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Pet Lover’s Guide 2019

Playing with Pups for a Cause

If you love dogs, then the Assistance Dogs for Achieving Independence (ADAI) is a volunteer opportunity that you won’t be able to turn down. Part of The Ability Center’s work for people with disabilities, this is a cause that includes such adorable programs as Puppy Smart Start, Hug a Pup, and others, all of which prepare dogs for placement with a people who need their assistance.

Puppy Kindergarten

ADAI consistently receives new litters of future service dog puppies that need to be socialized. The program is called Puppy Smart Start, and it is an important aspect of ACT’s mission to make Toledo the most disability-friendly community in the U.S.

If you are looking to help out ADAI in other ways, the organization is looking for locations to host Hug a Pup, an event where the puppies from Smart Start are brought to different locations so they can be exposed to new environments and more people.

Puppy Sitters, Furloughs, & Fosters

ADAI has other programs that extend through the dogs’ development up until they enter final training at 18 weeks, all of which vary in their level of commitment. For instance, if you are interested in fostering but don’t have transportation, then you may become a dog sitter. A foster will drop off the dog at your home and then pick them up later in the day. This is an on-call volunteering position for fosters who could use help from time to time.

ADAI-Volunteer

You can also work as a full-time fostering volunteer so that you can care for a dog from the time it is 12 weeks to two years old.

“They do all kinds of personal care, public access training, commands, and obedience training,” explains ACT Volunteer Coordinator Audrey Johnson. “Everybody gets something different from it,” she says of volunteer work with ADAI. “Some say they want to be in it to help the community; others do it because they love animals. Many do it because they know how important living independently is, and they want to help that mission. It’s just a great benefit for all.”

Mobile Veterinarians in Toledo

Pet vets that come right to your home to check on your best friend!

Oliver Mobile
Veterinary Service
419-345-1093 | Olivermobilevet.com

MedVet Toledo
2921 Douglas Rd.
419-473-0328 | Medvetforpets.com

Total Pet Care
3240 Briarfield Blvd., Maumee,
419-861-4474 | Total-pet-care.com

Vets on Wheels
866-299-0438
Vetsonwheels.website/tag/house-call-vet-toledo-oh

Shoreland Animal Hospital
4940 Suder Ave.
419-729-0766 | Shorelandanimalhospital.com

Lap of Love
419-775-4824 | Lapoflove.com

Visit abilitycenter.org to learn more,
and contact Audrey Johnson at
ajohnson@abilitycenter.org to volunteer.

The Dog Days of Downtown

Laura and Tasha.
Laura and Tasha.

A day in the life of Tasha, a brindle pitbull-boxer mix and the cutest resident of the Bartley Loft apartments downtown, is all about going out with her dog-walker three times a week. She meets all kinds of people who offer her water at area businesses— like Tin Can and Ye Olde Cock N’ Bull— before heading back home to relax on her balcony settee, basking in the sun while taking in the sights and sounds of Toledo’s warehouse district.

It’s a dog’s life, and we are jealous. Tasha’s mom, Laura Baird, is a district nurse for Ottawa Hills. She and her husband, Tom, own the Ottawa Tavern and are very invested in downtown, so it made sense for them to move from Ottawa Hills to the Bartley Lofts five years ago, after their kids left the nest. It’s also been great for Tasha.

“I enjoy being able to walk and see all the revitalization in the company of someone I love— my dog!” Baird says, adding that the culture downtown is different than what she experienced in the suburbs in terms of people’s reactions to a pit.

When she’s not working, Baird takes Tasha for walks and runs early in the morning to beat the heat, sometimes letting her go off-leash in an open area near the docks. Tasha also has training two times a week at John Brown’s Let’s Train! Dog Training when she’s not with Laura or going for walks with personal dog-walker Angela May. Basically, she has a well-established routine that gets her out of the apartment with plenty of exercise.

For folks considering moving downtown who are unsure about having a dog in an apartment or loft, Baird has this advice: “Spend a day with Laura and Tasha,” she says with a laugh. “I can show you how nice it is to be downtown and have a dog. If you really want to move downtown, you’ll make it work. Tasha has a great life.”

Toledo Shelter Roundup

LC4---PET

The no-kill shelters listed below vary in their approach to saving pets, but they all agree that it is much better to find a pet at a shelter than to support the often inhumane and shockingly unregulated puppy mill industry. Pet stores have been known to sell dogs from these mills, so do your research to avoid supporting a practice that may not be a good situation for the animals involved. If you are looking to adopt a pet, or are forced to surrender a pet, you can rest easy that these five area shelters will do everything they can to help.

Toledo Area Humane Society

The Toledo Area Humane Society only euthanizes when there is no medical hope for the animal or if it exhibits severe aggression, which is a call that the staff makes after working with the animals for as long as they can.

A few things that set TAHS apart: they have legal jurisdiction to prosecute in cases of animal cruelty; they take in “pocket pets”—rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, hamsters, and rats —and livestock ranging from chickens to horses; and they temporarily hold animals for pet owners who have had to relocate.

Adoption fees, which range from $35 for senior cats to $100 for kittens and $75 for senior dogs to $325 for puppies, include spaying, neutering, and age-appropriate vaccinations.

827 Illinois Ave.
419-891-0705 | Toledohumane.org

Maumee Valley Save-A-PeT

This no-kill shelter takes in animals from the public and other area animal shelters, including Wood County Animal Shelter and Lucas County Canine Care & Control (also known as LC4). They also receive animals from Kentucky and work with a group that brings animals from Qatar.

MVSAP has a fund dedicated to helping pet owners keep their pets when they have financial hardships. They also have a screened-in area for their cats to roam so they can gauge behavior and best determine where they should be placed.

Adoption prices, $75 for a cat and $250 for a dog, include spaying and neutering.

5250 Hill Ave.
419-537-9663 | Maumeevalleysaveapet.org

Lucas County Canine Care & Control (LC4)

This dog shelter, which takes in strays from Lucas County and accepts owner surrenders, will only euthanize for reasons other than the animal’s health in a few specific instances, such as severe aggression with humans and other dogs. They also provide owner-requested euthanasia for dogs, saving people money when they would otherwise have a high bill from their vet. LC4 does work with other shelters (like MVSAP) who take some of the dogs with behavioral and medical issues.

Other than for reasons of health or aggression, the shelter has no time limit on how long they will keep dogs.

The adoption fee is $125 for a spayed or neutered dog.

410 S. Erie St.
419-213-2800 | Lucascountydogs.com

Toledo Animal Rescue

Founded in 1927, Toledo Animal Rescue is Toledo’s oldest no-kill shelter. They offer some unique services, including training to make their dogs more adoptable.

The Rehome Program helps family members of pet owners who have passed away— or who’ve had to go to a nursing home­— by taking care of the animals so that pet owners don’t have to fear what will happen when they aren’t around.

Adoptions prices, which range from $20 to $50 for cats and from $85 to $95 for dogs, include spaying and neutering.

640 Wyman St.
419-382-1130 | Toledoanimalrescue.org

Paws and Whiskers

The only no-kill feline-only shelter in the Toledo area, Paws and Whiskers has been around for almost 23 years. When it comes to euthanizing, the shelter will do everything medically possible to save a cat. To push more adoptions, they offer a buy-one-get-one-half special. Adoption prices range from $25 to $100, depending on the cat’s age, and includes spaying or neutering, the medical exam, and shots.

Paws and Whiskers is a non-profit that needs volunteers, particularly for fostering.

32 Hillwyck Dr.
419-536-1914 | Pawsandwhiskers.org

Humane Ohio: A low-cost option for pet owners

Primarily a low-cost spay/neuter clinic, the clinic also supports community pet owners with a variety of services, which include a foster care program, Toledo’s largest pet food bank, and helping to address cat overpopulation by renting traps to assist with TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return).

Spaying/neutering costs are $70 for a dog under 100 pounds, $110 for dogs over 100 pounds, and $45 for cats that are not strays or ferals.

To learn more, visit humaneohio.org

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