VCA Animal Hospitals offer free boarding – Texas Wildfires

Wildfires continue to ravage drought stricken Texas in one of the most devastating outbreaks in Texas history. Over 1000 homes have been burned to the ground leaving families and their animals homeless. VCA Animal Hospitals have graciously offered to help by boarding pets effected by the wildfire’s destruction. Below is a listing of participating vet hospitals for those of you who reside or have family members living in Texas who affected by the raging wildfires. Thank you VCA!!!!! You are Texas sized angels!

If you are advised to evacuate please do so. Don’t leave your animals behind if you can at all help it, they most likely can not survive on their own. For the rest of us, this is a good reminder to have a disaster readiness plan for our families and pets in the event of an emergency. Do you know what you would do?

VCA ANIMAL HOSPITALS OFFER FREE BOARDING FOR PETS
AFFECTED BY TEXAS WILDFIRES

To help those affected by the fires in Texas, VCA Animal Hospitals today announced that VCA facilities located in the areas surrounding both Austin and Houston are offering free boarding assistance for companion animals whose families have lost homes or have been evacuated. “For residents affected by these devastating wildfires, VCA is continuing to assist them by providing free pet boarding so they focus on the safety and welfare of their families and homes,” said Art Antin, Chief Operating Officer of VCA Animal Hospitals. “During this difficult time, families can keep their pets safe and comfortable with VCA’s free boarding offer.”

VCA Animal Hospitals located in and around Austin and Houston can provide safety and security for affected family pets on a space available basis as long as firestorms persist. The following VCA hospitals are participating in the free boarding program:

VCA Ben White Animal HospitalVCA Northwest Hills Animal HospitalVCA Tanglewood Animal Hospital2110 Slaughter Lane, Suite 120VCA Tomball Veterinary HospitalVCA Woodlands Animal HospitalVCA Spring Animal HospitalVCA Ashford Animal Hospital

Boarding assistance for pets is based on space availability at participating hospitals and owners can call their local VCA in advance to ensure that the facility has space available to accept additional pets. Contact information for the participating VCA Animal Hospitals near the wildfires can be obtained at www.vcahospitals.com.

About VCA Animal Hospitals

VCA Animal Hospitals operates more than 530 animal hospitals in 41 states across the nation in the VCA network. The hospitals are staffed by more than 2,000 fully qualified, dedicated and compassionate veterinarians and more than 200 board-certified specialists. VCA Animal Hospitals provide a full range of general medical and surgical services as well as specialized treatments. For more information on VCA Animal Hospitals, visit www.VCAHospitals.com, or find VCA on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/VCAAnimalHospitals or on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/VCAPetHealth.

Here is the link to the the Texas Forest Service for more information on fires in your area. There are a few names and numbers of ranches that have available boarding for horses floating around on facebook as well. If you know of anyone that can help, please feel free to post the information in the comments section.

Photograph by L.M. Otero, AP

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Dog Mauled to Death at Boarding Facility

Annabelle, the poor five-pound dog in this video, was mauled to death by two 20-pound beagles at a doggy daycare center. Her owners say they didn’t know she was going to get play time with other smallish dogs, but the boarding facility owners say it’s right there on the paperwork. In fact, it’s a feature a lot of dog owners probably love.

Annabelle

It’s a tragedy any way you slice it. A dog died a horrific death, her family — already having a hard time because of some life events– is bereft, and the dog facility owners aren’t exactly jumping for joy about the event or what it may mean for their business.

When you spend the money for a doggy daycare or boarding facility, you expect to be able to pick up a healthy, happy dog at the end of her stay. What happened to Annabelle was a freak incident, but was it preventable? With some homework on her owners’ part (if they didn’t want her playing with other dogs, they could have found out that this was part of the deal there, and requested otherwise), and much more vigilance on the facility owners’ part, the answer is yes. But really, who would have ever expected something to go so terribly awry? Her owners clearly care deeply for her, and would never have dreamed she was going to her death when they delivered her the day before.

What can you do to make sure your dog is safe and happy if she stays at one of these facilities while you’re at work or on vacation?

• Get recommendations from others with dogs like yours. If Annabelle’s other small and delicate friends had stayed there, her owners may have known that playtime was part of the program, and requested her to just have contact with humans.

• Ask about the ratio of dogs to workers supervising playtime. Situations with lots of dogs in a small area can go from normal to scary in a matter of seconds, even if the workers think they know the personalities of all the dogs. Having many eyes and hands available can nip problems in the bud before they escalate.

• Check out a facility’s reviews on places like Yelp, and ask for general recommendations around your dog community. And be sure to inspect the place yourself, and know exactly what goes on during your dog’s day there. You don’t have to sign on the dotted line for everything. If you prefer your dog not have group playtime, that can be accommodated most of the time. (Although you may have to pay for extra one-on-one time with a human.)

• If the facility has web cam service available, take advantage of it. You’ll be able to see what your dog is up to, and how she’s faring, whenever you go to “her website.” If she’s looking droopy or scared, you can call the facility to see if you can make her stay better for her.

Do you have any other suggestions, Dogsters?

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