Petco Love and Texas Coalition for Animal Protection Aim to Stop the Spread of Deadly Preventable Diseases Through Free Pet Vaccinations

As Part of Petco Love’s Initiative to Provide 1 Million Free Pet Vaccines, Texas Coalition for Animal Protection (TCAP) Will Distribute Free Pet Vaccines between Monday, September 13 and Saturday, September 18 at all open TCAP locations

Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (September 7, 2021) – Texas Coalition for Animal Protection will provide free vaccinations for community name area pets. The free vaccines are made possible through Petco Love’s new national vaccination initiative, which is providing 1 million free pet vaccines to its existing animal welfare partners, including Texas Coalition for Animal Protection, for family pets in need.

Parvovirus and distemper in dogs, and panleukopenia in cats, are some of the most prevalent deadly diseases impacting pets that are preventable with a simple vaccine. An estimated 30% of pet parents do not take their pet to a veterinarian annually for preventative care. To address this critical need, Texas Coalition for Animal Protection and Petco Love are partnering to make pet vaccines free and accessible in an effort to ensure the health and wellness of our beloved pets.

Texas Coalition for Animal Protection aims to vaccinate 1,900 pets through this effort. TCAP will offer free distemper vaccines for dogs and cats at all open TCAP locations between 9/13/21 – 9/18/21 on a first-come, first-served basis. All walk-in hours and event details are listed on TCAP’s vaccine calendar: https://www.texasforthem.org/hours-locations/vaccinations/.

Vaccines distributed through the Petco Love initiative will be the Canine distemper and Feline distemper vaccines.

“Petco Love helps our communities in so many ways. We at TCAP appreciate the opportunity to provide these essential vaccines at no cost to pet owners in our community,” said Stacey Schumacher, Executive Director of Texas Coalition for Animal Protection. “We urge community members to take advantage of this free resource to ensure the health and wellness of our community’s pets.”

“It is heartbreaking when any pet suffers or dies from a disease that could have been prevented. It is further exacerbated when unvaccinated pets come into busy shelter kennels, where these deadly diseases can spread quickly, resulting in multiple deaths, skyrocketing expenses, and hindering saving pet lives,” said Susanne Kogut, Petco Love President. “By creating greater awareness and making this crucial preventative care more accessible to pets not currently receiving these lifesaving vaccines, we can prevent the dangerous spread of disease.”

For more information about vaccine distribution, contact Texas Coalition for Animal Protection. To learn more about Petco Love’s lifesaving impact, visit PetcoLove.org.

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About Texas Coalition for Animal Protection

Texas Coalition for Animal Protection is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that works to end pet overpopulation and improve community animal welfare. TCAP accomplishes this goal by making affordable, high-quality preventative services available to Texas pet owners. Since 2002, TCAP has provided more than 502,419 spays and neuters and vaccinated more than 1,108,637 North Texas pets against the deadly rabies virus.

About Petco Love

Petco Love is a nonprofit changing lives by making communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since our founding in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, we’ve empowered animal welfare organizations by investing $300 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. We’ve helped find loving homes for more than 6.5 million pets in partnership with Petco and organizations nationwide. Today, our love for pets drives us to lead with innovation, creating tools animal lovers need to reunite lost pets, and lead with passion, inspiring and mobilizing communities and our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners to drive lifesaving change alongside us. Is love calling you? Visit petcolove.org or follow at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn to be part of the lifesaving work we’re leading every day.

TCAP ADOPTS INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY FROM PETCO LOVE TO HELP REUNITE LOST PETS WITH THEIR FAMILIES

When the Unthinkable Happens, New “Petco Love Lost” Database Uses Breakthrough Facial Recognition Technology to Find Missing Cats and Dogs In North Texas

Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (August 20, 2021) – Texas Coalition for Animal Protection (TCAP) is proudly joining forces with Petco Love, a national non-profit working to lead and inspire change for animals and animal welfare groups across the country. The two nonprofits are joined together in a shared mission to help reunite lost pets with their families should they ever go missing. According to industry statistics, sadly, one in every three pets will go missing in their lifetime.

Petco Love Lost is a new, searchable national database that uses patented facial recognition technology to make finding lost pets quicker and easier. This simple-to-use tool will be easily accessible to participating animal organizations nationwide, as well as any pet parent or person who finds a lost pet. Uploaded photos of a missing dog or cat are immediately scanned to determine whether the lost pet is at a participating shelter or with a neighbor in the community.

“An integral part of our mission at TCAP to end pet overpopulation and euthanasia in North Texas Shelters is to keep pets and their families together,” said Stacey Schumacher, TCAP Executive Director. “A key part of that mission is ensuring that pet parents have the resources and tools necessary to ID their pet should their pet get lost and end up at an area shelter. TCAP already provides low-cost ID tags and microchips, but our partnership with Petco Love Lost’s innovative technology will take a pet owner’s ability to find their lost pet a step further.”

“In encouraging TCAP clients to register their pets for free on Petco Love Lost, we will be providing another avenue for identification of lost pets to pet owners for whom TCAP’s low-cost microchipping services may still be out of reach,” Schumacher added.

“We know that one in three pets goes missing in their lifetime, an estimated 10 million pets each year, and we’re not ok with that,” said President of Petco Love, Susanne Kogut. “That gives us 10 million reasons why we created Petco Love Lost, because we believe nothing is more important than keeping people and pets together for a lifetime of love. Together with TCAP, our goal is to keep pets where they belong – at home.”

To learn more about TCAP, visit texasforthem.org and follow TCAP on Facebook and Twitter @TCforAP and on Instagram at @TCAPSpayNeuter. If you’ve lost or found a pet, Petco Love Lost is here to help get them home. Visit petcolovelost.org or join the conversation @PetcoLoveLost on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter via hashtags #PetcoLoveLost and #LoveandFound.

About TCAP

About Petco Love

Petco Love is a nonprofit changing lives by making communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since our founding in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, we’ve empowered animal welfare organizations by investing $300 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. We’ve helped find loving homes for more than 6.5 million pets in partnership with Petco and organizations nationwide. Today, our love for pets drives us to lead with innovation, creating tools animal lovers need to reunite lost pets, and lead with passion, inspiring and mobilizing communities and our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners to drive lifesaving change alongside us. Is love calling you? Join us. Visit petcolove.org or follow at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn to be part of the lifesaving work we’re leading every day.

Newly Named Petco Love Invests in Lifesaving Work of TCAP

Grant of $90,000 will help save and improve pet lives in North Texas

Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (August 17, 2021) – Texas Coalition for Animal Protection announced today a $90,000 grant investment from the newly named Petco Love to support their lifesaving work for animals in North Texas.

Petco Love is a nonprofit leading change for pets nationally by making communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since their founding in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, they’ve empowered organizations with $300 million invested to date in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. And they’ve helped find loving homes for more than 6.5 million pets in partnership with Petco and more than 4,000 organizations nationwide.

“Today Petco Love invests in Texas Coalition for Animal Protection and hundreds of other organizations across the nation working to improve animal health and welfare as part of our commitment to creating a future in which no pet is unnecessarily euthanized,” said Susanne Kogut, President of Petco Love. “Our local investments are only one component. This year, we also launched the first of our national tools, Petco Love Lost, which empowers all animal lovers to drive lifesaving change right alongside us.”

TCAP will provide free spays and neuters for cats across North Texas this fall thanks to an investment from Petco Love. TCAP plans to be able to perform more than 3,000 spays and neuters across the organization’s eight North Texas locations, all at no cost to the pet owner as a result of this funding.

“We are so thankful for Petco Love’s investment in our lifesaving work,” said Stacey Schumacher, TCAP Executive Director. “Adoption alone won’t solve the pet overpopulation problem in Texas, we must spay and neuter our pets to reduce the number of unwanted litters that end up in local shelters. This funding will allow us to reach pet owners for whom our low-cost program is still financially out of reach.”

TCAP is a nonprofit organization that works to end pet overpopulation and promote community animal welfare across North Texas. Since 2002, TCAP has provided more than 576,000 low-cost and free spays and neuters to pets in need. It each of these animals were to have a little over three litters each, that equates to more than 1.7 million litters prevented. During that same time, TCAP has vaccinated more than 1.1 million pets against the deadly rabies virus at a low-cost or for free.

For more information about TCAP, visit www.texasforthem.org. To learn more about Petco Love, visit petcolove.org.

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About TCAP

Texas Coalition for Animal Protection is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that works to end pet overpopulation and improve community animal welfare. TCAP accomplishes this goal by making affordable, high-quality preventative services available to Texas pet owners. Since 2002, TCAP has provided more than 502,419 spays and neuters and vaccinated more than 1,108,637 North Texas pets against the deadly rabies virus.

About Petco Love (Formerly Petco Foundation)

Heat Stroke in Dogs

As we approach 100 degree days in Texas, heat exhaustion and heat stroke in pets while they are outdoors can be a major concern. It’s important for pet owners to not only know the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, but to take measures to keep their pet safe from experiencing these heat-related illnesses

Know the Signs:

The symptoms of heatstroke listed in the accompanying infogrpahic are not in order of occurrence but are all symptoms that could be present when your pet is experiencing heat exhaustion. Dogs can experience any combination of these symptoms, and since our furry friends can’t speak to tell us what’s wrong, we must stay observant as pet parents.

Heat exhaustion and stroke are not limited to dogs who live outdoors, any pet who is outside or exposed to extreme temperatures for extended periods is at risk. However, there are some things you can do to help!

Beat the Heat:

Any temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit or more has the potential to be dangerous for your pup. So, it’s important to ensure that they have access to plenty of drinking water, shade, and a place to get their body wet, if possible, anytime your pet is going to be outdoors during warmer temperatures for an extended time.

Additionally, make sure your pet can pant to cool off. Panting is one of the main ways that dogs cool off and regulate their internal body temperature. Using nylon muzzles during the heat could prevent your pet from being able to pant while outdoors, which is okay for a short time, but not recommended for longer stints outdoors. If your pet has aggressive tendencies and will need to be outdoors for an extended period, consider investing in a basket muzzle so that your pup is still able to pant, but still doesn’t have the freedom to bite at will.

When possible, avoid the heat and stay indoors.

At TCAP’s walk-in vaccine events, we have divided clients into groups of 5-10 clients and worked to beat the heat by allowing pet owners to wait in their car with their pets, in the air conditioning, until we are ready to serve their group. We have also outfitted many of our clinics with indoor waiting areas for our lines. We hope to see your pet at one of our low-cost North Texas vaccine events near you.

Take Action & Seek Help:

When you notice your pet is getting hot, it’s important to take action to mitigate the progression of heat-related illness. Fifteen minutes or more of an internal temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit or higher can lead to seizures, coma, collapse, organ failure, and even death for your pup. If your pet experiences the above-mentioned symptoms seek veterinary care for your dog immediately at your full-service vet.

How to TNR (Trap – Neuter – Return)

If you have feral cats living on or near your property, you may find yourself marveling at how quickly they can reproduce! Feral cats are different from stray cats because ferals are wild and untamable. Handling a feral cat is almost impossible as they are either too scared of humans for you to approach them or too aggressive if you do manage to pick them up. This wild nature, partnered with a feral cat’s prolific breeding tendencies can cause population issues very rapidly. A single female cat can give birth to five litters of kittens in a single year. Where will those kittens all get food or shelter?

The good news is there is a humane approach to this problem known as Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). We have outlined six easy steps to start humanely curbing the population of feral cats via TNR.

The Six Steps for TNR

Step 1: Locate a Local Facility with a Feral Cat Program

TCAP has 8 locations throughout DFW and is an industry leader in humanely addressing the feral cat population in our communities. To learn more about TCAP’s locations, drop-off hours, and other program specifics, see our Feral Fix Program. At the minimum, cats participating in the Feral Fix program will receive their sterilization (spay or neuter), rabies vaccine, and a surgical ear-tip (a universal sign of a feral cat that has been spayed or neutered).

Step 2: Set a Feeding Schedule

One to two weeks leading up to the day you plan to trap, you will want to feed the cats in the local colony at the same time and place every day. Always provide water as well. This will ensure that one or more feral cats, you are hoping to trap, will be where you want them to be when you later introduce your live trap. For extra-skittish cats, feed them out of unset traps in an area that is safe and secure. This will help them acclimate to seeing and walking into the live traps before it is go time.

Step 3: Prepare Your Live Trap

On the night you wish to trap, prepare the trap away from the feeding site so you do not disturb the cats. If it is your first time, it is advisable to practice setting the trap, and setting it off, to make sure you are using it correctly. When preparing the trap, be sure to line the bottom with newspaper. Place a tablespoon of bait at the back of the trap, past the trip plate, and drizzle a trail of oil in a zigzag pattern leading to the front of the trap. If you are trapping cats in multiple locations, tag each trap at each location so you can return the cats to the same place in the future.

Step 4: Trap

Place the traps on level ground in the feeding area and set them. It is important for the safety of the feral cat that you do not leave the trap unattended, just watch from a distance and wait for your feral to enter the trap. Once you have successfully trapped your feral cat, cover the trap with an old towel or sheet. The cover will help the feral cat remain calm. Move your live trap, with the cat securely locked inside, to a safe, climate-controlled area where the cat can stay before bringing coming to a TCAP location for sterilization. Once a cat is trapped, do not let it out of its live trap before bringing it in for its surgery. This recommendation is not only for your safety, but because once a feral cat has been trapped, they are unlikely to trust the trap in the future (and they need to be in the trap to use TCAP’s Feral Fix program).

Step 5: Neuter

Make arrangements for the sterilization of your cat. At TCAP, our clinics can take up to 12 feral cats per surgery day. Individual caretakers are limited to four cats per day. Each feral cat must be brought in separate live traps.

Step 6: Return

After the surgery, follow the post-operative guidelines provided by your veterinarian. Following the observation period set by your veterinarian, it is time to return them to their home. Once you have returned the cat, empty the live trap with a non-toxic disinfectant. Now you are ready to trap again!

Following these easy steps will put you on the path to be a TNR pro, and begin reducing the number of stray cats in your area.

Donate to TCAP by shopping at Target

We are honored and excited to announce that we have been chosen to participate in a special charitable giving campaign, sponsored and funded by Target. And you have the chance to help direct a portion of Target’s donation to us!

Now through March 31, 2021 , vote for us through the Target Circle program to help determine how Target’s donation will be divvied up. Find out more about Target Circle here: www.target.com/circle

We’re asking our supporters to help us make the most of this incredible opportunity. Every vote counts to help us receive a portion of the available Target funds as we continue our mission to end pet overpopulation and euthanasia in North Texas shelters!

Don’t forget, as you earn more votes, you can keep voting multiple times during the campaign!
Thank you for your support, and we encourage you to share your support for us (and your thanks to Target) on social media throughout the duration of the voting!

TCAP Arlington Coming January 2021

Construction is underway at TCAP’s eighth North Texas spay and neuter clinic in Arlington. We are excited to kick off 2021 by expanding access to low-cost veterinary wellness services to residents in the Arlington area.

“We are thrilled to open our next TCAP location in Arlington,” said Stacey Schumacher, TCAP Executive Director. “We have been visiting the Arlington community for more than 15 years providing monthly vaccine and spay and neuter events at the city’s shelter, but the need for low-cost pet care in the community is greater than we are able to service at those periodic monthly events. This new location will expand access to affordable pet wellness services in an area where other low-cost options are not currently available.”

TCAP’s new clinic is currently under construction at 2400 SE Green Oaks Blvd. The 3,600 square foot facility will provide spay and neuter surgeries by appointment on Mondays and Fridays and walk-in vaccines on Fridays from 9 a.m.- 12 p.m. TCAP will work to expand to more operational days in the coming months.

Previously, TCAP traveled to Arlington Animal Services three times each month for low-cost vaccine events and twice monthly for spay and neuter events in the shelter’s community room. This permanent clinic location will allow TCAP to increase the number of pets they can sterilize in Arlington by 89 percent – meaning this location has the ability to potentially spay and neuter 6,240 pets each year.

“Our mission is to end animal overpopulation in North Texas animal shelters,” Schumacher said. “We can’t accomplish that goal by promoting adoption alone. We must spay and neuter pets, and with the cost of living increasing, these routine surgeries can be out of reach for some pet owners. Our new clinic will allow us the opportunity to expand our reach and serve more North Texas pets than ever before.”

Free rabies vaccines will be offered to cats and dogs at TCAP’s Arlington clinic from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. every Friday in February 2021.

Puppy Vaccine Guide

There is nothing better than bringing home a precious, new puppy. They are soft, cute and bursting with youthful energy. Though shortly after bringing your new puppy home, it will become apparent just how much your puppy relies on you for absolutely everything.

It is so much fun to show your puppy around their new home and introduce them to a world of toys and treats, but owning a puppy is more than fun and games. Soon, you will be racing your puppy to random items on the floor, because to a puppy, shoes, remotes, books, glasses, etc all look like chew toys. On top of that, it is your responsibility to ensure you are taking your puppy to routine vet visits. TCAP provides low cost vaccines for dogs and cats during convenient walk-in vaccine hours and to this effect, we have assembled a guide for essential vaccines for your puppy.

Round 1 | 6-8 Weeks

Puppy vaccines are given in three rounds, spaced 3-4 weeks apart. The order of puppy vaccines is determined by the age of your puppy at the time of their first visit. For the purposes of this guide, let us assume that your first visit falls between your puppy’s 6^th-8^th week. The following services are given during round 1 of puppy vaccines:

DAPPv – Commonly called the “Distemper Shot”. This combination vaccine actually protects against five diseases: canine distemper, adenovirus, hepatitis, parainfluenza, and parvovirus.
Strongid – Known as a general dewormer. Strongid deworms puppies against common intestinal parasites such as Roundworms and Hookworms.

Round 2 | 9-11 Weeks

This round of puppy vaccines will introduce a new vaccine as well as include a DAPPv booster. The Strongid dewormer is included with each round of puppy vaccines because, intestinal parasites are very common in puppies and usually take 2-3 doses of dewormer to clear out of a pet’s system. The following services are given during round 2 of puppy vaccines:

DAPPv
Bordetella – Bordetella (commonly called “kennel cough”): The bordetella virus causes an extremely contagious upper respiratory infection.
Strongid

Round 3 | 12 Weeks+

This is the final round of puppy vaccines. It is important to wait two weeks after this round of vaccines before socializing your puppy or taking them to dog parks. The following services are given during round 3 of puppy vaccines:

Rabies – Rabies is a virus that may affect the brain and spinal cord of all mammals. The Rabies vaccine is those universally recommended for dogs no matter what the circumstance and most cities in Texas require that pets be current on this vaccine.
DAPPv
Bordetella
Strongid

Missing even one vaccination may leave your puppy defenseless if exposed to a serious disease, so it is very important that you get all three rounds of puppy vaccines within the correct time frame. Once the third round of puppy vaccines is complete, you will only need to boost the Rabies, DAPPv, and Bordetella vaccines on an annual basis. Prefer a visual vaccine guide instead?

Before You Start

If your puppy has not started on their vaccines yet, TCAP has easy-to-use voucher booklets that serve as a guide as well as provide savings on your puppy’s first year of care. These wellness packages come in two options, vaccine only or vaccines and spay/ neuter. Click here to learn more about TCAP’s Wellness Packages.

3 Surprising Ways to Protect Your Pet

Don’t Skip Dental Care

Dental care is vital to your pet’s long term health. Imagine what would happen if you never brushed your teeth. Eventually your pearly whites would decay and fall out, not to mention your breath would be awful!

The same applies to our pets. Unfortunately, this essential facet of care is often overlooked for dogs and cats because of its expense. While bad looking teeth and dragon breath are the most obvious signs of poor dental hygiene, other, less obvious health problems can result: tooth loss, abscesses, and even heart, kidney and liver complications from bacteria-laced infections.

Proper dental care can add three to five years to your pet’s life. TCAP strives to make this service convenient and affordable at all 7 of our main locations (Allen, Burleson, Denton, Fort Worth, Hurst, Garland, and Weatherford). Click here to learn more about TCAP’s Dental Program.

Create a Living Will

As much as we would like to avoid the subject, our pets are not invincible and may need emergency care at one point in their life. What happens if your pet is with a sitter or at a boarding facility and they require emergency assistance immediately? If you cannot be reached, does your pet’s caretaker have the confidence/ permission to authorize care at an emergency facility? Do they know your pet’s full service veterinarian? Do they know what your preferred emergency clinic is? Do they have an authorization amount for life-saving care (up to $500, up to $1,000 without verbal authorization, etc)?

A living will gives you the power to give your pet’s caretaker a plan of action should an emergency arise when you are unreachable. Here is an example:

I, John Doe, authorize life-saving care for Bella in the event of an emergency. This includes emergency surgery and life-saving treatment (such as blood transfusions, CPR, life-saving drugs). Medical care up to $3000 is authorized.

Learn Pet First Aid, Get a Kit

Should an emergency occur while you are home, it is best to take the proper precautions in advance. Start with getting certified for pet first aid. Your local animal hospitals may offer this training, but if not you can always pursue training online. Through this training you should become familiar with how to check your pet’s vital signs, how to conduct preventative care for your pets, and how to recognize and provide first aid for the most severe emergencies your pet may experience. The ultimate goal of this training is to provide immediate care in a dire situation to minimize damage to your pet’s health and pain before reaching your local emergency veterinarian.

Shortly after training, you should put together a pet first aid kit so that you have the tools you need to address any situation. In a pinch, a human first aid kit can work, but for a good pet first aid kit, we recommend using the list assembled by the American Red Cross HERE.

If you have any questions or concerns, you should always visit or call your veterinarian — they are your best resource to ensure the health and well-being of your pets.

Allen Clinic – New Location

In an effort to improve our customer experience, we are moving our Allen clinic to a larger facility this April! Like where our current clinic is? Don’t worry! Our new facility is only a mile down the road from our old clinic. Our new address will be 111 N Greenville Ave, Ste A | Allen, TX 75002.

Our hours are not changing, this new facility will still be open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9am – 12pm to offer low cost vaccines, heartworm testing, microchipping, flea/ tick prevention and more. We will be nearly doubling our workspace which will allow us to better accommodate our clients during check-in as well as during our walk-in hours.

Due to the unpredictability of construction, we will not know an official opening date until we get closer to April, but be sure to watch our Facebook page for updates. We could not be more excited to bring you and your pets a better experience at one of our most popular locations. As always, we thank you for your love, support and commitment to making North Texas a better place for our pets to live.