Latest news with #HappyTails
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
New community dog park opening in less than a month
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO-WAWV) — Almost a year ago, Happy Tails Animal rescue purchased a piece of land on Eerie Canal and Wheeler with plans to build a community dog park. With just a month to go, the new park is nearly finished. 'I think we bought fencing back in October and now it's June. And we're really excited. I'm excited to meet more of the community through the dog park,' Co-owner Taylor Bullock said. Co-owner Taylor Bullock said the dog park will consist of fencing, draining, agility activities, a pavilion, and seating. The rescue also plans to host community events like cook outs and movie nights in the future. Improved Vincennes Animal Shelter 'I have two event coordinators and myself. We constantly are thinking about ideas on how to get the public involved. Kind of just going outside the box to bring people together that really love dogs,' Bullock said. What makes this dog park different from others in Vigo County is safety being the number one priority. The park will be regulated by volunteers during park hours. You must show proof of vaccinations, flea and tick prevention, and your dog must be spayed or neutered to receive a dog park pass. 'We know that there are a couple dog parks in the community, but we wanted to do one specifically catered towards animals who are spayed and neutered. That way they can have a place to come and know that all the dogs there are going to be safe,' Co-owner Aaron Childress said. 'Requiring vaccinations in itself like things against like parvo, that's very deadly. You know they have a like a canine flu that's very deadly,' Bullock said. Looking ahead owners of the rescue hope to build a rescue facility on the property in the near future. But for right now, the owners operate everything out of their home. 'Anytime that we have events, or meetings, or anything it's always at our house and it's not ideal. This will be nice to have people out here to be able to do events here and to bring people here when we do have meetings and things like that. It's just a much better environment than our backyard,' Childress said. The dog park will be having it's grand opening on June 28 from 1 to 4 p.m. There will be food trucks, vendors, and music to celebrate the new addition to Vigo County. 'It's just something for you can bring your kids, bring your pets. You don't even have to bring pets if you just want to come check it out and say hi. Just kind of see what it's all about,' Bullock said. For more information on how to get a park pass or volunteer, you can visit their website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBC
21-02-2025
- General
- CBC
A cat named Tigger just one of the pets helped by expanded N.B. SPCA program
The New Brunswick SPCA will now help cover emergency vet bills and unexpected procedures for low-income pet owners, thanks to an expansion of its Happy Tails Fund. The program already helps cover spay and neuter procedures, rabies vaccinations, core vaccines and parasite prevention. Until this change, pet owners were required to either surrender their pets, delay needed medical care or have their pet euthanized when faced with emergency vet bills they could not afford, according to the SPCA website. And that was almost the reality for the owners of a cat named Tigger. Lesley Rogers, executive director of the New Brunswick SPCA, said one of its officers was called to an emergency veterinary clinic to retrieve the tabby cat because his owners could not afford a surgery that he required. "The owner had run out of funds. They had paid for the diagnostics and Tigger needed surgery and they wanted to make sure — because they loved their cat very much — that he got that surgery," told CBC Radio's Shift. The owner voluntarily surrendered Tigger to the SPCA so it could approve and pay for the cat's surgery. Rogers said the usual procedure would be to take Tigger to an animal shelter so he could be re-homed. That didn't sit right with the officer who retrieved the cat because he knew the pet already had a good home, Rogers said. He asked if there was any way the cat could be given back to his original owner as long as he made sure the home was suitable. "I said absolutely," she said. "So, there was a very tear-filled reunion when the officer brought Tigger home to his family." Rogers said Tigger is not alone — it's a frequent occurrence that owners aren't able to pay for sudden vet bills. "We hear stories about that all of the time where people are like, 'I'm scared to go to the vet,' and we want to alleviate that," she said. The aim of the program is two-fold: support pet owners in these unexpected moments of crisis and take preventive measures to reduce the number of unwanted pets. The spay and neuter program has helped more than 250 families so far, and Rogers said the goal is to double that number this year. "We're very grateful to have a partnership with the 12 veterinary clinics across the province to do that," she said. Since the Happy Tails program officially launched, Rogers said the SPCA is receiving about 10 to 12 emails a day from people in need of support. Rogers said funding from the provincial government has been set aside for the program, as well as a charitable donation from June Hooper, who was a well-known dog trainer and animal lover in Fredericton. The goal is to raise $100,000 dollars for the program this year.
