What are you doing the month of October? Getting ready for Halloween? This is one of the biggest times of the year. So, think about what you can do besides ghosts and goblins.

ANIMAL SHELTER VOLUNTEERS OF TEXAS (ASVT) helps hundreds of animals in our community throughout the year. Stray animals continue to be turned into shelters and go unclaimed. Owners who no longer care for their pets also turn them into our local shelters. The animal shelters remain full. OUR MISSION is to help improve the lives of every animal in our community.

VOLUNTEERING SAVES LIVES. SIGN UP TODAY TO BE AN ASVT VOLUNTEER.

How can you help? In any way that you have time and desire.

• Volunteer
• Foster
• Sponsor
• Donate
• Adopt

It looks as easy as it is. It just takes the dedication of people like all of you out there to donate time to help the animals of our community.

We get calls and emails every day to help animals in need. On the side of the road injured, running in the street, puppies in a box by a dumpster; and the cruelty and neglect goes on and on. We can only help by taking an animal into our program if we have a committed foster.

Barbie was saved from horrid living conditions as a young puppy. She fought multiple severe infections. Prognoses did not look good, but ASVT never gives up. She was brought home by her foster mom and she spent endless hours 24/7 being her miracle to bring her back to a full recovery. She is now a happy, fun and playful puppy. 

Montana endured two surgeries before she was three months old. She had severe abdominal problems and a plastic object in her stomach. Her first surgery corrected these issues. Additionally, her left rear leg had a shattered fracture and was amputated in the second surgery. She is now in a foster home recovering and will soon be living the perfect puppy life.

Sponsorships help with cases like Barbie’s and Montana’s.  Sponsors will help offset some of the costs of her medical care, so ASVT can continue to help other dogs and cats in need.

Other Sponsorship opportunities include participating in our annual fundraisers and sponsoring a transport dog.

Consider being a Transport Sponsor for a dog going to an out-of-state that have high adoptive needs. ASVT has partnerships with shelters in Iowa and a rescue in Canada. We have no boundaries, we have placed dogs in homes from coast to coast. These partners have room in their programs and foster homes for ASVT pets because of better licensing and spay/neuter laws in their state. $200.00 is the average cost to transport a dog. You can sponsor all or part of the transport cost.

ASVT is a tax exempt 501c3 animal welfare organization. 100% of our funding is from individual and corporate donations and grants from other animal welfare groups. No one takes a salary so all the money donated is used to help dogs and cats who have been abused, abandoned or neglected. In 2018, ASVT helped over 600 dogs and cats. Around 356 pets were adopted to families and 160 dogs were transported out-of-state, where they were adopted.

Our organization provides medical expenses for the animals we help. This includes:

• Spay/neuter surgeries, vaccinations, microchips, wormers, flea and heartworm preventatives.
• Medications to treat skin problems like mange and ringworm or respiratory issues like kennel cough and feline upper respiratory infections.
• Lifesaving procedures including heartworm, parvovirus and distemper treatments.
• Surgeries such as hip replacement, setting broken bones, amputations, extracting infected teeth and removing tumors.

ASVT also sponsors a Spay/Neuter Program for community animals whose owners need assistance altering their pets. This helps decrease the rise of community puppies and kittens that end up in the shelters.

Now you know all about the work ASVT does for the animals of our community. Something to think about the next time you see a small kitten or dog on the side of the road.

Halloween is a fun, family time but can be scary and dangerous for our pets. Some tips to think about for your pets.

• Watch the treats. Candy can be very harmful to pets, even poisonous.  Make sure your candy is out of reach from even the highest jumping cat or counter surfing dog.
• Watch the decorations and wires. Animals will eat wires and decorations that are easily accessible. If your pet ingests a foreign object, contact your vet ASAP.
• Keep pets away from the door. Every time your door opens to a goblin or a ghost, your pet can slip out the door without you even knowing it. 
• Instead of having your pet join you trick or treating, consider keeping your pet at home. Costumes, loud noises, door bells and new people can scare them.  
• Identification is key.  As always, the best thing you can do for your pet is to ensure he is wearing identification and is microchipped.  Make sure your contact information is current and you know where your local animal shelter is located in case your animal gets lost.

All pets shown in this article are available for adoption.

HOW CAN YOU HELP US HELP THEM?

ADOPT, SPONSOR, VOLUNTEER, FOSTER, DONATE!

You can visit our website to sign up to volunteer and/or foster and donate using our DONATE button. Donations help us pay for medical expenses, food, supplies and transporting animals to areas with high adoption needs.

ASVT also sponsors a Spay/Neuter Program for community animals whose owners cannot afford to have their pets altered. This helps decrease the rise of community puppies and kittens that will end up in the shelters. The accomplishments of ASVT would not be possible without partners like Wiesner Automotive, Empire Electric, Dock Line Magazine and so many more.