Spirit's mommy, Sherry, first came to Fresno Humane on January 23, 2016 distraught that her fur-baby, a chocolate Labrador Retriever was lost in Shaver Lake in the snow. She looked for her dog that wandered off her property and followed the foot prints until there were no more prints to follow. Sherry came weekly to all the local animal shelters searching for Spirit. She posted on Facebook lost and found pages, Craigslist, and made lost postcards to disperse in the mailboxes of all the neighbors. On July 5, 2016, Spirit was found by a large animal veterinarian near Fowler, CA (60 miles away). Being a vet, she knew to have the dog scanned for a chip and drove it to Fresno Humane Animal Services, her local animal control agency to do so. Thanks to Spirit' microchip information being kept up-to-date we were able to make the happy call that we found Spirit! Sherry was on vacation in Kauai, HI when she got the call. She said, “I was in disbelief, I was screaming and my husband thought I was having a heart attack”. She had her mom rush over to pick her up. We wonder what happened to Spirit along her 60-mile journey but suspect that someone saw a friendly adorable dog and drove her to their home and she got out of their backyard. Maybe they didn’t know to scan for a microchip. Spirit's mom, Sherry, wants to share her love and gratitude, so she came in and purchased 15 microchips for the public to get their dogs microchipped for free. Spirit wants to remind you to love your pets by giving them a voice when you're not there. #microchipsreuniteslostpets #microchipssavelives

Co-written by Amanda Allen, Community Outreach Coordinator & Sherry (Spirits Mommy)

February 6, 2016. Had a wonderful day at Fresno Humane Animal Services (FHAS)! Dr. LeeAnn Dumars, DVM vaccinated and microchipped approximately 41 dogs and even a few cats too. We offer to the public 2 types of dog vaccines: DAPP (Distemper, Adenovirus, Parvovirus and Parainfluenza) and a Rabies vaccination, as well as a microchip, all for only $25 per dog.

Why is this important to FHAS?

Fresno Humane Animal Services is on a life-saving mission to keep dogs safely in their homes. VACCINES: If dogs are up to date on vaccines they won't be spreading deadly diseases throughout the community and if they come into our shelter their immunities will be built up to protect them. This helps FHAS to give healthy dogs back to their owners, or to community rescues, or placed into adoptive homes. We want to be a safe place for animals and these vaccination clinics help to get vaccines into rural communities. MICROCHIPS: If dogs get out of their yard and they have a microchip there are a lot of different animal organizations and veterinarians in the community that can scan for a chip and call the owner to pick up the dog right away. This leaves space in our kennels for the dogs that need us. Dogs with microchips usually = safely home by the end of the day. Sadly, dogs without microchips wait for their owners to come looking for them. Many people don't even know where to look when they loose their dogs and this leads to an overpopulation of homeless pets. Bottom line is microchips save not only your dog's life but the life of the dog that is in our kennel, as we don't have to make room for your dog.

Also...Vaccine Clinics are an opportunity to educate the public of the importance of spaying and neutering. We offer low-cost spay/neuter vouchers and it gives us a platform to talk about what steps they need to take to get the service done.

So, why is spaying/neutering so important?

It prevents unwanted litters. Fresno County has an over-population of dogs and cats. Approximately 100 dogs and cats die in our city and county each day. Several of those that are euthanized are large breed dogs such as Pit Bulls, Pit Bull mixes, Shepherds and Shepherd mixes. The more we are out in the community preaching about the importance of spaying and neutering and offering a low-cost option to do so, the less these beautiful animals have to die in shelters.

Toodles,

Amanda Allen, Community Outreach Coordinator

Dr. LeeAnn Dumars, DVM vaccinated this beautiful Shepherd.

Brenda is scanning the dog for a microchip.