Serenity and the Community
Have you ever been at Serenity Animal Hospital and wondered why there were 15 girl scouts in the lobby? Or driven by and wondered why there are 200 people and their pets standing outside by our pond? Every year Serenity Animal Hospital participates in different community outreach programs. We sponsor many events at the hospital and also visit different venues to educate people about owning animals. Our doctors and staff volunteer their time to help out at these events.
Our two biggest events have been held annually for over 15 years now. Every October we hold a Blessing of the Animals. This event is open to our clients and the entire community. We have over 200 people and their pets show up. Father Randy Phillips from St. Blasé also volunteers his time to bless the pets.
We want to thank everyone who braved the cold wind to make this year's event a great success. Follow this link to see pics.
Photos from the Blessing of the Pets 2010
In December, Dr. Sherman directs our Pictures with Santa. All of the profits from this event are donated to a different charity. In 2009, we donated over $1,500 to Gleaners Food Bank. This event is also open to the entire community.
It is very important to our entire staff that we educate the community about the responsibility of owning pets. We offer tours of our clinic to Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and school groups. During these tours, kids get to learn about all of the different animals that we care for in our clinic, see the different equipment that we use to diagnose and treat pets, and learn about what a large responsibility pet ownership is.
Our largest outreach program is our Kitten Adoption Program. For 15 years, we have taken in abandoned and stray kittens. Through our program, these kittens and cats are spayed or neutered, vaccinated, treated for any medical conditions that they may have, and socialized. Once they are spayed or neutered, they are able to be adopted into “fur”ever homes. Our staff spends countless hours cleaning, medicating and socializing these abandoned animals. As of July 30, 2010, we have taken in over 80 cats and kittens this year. In the fifteen years we have had this program, we have found homes for 1278 cats and kittens. That’s an average of 85 pets per year. There is a fee for adopting a cat from us, but this program is run on donations and volunteered time.
We also have a Dog Adoption Program. Since 2007, we have found homes for over 60 dogs. We have rescued them from Hurricane Katrina, Lornich Kennels and more recently from a puppy mill in Pennsylvania. We do not always have dogs available for adoption, but when there are dogs that need to be rescued, we are there!
If you are interested in learning more about Serenity Animal Hospital, or know a group that would like a tour, please feel free to call us any time. To learn more about our adoptable animals, please visit our Petfinder site.
