VCA Charities Up-To-Date Info

Summer 2011 ViDAS Update

2011-10-25T15:26:00.000-07:00

The ViDAS Team, including the 5 VCA Charities Sponsorship winners did some amazing work down in Mexico this past summer! Within 6 days, the team spayed and neutered 823 animals!!! Below are some photos of the team helping the local community in Bacalar, Mexico.

VCA Charities ViDAS Application Available Today!

2011-10-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

Application for the VCA Charities Sponsorship for ViDAS

Please fill out the following and email it back to Charities@vcacharities.org or mail it to 12401 West Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064 (Att: Brandon Antin)

This application is for the January 20-24 trip to Cancun, Mexcio

APPLICATION DEADLINE IS NOVEMBER 5, 2011

First Name: ____________________________________________________________

Last Name: ____________________________________________________________

Contact Number: ____________________________________________________________

Email Address: ____________________________________________________________

City: ____________________________________________________________

State: ____________________________________________________________

Veterinary Hospital Where You Are Employed: (if this does not apply, mark N/A)

__________________________________________________________________________________

What is your veterinary background? (Please include your current profession: Veterinarian, Technician, Resident, Intern…)

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Have you ever participated in veterinary work abroad? If so, where?

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you have surgical experience? if so please explain

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Why are you interested in this program?

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you have any medical, personal or dietary conditions or concerns that could affect your safety while staying in underdeveloped areas of Mexico?

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you speak Spanish? (Choose one: either circle or bold your choice)

Yes No Some

By accepting this application you will also be requested to write a short piece of your experience with VIDAS. This will be used on the VCA Charities Blog and other VCA Charities sites as well.

Thank you for filling out the application. IF YOU ACCEPT THE SPONSORSHIP AND THEN DO NOT GO, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO COMPENSATE VCA CHARITIES FOR YOUR SPONSORSHIP AMOUNT. For further questions please contact Brandon Antin at Brandon.Antin@vcaantech.com.

VCA Charities and Sacramento VCA Animal Hospitals Raise $2,428.02 for Sutter Pet Therapy

2011-08-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

VCA Animal Hospitals in the Sacramento area wanted to help their local community through VCA Charities. By working together, in 3 months the hospitals got together and raised over $1,200 which VCA Charities matched to present to Sutter Medical Center.

VCA Animal Hospital Fundraisers Present a Donation of $2,428.02 to Sutter Pet Therapy!

Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento animal assisted therapy program has been enthusiastically received by both patients and staff. Pet Therapy is offered through Volunteer Services. This type of volunteer work can be a lot of fun for the well tempered, socialized dog, not to mention his owner! Dogs get to visit patients in several different departments, get to snuggle in bed, or sit in a chair next to the bed. There is high demand for this unusual type of volunteer work, so we are always looking for more teams. If you have a dog who is well behaved around strangers and enjoys interaction in a unique setting, this can be very rewarding for both you and your pet. All teams are offered training workshops and evaluated according to The Delta Society/Pet Partner guidelines, of which Sutter Medical Center is an affiliate. Established in 1990, The Delta Society is a national animal assisted therapy organization with well over 5000 teams registered.

Great Job VCA Animal Hospitals in Sacramento!

VCA Charities and VCA Little Animal Hospital Raise Money for SPCA Suncoast in Florida!

2011-08-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

Check out the donation raised and matched for SPCA Suncoast! Great job VCA Little Animal Hospital!

Paws Up

4 PAWS UP for VCA Little Animal Hospital on Little Road. These great people decided to hold a “Pennies for Pets” program for 3 months. During that time, their clients could opt to round up their payments to the nearest dollar as an SPCA donation. Their generous clients raised $705.34! Then VCA Little Animal Hospital was able to get their corporate charity, VCA Charities, to match the donation for a total of $1,410.68. On Weds, Cheryl Chandler, VCA Hospital Manager, cuddled one of our adoptable puppies while presenting the check. THANKS SO MUCH TO VCA AND THEIR CLIENTS!!

The VCA Charities matching grant for Pennies for Pets program ran from April 1 through June 30, but the wonderful people at VCA Little Animal Hospital are continuing their donation drive on their own through Sept. 30. If you are already a client, please consider continuing to support the SPCA Suncoast by rounding up your payment. If you aren’t currently a client, please stop by and check out their facility. VCA Little Animal Hospital is located at 11014 Little Rd and their phone number is 727 819 3740. When you donate you can put your name or the name of your pet on a purple paw print to show you care (see photo above). Check out their photo (below) showing how they track their progress to their SPCA donation goal and help them get to the to the top!

http://spcasuncoast.org/paws-up/

VCA Charities and VCA Animal Hospitals in Denver, CO Raise Donations for Freedom Service Dogs

2011-07-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

The following is a letter from Abe, manager at Animal Lodge in Denver, CO. With his help and the help of all the VCA Animal Hospitals in Denver, CO they were able to raise over $6,000 that was matched by VCA Charities to donate to Freedom Service Dogs:

Let’s start by introducing an organization which truly goes above and beyond the call of charity and life enhancement. Freedom Service Dogs is a charitable organization which takes unwanted and/or abandoned dogs, custom trains and donates them to individuals whose lives have been altered with disabilities. In 2009 the organization launched Operation Freedom, “a focused initiative identifying deserving disabled veterans, and matching them with a trained service companion.” - To read more about this great organization please visit: freedomservicedogs.org

In a regional Colorado meeting of Hospital Manager
’
s this organization was unanimously voted to be our focus of collecting donations from each VCA Hospital, and having each hospital’s contributions matched up to $1000 by VCA Charities. The focus of collecting the donations was through VCA Charities Pennies for Pets Program which proved to be a great success. In addition to rounding up to the closest dollar amount, VCA Hospitals posted “Paws” of the donations across their lobbies to show appreciation and give credit to our wonderful donors. At every hospital managers meeting, there was a sense of friendly competition between the team which in turn drove us get more donations by the next meeting.

Animal Lodge showing their client support through the VCA Charities PAWS program!

VCA Firehouse Showing Their Support for VCA Charities and Freedom Service Dogs!

The sum of donations raised between the months of April through June was going to be unveiled at the Freedom Service Dogs Graduation Ceremony. The liaison between Freedom Service Dogs and VCA Charities for these months, and our supporter of pushing for more donations was our own VCA Alameda East Marketing Director, Lauren Immel. Lauren was given the honor of speaking at the event where more than 200 were in attendance, including the Mayor of Englewood in Colorado and representatives of US Congressmen who found this charity to be a noble and strong cause to support.

In total with the matching of VCA Charities funding – $12,297—about half the cost of training one client-dog team – was donated at the event! A standing ovation followed! This donation will allow current dogs that have been abandoned or are unwanted to be given a chance at changing a person’s life.In addition we would like to especially thank VCA Charities and its Executive Director
,
Brandon Antin, for providing us the opportunity to give back to our local community here in Colorado.

Ibrahim and Lauren Immel

Written By: Ibrahim "Abe" Al-Murjan, Manager at Animal Lodge

VCA Charities Helps Young Students In South Los Angeles Support Their Community Animal Shelter

2011-06-02T14:36:00.000-07:00

Mr. Shear's 5th grade class at Tom Bradley Elementary School in South Central Los Angeles were asked by an organization called Peace First, to pick a way to help their community. Those students chose to help their local animal shelter. The kids told us that there are a lot of strays in South LA and the bond between pets and people are not strong. To solve this issue, the students go together and went to raise pet food and towels for their local shelter so the pets there can have a better life and a stronger chance for adoption.

The students wrote letters to different organizations to try to raise pet food and get as many towels as they could. One of those organizations was VCA Charities asking for help. VCA Charities set up a two day event for the students. In April, they had their "training day" where they learned how to respect animals and the importance of veterinary care from Dr. Jill Clark.

They also learned how to approach dogs and care for them with the help of Vinny the service dog with his trainer Pat Antin and technician Marco San Filippo.

Technician Marco San Filippo teaching a student the proper way to walk a dog

Pat and Vinny doing obedience tricks...the kids found out that Vinny could count!

Students answering questions about what they have learned from Dr. Clark, Marco, Pat and Vinny

The students after the Training Day

In May, the kids went to their local shelter where they were met with hundreds of pounds of dog food donated by Hills Pet Nutrition. They also saw hundreds of pounds of towels, donated by the Montage Hotel of Beverly Hills. All were donated because of the hard work the students put in to help their local shelter.

Students load up all the pet food and towels they received from Hills Pet Nutrition and the Montage of Beverly Hills

Students learning from the officers at the South Los Angeles Animal Shelter.

At the shelter the kids learned the importance of adoption, how to care for the animals and what they can do to help the South Los Angeles Shelter. Most importantly, they got to play with some adorable puppies and kittens.

The students also got the opportunity to name some of the newly born kittens!

At the shelter the kids learned the importance of adoption, how to care for the animals and what they can do to help the South Los Angeles Shelter.

Mr. Shear's 5th grade class left with new knowledge of pets and the importance of them in their community.

Photos from the Launch of the VCA Charities Pet Food Pantry in NYC!

2011-04-28T12:40:00.000-07:00

Families have been in love with the pet food that has been provided at the Food Bank of New York. The Food Bank of New York feeds thousands of people each day and now with the healthy pet food available, the whole family can eat right! Healthy pets lead to happy pets and with the VCA Charities Pet Food Pantry Program, we can make that happen.

Only a small fraction of the pet food donated to Food Bank of New York! More than 15 tons of pet food is available at the New York facility!

Kelly Bensimon and clients of the Food Bank of New York with their furry friends

Brandon and Kelly handing out pet food to a happy dog!

VCA Animal Hospitals supporting VCA Charities and the Pet Food Pantry
(Left to Right) Art Antin (COO VCA Antech), Dr. Kim Whitfield DVM (New York Vet Specialist), Larry Cohen (Group Vice President, VCA Animal Hospitals), Suzanne Shindle (Regional Coordinator, VCA Animal Hospitals), Matt Cremen (Regional Operations Director VCA Animal Hospitals)

Art Antin handing out pet food

Thom Niedergerke (Iams) standing with the food that he and Iams helped provide for the VCA Charities Pet Food Pantry Program. We are thankful for all that Iams has done to help feed needy pets!

Princess waiting for all her new healthy dog food!

Blaine Novak (VCA Charities) accepting recognition for all the hard work he has put forth to make this Pet Food Pantry possible. None of this would be possible without Blaine's hard work and VCA Charities is so thankful for his devotion for pets and families!

Dr. Whitfield handing out pet food to a happy family

Brandon Antin (Executive Director of VCA Charities), Kelly Bensimon (Real Housewives of New York) and David Grossnickle (Food Bank of New York) handing out pet food

VCA Charities Donates $10,900 to HoPE Veterinary Center

2011-04-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

VCA Charities has donated $10,900 to the HoPE Veterinary Center. HoPe Veterinary Center (HoPe) was created as a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation to provide full service veterinary care to pets affected by homelessness in the greater Los Angeles area. HoPe will operate with an all-volunteer staff and rely on donations from individuals, corporations and grants to fund the day-to-day operations of the clinic. HoPe is currently open on the third Sunday of every month. Our goal and vision for the future is to have a free-standing facility so we can offer 24/7 veterinary care to pets of the homeless.

Pictured (From Left to Right): Dr. Bob Murtaugh, Dr. Tina Owens from HoPE and Dr. Jill Clark

VCA Charities is happy to help an amazing program like this. Pet health is a huge part of what we believe and through HoPE we can keep our furry friends healthy.

VCA Charities ViDAS Sponsorship Winners Announced!

2011-04-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

VCA Charities would like to congratulate the winners of the VCA Charities ViDAS Sponsorship. These winners will be on their way to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico to perform medical services for low income families. The winners are:

Lisa Sands: Technician @ VCA Littleton, Littleton, Colorado
Alan Thompson: DVM @ VCA Animal Care Center, Norfolk, Virginia
Elizabeth Eby: DVM @ VCA Central Animal Hospital, Upland, CA
Jami Johnson: Vet Student at the University of Minnesota
Stacie Summers: Vet Student at Washington State University

Please congratulate the recipients as they travel to Mexico to help families that may have never gotten the amazing veterinary care that these participants are about to perform. If you were not chosen or would like to apply for the next trip, the next application will come out in the fall for the 2012 trip. Stay tuned to the VCA Charities blog for constant updates regarding VCA Charities!

Grand Opening of the VCA Charities Pet Food Pantry in New York City

2011-04-21T07:23:00.001-07:00

I am very happy to announce that today, April 21, 2011, VCA Charities has launched its second Pet Food Pantry in New York City. VCA Charities, through the New York Food Bank in Harlem, will provide thousands of economically affected families in the New York City area with healthy pet food. Iams has donated twenty-two tons of dog and cat food to VCA Charities for the Pet Food Pantry. Each family that has a pet will receive a one-month supply of dog or cat food so their pets can live a healthy life every day.

During economic troubles, families do not always have enough money to feed their pet properly. It can cost hundreds of dollars to feed the family pet per year. Without proper nutrition, pets are left to table scraps. Malnutrition and poor diet becomes a huge problem for pets and when they end up in a veterinary hospital, the family may not be able to afford the care needed. This leaves the family with very tough choices. VCA Charities wants to stop medically unnecessary euthanasia’s and by providing thousands of pet owners with the necessary pet food, we can help prevent this easily avoidable problem.

With the launch of our newest location in New York City, there are now two VCA Charities Pet Food Pantries in the US. The first Pet Food Pantry launched last year in Los Angeles in June 2010 and has given out over 15,000 lbs of pet food to date. The families, who have come on hard times, usually receive assistance from the food banks VCA Charities has partnered with for six months. With our help at our two locations, we can help take off an expensive yet necessary cost of pet food so they can help stabilize their lives and now keep their family pet healthy.

We are excited about the future of the Pet Food Pantry program and to stay up-to-date about everything within the VCA Charities world, please follow our blog at www.vcacharities.blogspot.com. Thank you for supporting VCA Charities and we look forward to continuing our support of pets and their families around the country!

New Shipment of Pet Food Arrives at the VCA Charities Pet Food Pantry in Los Angeles

2011-04-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

Iams has continued their commitment to helping pets in Los Angeles by sending in a new shipment of Iams Pet Food to the VCA Charities Pet Food Pantry at the St. Joseph's Center!

We look forward continuing our Pet Food Pantry Program in Los Angeles and expanding across the country. Thank you to Iams and St. Joseph's Center for continuing such an amazing cause!

VCA Charities Donates to the Colorado Veterinary Medical Foundation!

2011-04-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

VCA Charities has donated $2,500 to the Colorado Veterinary Medical Foundation. This donation continues from the previous donation of the Medical Van a October 2010. The $2,500 donation was raised through the Pennies for Pets campaign in Colorado. The donation will be used to remodel the vehicle so it can begin service to families that cannot leave the home due to medical reasons so their pet can get the medical attention they need.

Check Presentation (From left to right): Beth Spencer, Medical Director of VCA Firehouse, Ralph Johnson, Executive Director of the CVMF and Alisha Ford, Hospital Manager at VCA Firehouse.

Every pet deserves proper medical care, through the VCA Hospitals raising donation dollars for VCA Charities and the Colorado Veterinary Medical Foundation, we are doing just that!

VCA Charities Donates over $142,000 in 2010!

2011-03-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

Since 2010, VCA Charities has been driven to help pets all over the country. One of the main ways that we can do that is by donating to worthy and amazing pet charities. In 2010, VCA Charities has donated $142,838, all to help pets through charities around the country.

This is just the start, 2011 will be a great year for VCA Charities and pets! Thank you all for your help, lets knock it out of the dog park in 2011!

VCA Charities ViDAS Sponsorship Application Available

2011-03-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

I am happy and proud to announce the 3rd VCA Charities ViDAS Sponsorship Application. On the last trip, our sponsored animal lovers helped over 500 dogs and cats get the medical care the locals could never get. Since our sponsorship has started we have helped over 1,200 dogs and cats! I thank ViDAS for allowing us to be apart of their wonderful organization for a 3rd straight trip.

The medical trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico is August 13-18. Please check with your hospital so you can make sure that you will be able to go. The sponsorship will cover flights, boarding and transportation.

April 1st is the deadline to send in your application. Please submit them to Brandon.Antin@vcaantech.com with the subject stating VCA Charities ViDAS Sponsorship Application or by mail:

VCA Charities ViDAS Application

12401 W. Olympic Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90064

Good Luck! Winners will be announced April 18th!

Application for the VCA Charities Sponsorship for ViDAS

Please fill out the following and email it back to Brandon.Antin@vcaantech.com or mail it to 12401 West Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064 (Att: Brandon Antin)

This application is for the August 13-18, 2011 trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexcio

APPLICATION DEADLINE IS APRIL 1, 2011