Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Opening Day...of the Kitten Season


Dakin's adoption center veterinary team is scrambling to save a cat and kittens who arrived on our doorstep just moments ago.

Some helpful Springfield residents found the beautiful tabby mother cat giving birth in their garage this morning. After hours of labor, though, the cat appeared to be suffering. The staff at the local emergency veterinary hospital determined that, although two kittens had been born, another kitten remained inside. Fearing that the remaining kitten was dead and that this poor stray cat might require surgery, the emergency clinic sent the people and the foundlings to Dakin for help.

As of this moment, Dr. Spaulding, along with technicians Chrissy and Brittany, are working to spay the mother cat. While they hope to find the remaining kitten alive, they are prepared for the worst. Their expertise will at least save the mother cat's life and, thanks to Dakin's heroic foster parents and the adoption center staff, those two brand new kittens have begun their journey to a better life with a new family.

Dakin's Buddy Fund makes it possible to bring aid to animals like this mom and her babies. Please give generously to make sure this assistance continues.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Dakin is on the Road to Help Cats



What do Stripes MacNeil and Dominobama Washington have in common? They were traveling companions on the ride down from Greenfield this morning.

Dakin staff came to the Leyden Woods community in Greenfield's west end to pick up cats needing to be fixed at Dakin's Community Spay/Neuter Clinic. With a pro-active management willing to partner with Dakin, Leyden Woods has been able to avoid the pitfalls many apartment communities face when they allow cats but don't regulate their care.

Thanks to the partnership between Leyden Woods management and Dakin, we transported 19 cats to Springfield for their spay/neuter surgery and shots. None of these cats has ever seen a veterinarian before. But that doesn't change the affection their families have for them. Bailey Gardner's "mom" cooed at his crate door as he was loaded into the van. She was, she said, practicing for the day she sends her son to college.

Tomorrow morning, the Dakin transport will leave Springfield bright and early, delivering the cats back to their families in Greenfield.

To learn more about Dakin's free spay/neuter program and other services, please visit www.dpvhs.org/snap/.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Help Dakin Win $100,000 in the ASPCA Challenge


Dakin animals need your help.

We are entered in the qualifying heat of the ASPCA $100,000 Challenge. In order to participate in the challenge, we need to be one of the top 50 vote-getters nationwide.

What will being entered in this challenge do for Dakin and the animals and people we help?

*We will be eligible for up to $100,000 in prize money that will help us help animals.

*We will have opportunities to promote Dakin in our community and beyond--helping us help even more animals than ever before.

*Most of all, though, we will have the pride of knowing that our community was among the best in the nation at saving animals' lives.

How can you help? VOTE!

Vote every day, once a day between now and April 15th. Just go to www.VoteToSaveLives.org, look up Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society (we're under "MA") and vote. You'll need to have a working email address so you can receive a confirmation email (you'll only get one when you vote the first time--after that, you'll be remembered). Confirm that email and vote every day, once a day, until April 15th.

Let your friends know! Post it on Facebook, Tweet about it, forward this blog entry, email all your buddies!

To learn more, visit www.aspcapro.org.

On behalf of Dakin's animals, thank you!