Harvey’s path of disaster may be over, but the after effects of the recent hurricane are still being felt in many ways. For the people and animals in the great state of Texas, Austin Pets Alive (APA) is meeting a need and our own Mint Hill Animal Hospital (MHAH) is helping them out as well. “It was just such a hard time,” Dr. Janet Gerardot says. “We heard so many tough stories about pets and animals. We decided to raise money to send.”
From September 11th through the 16th, MHAH ran a fundraiser. For that week, half the cost of the exam fee for every patient they had was donated to APA, a no kill animal shelter in Austin, Texas. The donations totaled $3400. According to Dr. Gerardot the response was amazing, but not wholly unexpected. “Mint Hill is just a wonderful small town that really does care. The plight of these animals got into everybody’s hearts.”
MHAH recently received a letter from APA thanking Mint Hill and its residents for their overwhelming “incredibly generous” support. The letter also contained an update on the relief efforts. Thanks in part to MHAH and its donation, APA has been able to rescue over 5000 animals, and, more importantly, reunite several Texas families with their lost fur babies.
APA is also hoping to expand from Austin and make Houston a no kill city as well; so, the work is far from over. “It seems so overwhelming to rescue 5000 animals and then promise to be no kill. That’s impressive. That’s just about impossible in a volume situation like that.” Dr. Gerardot asserts. She encourages anyone who still wants to help out to go the Austin Pets Alive website, www.austinpetsalive.org, and donate if you can. “The cost doesn’t stop once they’re rescued and they’ll probably have these animals for years to come. And they are still overwhelmed trying to achieve all they hope to achieve.”
Mint Hill Animal Hospital creates a lot of sponsoring and donating opportunities. They are taking the momentum received through this opportunity and continuing to find ways to help out animals. They keep animal art made by local artists for sale on their walls, and, next, they are helping host and organize the Jingle Bell Run Fundraiser for the Mint Hill Police Department. “The goal of all of our work is to get animals placed and happy.” Dr. Gerardot is matter-of-fact, “That’s what vet clinics do.”
To further make their goals happen, MHAH is getting every member of their staff trained and certified in the new “Fear Free” treatment method for cats and dogs. “It might be a
new concept, but it really works,” Dr. Gerardot happily shares. “It can cause vet visits to take a little longer, but we are making it an included cost-free service for our clients. The results are worth it.” Each staff member has completed or will soon complete the nine hours of “Fear Free” education. The employees at MHAH review the concepts at every staff meeting and renew their certification every year. Dr. Gerardot says Mint Hill Animal Hospital will never stop growing. “There’s always something we can do. We always want to do a better job and make pets have a better visit. After all, they’re members of the family.”
