Last year, the Suncoast SPCA in New Port Richey, Florida (outside Tampa), gave away 384 batches of pet food. This year to date, they’ve given away 1,043 batches.

The SPCA Suncoast works with a food bank to help feed families who have fallen on tough times. The Volunteer Way provides meals and hands out vouchers for free pet food at the SPCA’s Animeal pantry.

For unemployed pet owners, it can make the difference between keeping their pets or surrendering them.

Nora Malone, a nurse, was laid off in January. As the months of unemployment stretched out, money grew tight. Her voucher provided a couple of bags of cat food for her four kittens and two cats.

“This is a great help,” said Malone, 49. “It’s been a struggle.”

The vouchers have no expiration date. When redeemed, the pet owner is given about three weeks worth of pet food. The pet food purchases are funded by donations. But with demand so high, the SPCA doesn’t always have pet food available to distribute.

“There’ve been a few weeks in the past few months where we can’t provide them food,” said Gail Armstrong, executive director of the SPCA. “People get to the point where even if we give them food, that’s still not enough.”

As with most other shelters across the country, the number of animals surrendered this year has skyrocketed at Suncoast SPCA. Some days they turn away dozens of animals for lack of space. Over 8 percent of animals coming into the shelter are euthanized.

“When you’re in a stressful situation, you want your pets because of the comfort they can bring you,” Armstrong said. “When you’re stressed about the economy and you have to take that heart-wrenching step of giving your pet away, it’s sad.”

If you know a pet lover with an upcoming birthday, consider making a donation to a Pet Food Bank program as a birthday gift. Your local SPCA or shelter can point you to programs in your area.

[LINK: tampabay.com]

Keith Griffin (right) was charged this week with 10 counts of possession of child pornography after authorities found more than 1,000 images on his home computer. But Griffin alleges he had no knowledge of the illicit images and claims his cat was behind the downloads.

According to Griffin, his cat regularly sits on his computer keyboard, and on several occasions he came back to his computer to find that “strange material” had been downloaded.

Police didn’t buy it. Griffin is currently being held in a Florida jail. A family friend is caring for the cat.

Shame on you, Mr Griffin.

[LINK: Miami Herald; PHOTO: Manchester PG Careers]

A Florida family is mourning the loss of Buddy after Hernando County Animal Services mistakenly euthanized him.

Buddy’s owner, Maria Velez had taken Buddy to a friend’s house for her to cat sit while they were on vacation. When the friend, Debra Yarzab, was playing with Buddy, he bit her on the hand.

“I didn’t think anything of it,” said Yarzab.

Later, her hand swelled up, and she sought medical attention for the injury.

Because Buddy hadn’t received his rabies shot, he was put in quarantine at Hernando County Animal Services, which is routine in such cases.

It turned out that he was fine, but there was a mix up with another orange tabby cat, and Buddy was euthanized.

When the Velezes went to pick Buddy up, they were presented with a different cat–a very skinny orange tabby who was missing a tail. Maria Velez told them it was the wrong cat, at which point they discovered that the wrong cat had been euthanized.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Maria Velez said. “I was in shock. I’m like are you kidding me?”

Animal Services officials say they feel bad about the mixup, but admitted that similar incidents have occurred before. They said they are working on implementing new procedures to prevent future mix ups.

“I just want something to be done so it doesn’t ever happen again to someone else, to another animal,” Maria Velez said.

“I can never get him back,” said her son, Austin.

County Commissioner Rose Rocco said she is investigating the incident and is going to make sure new guidelines are put in place.

In recent months, Catster and Catblogger peeps have been stepping out from behind their web personas to meet longtime online friends. This week I’m spotlighting some of those meetups.

Earlier this month, in an event more hotly anticipated than the new Harry Potter movie, the moms of catblogging superstars Jeter Harris and Daisy the Curly Cat met for brunch in Florida with Sarge Charlie and Auntie Bee.

I don’t know how it started, but Sarge Charlie and Auntie Bee are frequent visitors to the cat blogs (perhaps because their lifestyle doesn’t permit cats), and everyone just loves ‘em, including me.

By all reports, it was a raucous good time and Jeter Harris’ mom left flat-cat versions of Jeter behind with Daisy’s mom and Auntie Bee. (L to R in the photo above: Daisy’s mom, Sarge Charlie, Jeter Harris’ mom, and Auntie Bee [seated].)

In June, midwestern Catsters and catbloggers met at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

Chey’s mom (who travelled from Washington state for the event) describes the meeting:

“On a sunny day in June, cat bloggers from around the Midwest met at the Lincoln Park Zoo. While road construction on I 90 scared off a few from Wisconsin and matters of new babies kept others away, 9 people showed up to join in the fun at the zoo. The meeting was less a first time meeting than it was old friends catching up after a long absence. Michigan cat bloggers spent the night near Chicago to be part of the meeting. The only draw back was a little confusion on the meeting area. We also realized that it would have been nice to have a sign because not everyone was immediately recognizable!”

Stay tuned this week for more stories of meetups between online cat moms and dads.

Remember to follow best practices for meeting online friends:

• Meet in a public place.
  
• Bring a friend with you.
  
• Be wary of “new best friends” who form immediate Super-Glue bonds with you or ask for money.
  

Last month, LaVeeda Krumm took the feral cat to Harborside Animal Clinic, after she noticed a problem with the cat’s overgrown nails. At the clinic, tests revealed that City Kitty had advanced arthritis and hyperthyroidism, a common affliction in older cats.

The vets at the clinic ministered to City Kitty, but the price tag was a steep $439.

Dr. Ruth Eisel, a vet at the clinic, said that when City Kitty was brought in, the clinic was told people would be pitching in to help cover the costs. Unfortunately, the funding didn’t materialize and the three doctors in the practice had to pay the expenses themselves.

“When it came to chip in, there was no one there except for LeVeeda Krumm,” said Eisel. “The doctors said to ourselves, (the cat) was promised help, so we put our own money toward the cat.”

Two weeks after the visit to the vet, Councilwoman Penny Taylor sent a memo to her colleagues asking city employees to pitch in to help offset the medical expenses.

“We love her,” Taylor wrote. “We need help with this bill and a collection station has been established at the volunteer desk in the downstairs lobby of City Hall.” Unfortunately, donations have been very slow in coming in.

Taylor said she was relieved to learn that Krumm took City Kitty to the doctor.

“I’ve been worried about her,” Taylor said. “She’s very wily.”

City Kitty is just one of several cats that lives near City Hall, said Naples Mayor Bill Barnett. Barnett estimates she’s been around City Hall for about 15 years.

“I’ll tell you it adds a personal touch,” Barnett said about having a city pet. “This is not a bleak gray drab atmosphere around here. We’re filled with good old normal people. It’s a warm fuzzy.”

An overactive thyroid means City Kitty needs to take medication twice a day, which is hard to do with an feral cat. But Krumm said she’s doing her best to make sure City Kitty gets it at least once a day.

Being the City Kitty has its perks: In 2006 city employees built her a cat house to keep her out of the elements during bad weather.

Donations for City Kitty’s medical expenses are being accepted at
Naples City Hall,
735 Eighth Street South
Naples, FL 34102

[LINK/PHOTOS: NaplesNews.com]

By SARAH LARIMER

MIAMI (AP) — A teenager faces charges in a gruesome string of cat mutilations and killings that have horrified his neighbors and shaken animal lovers in two South Florida communities.

Tyler Hayes Weinman, 18, was charged Sunday with 19 counts each of animal cruelty and improperly disposing of an animal body and four counts of burglary related to the deaths.

“I hope it’s not true,” 77-year-old Robert Ehrman said about the teen, who lives across the street from her in Cutler Bay. He called his mother a “lovely person,” but said he didn’t know the teen well. “It’s like a death in the family, I’m sure.”

Weinman was taken into custody at a party and was being questioned at Miami-Dade police headquarters. Four of the confirmed cat killings were reported on the street where Weinman lived.

According to online jail records, Weinman was being held on $154,500 bond. Jail officials said a court date was been set for July. An e-mail sent to a lawyer who represents Weinman and a telephone message were not immediately returned.

The curtains at the small, beige house in the Cutler Bay neighborhood listed on Weinman’s arrest affidavit were drawn shut and there were no cars in the driveway. Knocks at the red front door went unanswered. A welcome mat dotted with pictures of paw prints playfully encouraged visitors to “wipe your paws,” and a yellow and black crime watch sticker was displayed in the home’s front window.

A similar crime watch sticker was displayed in the window at another address for Weinman in nearby Palmetto Bay, along with a red and black warning that told rescue crews a cat lived in the house, in case of a fire. Lights were on inside, but no one answered the door.

Messages left at phone numbers for his parents were also not immediately returned.

Click here for the full story.

Animal cruelty is a third degree felony punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and/or imprisonment up to 5 years.

Authorities have asked that if you have any information, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS or send a text tip to 274637 (crimes). You will remain anonymous.

Those wishing to make a tax-deductible donation to Crime Stoppers may do so by making their checks payable to Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers. Please write “donation – cats” on the memo line. Checks should be mailed to:

Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers
1030 NW 111 Avenue
Miami, Florida 33172-5800

Click here for more information on the crimes.

The following article from the Orlando Sentinel describes the efforts of third grader Zach Wilson in Longwood, FL, who is doing his best to feed needy cats and dogs. Zach gets four paws up from The Cat’s Meow!

LONGWOOD — If only his mom would let him, Zach Wilson would let all the shelter dogs in central Florida live at his house.

Instead, Zach, 9, and his mom are working to keep pets out of shelters. They started the Central Florida Animal Pantry, the region’s first pet-food giveaway program, so families with financial troubles won’t have to give up their animals for lack of money to feed them.

So far, the Wilsons have accumulated about 1,000 pounds of dog and cat food in their garage, mostly from Wekiva Elementary School, where Zach attends third grade.

Zach, who could never imagine giving up his German shepherd-Labrador mix, Brandi, said he was compelled to do something after he visited several area shelters in search of a second dog and saw so many dogs in cages. The shelter workers told him that many of the older dogs had belonged to owners who lost their homes or jobs and couldn’t afford to keep their pets. He and his mom couldn’t stop thinking about the animals and the families that missed them.

The next morning, Zach told his mom, “We need to feed the dogs.”

“From there, we just sat down and tried to figure out how we could help the situation,” mom Erica Wilson said.

Wilson could find no charity offering free pet food to local families in need. Senior citizens receiving Meals on Wheels can get pet food, and Second Harvest of Central Florida occasionally accepts pet-food donations from corporate donors, which the agency then gives to local shelters.

Since they began to publicize the project a few weeks ago, Wilson has received several offers of help, as well as some pleas for assistance. A single mother supporting two children, two grandchildren, three dogs and two cats wrote: “I am having financial difficulties and would never get rid of my animals but could use some help with food.”

Wilson advised her to come over.

Last year, as the economy imploded, Orange County’s shelter saw a 6 percent increase in the number of abandoned and owner-surrendered animals. In recent months, shelters say the economy-related surrenders have subsided, but the need for help remains. Seminole County Animal Services has seen a fourfold increase in sick or emaciated pets because their owners couldn’t afford to feed the animals or take them to the vet, program coordinator Diane Gagliano said.

Food represents a small portion of a pet owner’s responsibilities, and a change in pet-food brands can disrupt the animal’s digestive system in some cases, said Jake White, senior vice president at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Central Florida.

The Wilsons know that giving away biscuits and jerky strips is only part of the answer. So their program also has a medical fund.

“We are finding most of the people who ask for food need vaccines too,” Erica Wilson said.

Sometimes, even just a temporary financial setback can affect the family pet, said Marjorie Boyd, director of animal services for Lake County.

“All it takes is just one thing to happen in our lives, like the car breaks down,” Boyd said. “If they (a pet owner) can get dog food to be able to feed the dog for the next month while they’re scraping to get the car fixed, and then they get back on their feet, it’s a great thing.”

The Pet Food Bank is run by the Save the Pets Alliance, a cooperative effort of Lee County Animal Services, The Animal Refuge Center, Gulf Coast Humane Society, Caloosa Veterinary Medical Society, and the Harry Chapin Food Bank. It assists pet owners with food and supplies needed to keep pets in their homes so that they are not relinquished to shelters.

Current economic conditions for Southwest Florida residents have left many people with financial problems far beyond what they can control. One in 86 homes is in foreclosure with the number of homes in foreclosure increasing by 57% in January of 2009. This problem leaves people homeless – exacerbating the homeless problem for our animals. All of the shelters in Lee County frequently operate at capacity.

Many people are surrendering their animals solely because they are unable to feed their animals. Sadly, these people say that they cannot even afford to feed their children, much less their animals. Given that many animals are often considered family members themselves, the separation causes further anxiety and stress–especially in children.

In an effort to address this problem, and in the hopes that by helping perhaps some people can avoid having to surrender their pets, local pet shelters formed the Save the Pets Alliance with the hope that if they can provide pet food to families in need, perhaps they can help these animals stay in their homes and out of shelters.

Click here if you would like to help the Save The Pets Alliance provide pet food to families and pets in need.

Click here to find out how you can volunteer.