?

A microchip is a transponder that works using radio waves when activated by a scanner that is waved over the animal. A microchip is about the size of a grain of rice. It is implanted under the skin, above muscle, in the subcutaneous layer. It is implanted by medical professionals using a sterile hypodermic needle, similar to a vaccination. Once implanted, the microchip remains active for the rest of the animal’s life.

In dogs and cats, the microchip is usually placed in the area between the shoulder blades or on the animal’s upper back. It’s a good idea to have the pet scanned by a vet or animal hospital a month or two after implantation to ensure that the chip is still in and hasn’t migrated out of the implantation site.

How Does a Microchip Work?

Each microchip has a unique number, an ID number of sorts, that needs to be registered with the pet owner’s name, address, and phone number. It is important to ensure a chip is registered and information is kept up to date.

When a microchip scanner is hovered above an animal with a microchip, the unique microchip number appears on the scanner’s screen. A facility staff member can then contact the appropriate microchip company and get the pet owner’s contact information. Every animal hospital and animal shelter has the ability to scan an animal to see if they have a microchip.

There are also tags that can be placed on pet collars to identify that an animal has a microchip. This is helpful if a dog or cat is found, as it indicates the pet has a home and a family that is eager for a reunion. The finder can call the microchip company and get the pet owner’s contact information, and then get that reunion started!

 Misconceptions About Microchips

A microchip is a GPS tracking device. This is not true. A microchip is not a GPS tracking device and will not provide any type of tracking whatsoever. A microchip provides a pet owner’s self-reported contact information.

Microchips are dangerous for animals. Microchips are, in fact, very safe. Millions upon millions of microchips have been implanted worldwide, with virtually no adverse reactions.

Microchipping your pet is expensive. There are no ongoing or recurring fees required for a microchip. Once a microchip is implanted and registered, it’s good for the animal’s life.

It typically it costs between $20 and $75 for microchip implantation and registration. However, at Humane Pennsylvania we think microchips are so important we will microchip and register any cat or dog for FREE!

How You Can Get Your Pet Microchipped

Our Humane Veterinary Hospitals in Reading and Lancaster can scan and implant a microchip at any regular appointment.

Or you can bring a pet to one of our Healthy Pets Initiative Clinics for a free microchip, needed vaccines (Rabies, DA2PP or FVRCP) and deworming, also at no cost to you.

For more information about our microchip and vaccination clinics, please visit https://humanepa.org/healthypets/upcomingclinicdates/.

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Peaches’ Story: Why Microchipping Matters

April 26th, 2022 | Posted by CCadmin1* in Humane Pennsylvania | Humane Veterinary Hospitals | Microchipping - (Comments Off on Peaches’ Story: Why Microchipping Matters)

If ever you had any doubts about microchipping your pet, let Peaches’ story change your mind!

Peaches, a five-year-old spayed female pug, was surrendered to the Freedom Center for Animal Life-Saving last week after a construction worker found her onsite, wrapped in a blanket outside with small bowls of food and water. The worker brought Peaches to the Freedom Center in Berks County, where she was immediately taken in and cared for – the shelter staff made sure to check for a microchip right away as part of the surrender protocol.

Luckily, Peaches was microchipped and they were able to locate her owner’s information through HomeAgain within a few minutes. Upon contacting the owner, the Freedom Center staff was taken aback. The owner emotionally explained that Peaches was actually stolen from her three years prior and she thought she’d never see her again! Freedom Center staff quickly made arrangements for the owner to come in and see Peaches and assist her as much as possible with this sudden news. The owner came into the Freedom Center the very next day to confirm that Peaches was her dog.

While the owner had to make the very difficult decision to officially surrender Peaches due to irrefutable challenges with her current living arrangements, she made peace knowing that Peaches was doing well and was in safe hands at the Freedom Center. Although Peaches and her owner didn’t head back home together, the closure made possible because of that microchip is why it’s so important. Think of that scene in Cast Away when the wife realizes the husband she thought she lost forever had survived the plane crash and was, in fact, alive. While life’s circumstances couldn’t allow them to be together, both found peace in knowing that the love they shared was real and they no longer had to wonder.

Unfortunately, stories like Peaches are more common than you might think; animals become lost or stolen often, and most end up not being reunited with their owners simply because they aren’t microchipped. Microchipping your pet could truly save its life. By completing this quick and painless procedure, you’re ensuring that your pet will have a stronger chance of finding its way home.

Schedule an appointment to microchip your pet at https://hvhospitals.org/contact-us/.

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