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Blossom is a gorgeous 3 year old Labrador Retriever mix. She came to the SPCA on May 31 from a Shreveport, Louisiana transport. She’s not too fond of cats but gets along great with other dogs and people.
Every day we learn new things about our beloved adoptables, and this week, it was Blossom’s turn. After a routine exam, a fracture was discovered in her right tibia. It had healed and wasn’t a functional problem but our medical staff had the leg scanned which revealed a surprising fact about this black lab – she’s a survivor.
Scans revealed 8 bb’s throughout her body and one bullet fracture just above the spine in her mid-section. 
What a tremendous life this gal has lead! To date, she has been at the SPCA 60 days, and we hope that this post will help find her a home.
The SPCA is now holding an adoption special on all Adult Black Dog allowing adopters to get 50% off the adoption fee. This special makes Blossom’s adoption fee only $50. Help us spread the word about Blossom and browse our adoptable pets to get a look at the other Adult Black Dogs in our care.
You can also donate now to help us continue the care for all of the pets in our care.
And, remember, every adoption helps us get one adoption closer to winning the $100,000 grant from the ASPCA $100K Challenge. And – by spreading the word about this contest and our adoptable animals - we gwalk one step closer to the $25,000 grant for community support in that same contest.
We can’t do this without you!
**Updated at 2:15 p.m. on Friday, July 30: BLOSSOM HAS BEEN ADOPTED!!
Did you know that every year, approximately five to seven million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide? What’s even worse is that approximately three to four million of those animals are euthanized due to a lack of space or resources to adequately care for them.
In Lakeland, we’ve been working tirelessly at the SPCA to put an end to that statistic. We’ve decreased euthanasia by 1.6% in our community in comparison to last year at this time, and we’re not done yet. By entering ASPCA $100K Challenge, our goal is to save even more lives and end the unnecessary euthanasia of healthy and adoptable cats and dogs for good.
The SPCA is one of just 50 shelters in the entire country that’s competing in ASPCA $100K Challenge to Save More Lives. The grand prize is a $100,000 grant for the winning shelter.
It’s about saving more lives than last year!
Competing shelters have to save at least 300 more animals in August, September and October over the same 3-month period last year…the shelter that goes the farthest over 300 more lives saved wins the $100,000 grant.
The SPCA has two key strategies for increasing our lives saved. We’ll be increasing adoptions by reducing adoption fees across the board and we’ll be increasing the numbers of lost animals reunited with their owners by featuring all strays that are not claimed in our online Adoption Center.
Community Help Is Needed!
Saving this many more lives will require all hands on deck. The SPCA is asking people to adopt a pet from the Adoption Center, become a foster family, volunteer, and spread the word about this contest.
We belong to the community and when you get involved you’ll not only be helping the animals but you’ll also be decreasing the SPCA’s chances of winning the other ASPCA prize: $25,000 for the shelter that enlists the most community support in this life saving effort.
What You Can Do
Visit our ASPCA Challenge page here.
Ask your business to put our “Join the SPCA in the 100K Challenge” on their business sign or add it to the footer of all of your emails to help us spread the word.
Add us to your website and encourage your supporters to help us in the Challenge.
Download this photo to the left and send us a picture of you and your pet(s) holding it to show your support to challenge@lovemyspca.com.
Let us know if you do any of the above. We’d love to see pictures of your business, organization or other community group getting involved!
For more information or details, contact Rachel Bulman at rbulman@lovemyspca.com or 863/646-7722 ext. 105.
7 dogs were transported from the St. Bernard Animal Control Shelter to the SPCA via Pilots n' Paws.
At the end of June, the SPCA decided to answer the cry from the Louisiana SPCA. A desperate email from their Executive Director explained that their shelter was working with four coastal parishes in Louisiana who were seeing a spike in their owner surrenders because of the ongoing impact of the oil spill on local residents. The SPCA quickly responded and as you are reading this email, staff and volunteers are accepting the second transport of a total of 21 animals from the Louisiana area.
One transport was received last Friday, July 23 via Pilots n’ Paws volunteer pilot Devon Barger from St. Bernard Animal Control Shelter in Southeast Louisiana. Two of those dogs remain: Fendi and Genie. Fendi is a 6 month old Pit mix, and Genie is a 6 month old Boxer mix! You can see them now by clicking on this slideshow.
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This afternoon, we will receive 14 dogs from the Louisiana SPCA which can be viewed in the following slideshow.
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How can you help?
Adopt.
Share this blog with friends.
Every adoption from Aug. 1 – Oct. 31 puts us one adoption closer to the $100,000 grant from the ASPCA $100K Challenge. And your help spreading the word about these pets can help us win the $25,000 grant for community support.
Donate now to help us continue these transport efforts. Help us to save more lives!
Name: Jake
Gender: Male
Age: 4 years, 6 months
Species: Cat
Breed: Domestic Shorthair Mix
Orphaned Since: June 7
Jake is a very handsome black and white kitty. Our volunteers and staff think that he is the perfect definition of “regal”. He’s always elegant in his handsome “tuxedo”, ready for the party or the next big date. He’s very sweet and ready to go home today.
Name: Blossom
Gender: Female
Age: 3 years, 7 months
Species: Dog
Breed: Labrador Retriever Mix
Orphaned Since: May 31
Blossom is sweet, friendly and affectionate. She loves to play and will warm your heart in an instant. She’s not a big fan of cats but will surely be the biggest fan of you and your family. Plus, she’s housetrained! See what blooms in your life with Blossom by your side!
Visit us at the SPCA
Adoption Center open Mon – Sat, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
5850 Brannen Rd S in Lakeland
Call 646-7722
www.lovemyspca.com
All pets are spayed/neutered, microchipped and vaccinations are up to date through our full-service medical center which is also open to the public.
Week 1-2 of Critter Camp went well with the 3 – 5 graders the first week and the 6 – 8 graders the second week.
Below is the list of stats and highlights of our camp for both weeks:
15 Campers, 3 volunteers and 1 teacher (Beth Humrich).
- Interactive activities included a rotation of Grooming, Cat Care and Agility Yard which were the most popular.
- Groomed 22 dogs
- Interacted a learned behavior of 66 cats
- Walked and taught shelter manners with 26 dogs
- Fridays we learned Clicker Training with Christine Strickland and Minnie Burke.
- Started with speakers every morning including:
- Patt Glenn- Kindness to animals, bite prevention and who we are here at the SPCA
- Linda Singleton and Cal Arter- Brought her therapy dog Cody; talked about the use of therapy dogs.
- Mary Church- Disaster Preparation and the Scoop on Poop; being a responsible pet owner.
- Linda and Cassie from the Medical Center- Animal Health, Veterinary Care, Microchips, and Heartworm Prevention.
- Made dogs toys, painted cat carriers, made animal magnets- all given back to the SPCA.
- Watched surgeries.
- Pet Care Scavenger Hunt with a digital camera
- Wrote descriptions of 1 cat (Chauncey) and 1 dog (Vanilla) best paragraph went up on our website, great writing assignment for the kids.
- No serious injuries
- No behavior issues- all kids were well behaved and very smart.
- Collected $34 in donations from one student who saved up all year!
- Received cat and dog donations.
- 3 cats and 2 dogs got adopted by Critter Camp parents!
Feedback:
“Thank you for providing this wonderful opportunity for the kids in our community. Nick thoroughly enjoyed Critter Camp and was eager to get to camp each morning. We are so thankful that he found our newest family member, Hampton.”
“Thank you for a wonderful program! We are looking forward to next year!”
“My daughter loved walking the dogs and interacting with the animals. I appreciate the information you shared with them, e.g. heartworm prevention, therapy dogs and spay and neuter.”
“Everything was fantastic from the logistics to the snacks and fun. Thank you for making my daughter Molly’s camp experience such a great one. She is looking forward to volunteering in the fall.”
“Nick loved it! Josh loved it! You do so many activities and it appears to be very organized. Great Job!”
“Watching my daughter’s face light up each day I came home and asked her what she did. She loves caring for the animals and has since taken up the Clicker Training with our dog at the house.”
Many parents responded that we should have the hours extended for next year.
Also when asked about the quality of teaching with speakers and interactive activities we got EXCELLENT across the board.
Thank you SPCA staff and volunteers for making this program a great success!
I am looking forward to next summer’s Critter Camp. Please check our website for details on next year’s Critter Camp.
I’m sure we all see strays every day – stray cats, an occasional stray dog, a wandering possum – either way (especially in the dog and cat cases) the right thing to do would be to pick them up. That is if you can catch them!
A Good Samaritan of sorts was driving on Old Hwy 33 in Lakeland earlier this month and spotted a wandering Pug. Pugs are typically heavy panters and don’t do well out in the hot Florida sun without some sustenance and hydration. So, this passerby picked up the lucky pug and took him to our Incoming Animals area. A microchip scan revealed much-needed info – an address, phone number and owner name. We called them.
The owners were SO HAPPY! Suse, the pug, had been missing for 3 weeks. After all of the excitement calmed down, the owner asked, “Where are you located?” Shelly, one of our Adoption Center staff, gave the usual info about being off of South Florida Avenue near Sonny’s and the next question was a little surprising.
“Where in Miami is that?”
Suse was one happy pug when she was reunited to her “dad”.Yes – you read that right! The owners (and the dog) were from Miami. Somehow Suse had hitchhiked her way all the way to Lakeland and a microchip was the lifesaver and source of reuniting this panting pug with her forever family.
What can we learn from this heartwarming story?
1. Microchip your pets! This could be the only way that a reunion is possible if you become separated somehow.
2. Make sure your information is updated with your microchipping company. Often, we forget that they need to be updated each time we move, too.
3. If you see a stray, pick it up. You could be the good Samaritan in your own heartwarming story of a much- needed reunion.
See the Bay News 9 story and video here: http://www.baynews9.com/article/news/2010/july/120449/Missing-Miami-pug-turns-up-in-Lakeland-weeks-later
Name: Chauncey
Gender: Female
Age: 5 years, 2 months
Species: Cat
Breed: Domestic Shorthair
Orphaned Since: June 16
This gorgeous lady has been waiting ever so patiently for the love of her life to sweep her off of her four feet. She’s friendly and affectionate and prefers a home with no dogs and lots of love. Stop in to meet this dashing beauty in person. Ask for Chauncey.
Name: Little Man
Gender: Male
Age: 3 years, 7 months
Species: Dog
Breed: Labrador Short Coat Chihuahua
Orphaned Since: May 28
Little Man may be little but he has a huge heart. He would really love to find some forever friends to keep him running and entertained. He’ll entertain you, too, and he’s ready for anything. Make a play date with Little Man today.
Visit us at the SPCA
Adoption Center open Mon – Sat, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
5850 Brannen Rd S in Lakeland
Call 646-7722
www.lovemyspca.com
All pets are spayed/neutered, microchipped and vaccinations are up to date through our full-service medical center which is also open to the public.
Name: April Rose
Gender: Female
Age: 2 years, 3 months
Species: Cat
Breed: Domestic Shorthair
Orphaned Since: April 8
April Rose is one sweet kitty. With her tiger, well, tabby stripes she may look like a fierce lion but she’s really a purring lap kitty. She’s very sweet and always curious to meet new people. Drop in to meet April Rose today.
Name: Little Man
Gender: Male
Age: 3 years, 7 months
Species: Dog
Breed: Labrador Short Coat Chihuahua
Orphaned Since: May 28
Little Man may be little but he has a huge heart. He would really love to find some forever friends to keep him running and entertained. He’ll entertain you, too, and he’s ready for anything. Make a play date with Little Man today.
Visit us at the SPCA
Adoption Center open Mon – Sat, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
5850 Brannen Rd S in Lakeland
Call 646-7722
www.lovemyspca.com
All pets are spayed/neutered, microchipped and vaccinations are up to date through our full-service medical center which is also open to the public.
Name: Midnight
Gender: Male
Age: 3 years 3 months
Species: Cat
Breed: Domestic Shorthair
Orphaned Since: March 2
Midnight came to the SPCA in March after being found on Combee Road in Lakeland. After a few weeks and several rounds of antibiotics, her left foreleg was still suffering from a severe bone infection near the elbow. SPCA veterinarians amputated the leg to give her improved mobility and now, she’s very swift on her feet. Come and meet this resilient kitty today!
Name: Blossom
Gender: Female
Age: 3 years, 7 months
Species: Dog
Breed: Labrador Retriever Mix
Orphaned Since: May 31
Blossom is sweet, friendly and affectionate. She loves to play and will warm your heart in an instant. She’s not a big fan of cats but will surely be the biggest fan of you and your family. Plus, she’s housetrained! See what blooms in your life with Blossom by your side!
Visit us at the SPCA
Adoption Center open Mon – Sat, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
5850 Brannen Rd S in Lakeland
Call 646-7722
www.lovemyspca.com
All pets are spayed/neutered, microchipped and vaccinations are up to date through our full-service medical center which is also open to the public
