No Paws on the Ground

Keep your pup happy and healthy!  If your puppy is under 9 months of age and has not had all their vaccinations, Keep their paws off the ground.  Puppies  don’t have a fully developed immune system and can easily pick up bacteria and germs from the ground that can make them very ill. If you do need to set them down, use a clean sheet or towel.

Pets4Life Louisville 2018 Summary

The Pets4Life vet-mobile has been on the road working with animal groups including LMAS, Saving Sunny & My Dog Eats First to help people and pets in Louisville’s under-served communities.  Here is a summary of services provided in 2018.

Number of Pets Treated: 392 (316 dogs & 76 cats)

Rabies Vaccines: 278

Other Vaccines: 299

Microchips: 216

Flea Treatments: 320

If you would like to help us help more pets, please consider donating/volunteering.  All help is needed. 

Pets4Life Louisville 2017 Accomplishments

Pets4Life Louisville worked with My Dog Eats First and LMAS to help provide low-cost vet treatment to under-served communities in Louisville. We provided the Pets4Life state-of-the-art vet-mobile to Louisville Metro Animal Services for use at their community rabies/vaccine clinics. Below is a summary of services provided in 2017.

Number of Pets Treated: 338

Rabies Vaccines: 292

Other Vaccines: 241

Microchips: 116

Flea Treatments: 94

Please consider volunteering or donating to help us help more pets and people. If you are a pet-related organization or business, we are open to all ways we can work together to serve Louisville pet owners in need.

Pets4Life Louisville: Saving Lives through Pet Retention

Imagine hearing a story about a woman in your community who owned three dogs but was having trouble feeding them. What if she called the local shelter herself for assistance? Upon evaluation, the shelter staff found three skinny dogs– a Pit bull, a Rottweiler and a Terrier mix.  The owner had no money for food and the dogs were living solely off table scraps. The dogs were primarily outdoor dogs. Their dog bowls were dirty and chewed up, but they all had fresh water. They had doghouses in the yard (which was mostly knee-high grass). They were far from pampered, but they were happy and loved by their owners.

“What would your community do?” 

Traditionally, the animals might have been seized from the owner and placed in the shelter, since, at first glance, the dogs might seem neglected, or worse, abused. The owner might have reluctantly brought the pets to the shelter herself, feeling she could no longer afford them. Either way, the animals end up as part of the homeless pet population, and the odds for these dogs being adopted are statistically stacked against them.

In reality, these pets could have been kept in their homes for a fraction of the cost to the community.  Pets4Life Louisville and other groups in the Louisville area are working together to keep pets out of shelters by intervening in their lives, and the lives of their owners by offering free/low cost veterinary services in areas of the city where few resources exist. 

So many animal advocacy groups are focused on rescuing pets from shelters, but preventing pets from entering shelters in the first place is a more effective way to save lives. 

We believe the human/animal bond is critical to human wellness and to the essential health of a community. Pets4Life Louisville works to save animals’ lives by connecting with owners in their own neighborhoods, listening to their concerns, understanding the obstacles they face in providing adequate care for their family pets, and doing what we can to help them keep their “Pets4Life”

By The Numbers

  • 23 Million pets live in poverty in the United States without access to critical vet care.
  • 0 Full-time vet clinics reside in West Louisville
  • 70,000 Puppies & kittens are born each year in the USA.
  • 6-8 Million pets enter animal shelters each year.
  • 90% Of pets entering shelters in the USA are ‘unfixed’
  • 50% Of pets entering shelters in the USA are euthanized.

Sharing our vision & plans for 2017

Welcome to our new website!  This site is still under construction and we will be adding functionality in the future.  In the meantime, I want to share with you our 2016 accomplishments and our vision for the Pets4Life mobile vet clinic.

First, a little recap of the year:  In 2016 we found ourselves in a pickle:  We had an amazing $400,000 state-of-the-art mobile vet unit, but no resources or support structure to get it working for the good of the community.  With that in mind, in 2016 we re-established a new board, changed our name, created a logo for the mobile vet, met with several Louisville animal advocacy groups, and executed  a series of pilot events.  By year-end we will have participated in five community events and helped approximately 110 at-risk animals (dogs, cats & rabbits) in the community.

Our goal for 2017 is to partner with other advocacy groups, individual philanthropists/volunteers, and corporate stewards to bring the Pets4Life mobile vet to under-served communities of Louisville (areas without veterinary services or transportation).

Our Causes:

  • Animal Suffering Campaign:  The goal of this campaign is to ensure that pets in under-served areas of Louisville are getting basic vet care and vaccines to prevent disease and suffering.
  • Spay/Neuter Campaign: The goal of this campaign is to decrease unwanted births, reduce homeless pets and increase live-release rates in Louisville shelters.
  • Pet Retention Campaign: The goal of this campaign is to help people keep their pets for life, instead of surrendering them to a shelter.  The focus is education, microchips/ID tags & other resources designed to help prevent & reunite lost pets.

We Need Your Help:

Make a donation (kennel naming opportunities may still be available)

Volunteer (we need committee members & event volunteers)

Host a fundraiser (Have an idea for a fundraiser – please let us know!)

Partner with us (for animal & community renewal organizations)

Corporate Sponsorship (sponsor a ‘Wellness Clinic’ or ‘Spay/Neuter Day’)

Email awclouisville@gmail.com for details on how to get involved.