Anthem Pets Animal Rescue

Anthem Pets is all about rescuing animals! We are a 501(c)3 non-profit rescue organization dedicated to reuniting lost pets with their owners and rescuing homeless and abandoned dogs and cats. By working with committed volunteers, foster homes, local veterinarians, trainers, and boarding facilities, we are able to assist hundreds of animals every year, provide them with loving temporary care, give them necessary vaccinations and wellness checks, and find them well-matched, carefully screened forever homes. We also find it important to be a resource to our community by providing low cost shot clinics, education and information on responsible pet ownership, including the importance of spay/neuter, micro chipping, positive behavior training, and good nutrition. We also donate re-bagged pet food to residents in financial need.

Our strategies and goals are accomplished by the following:

1. Provide 3 annual lost cost vaccination clinics to make healthcare affordable to all

2. Provide 3 annual microchip clinics to educate and affordably microchip as many animals as possible in our community; in doing so we are have better odds of reuniting owners with their pets when separated.

3. We are constantly trying to grow our foster network through grass roots efforts, social and local media support. Pets placed in nurturing foster care environments are more adaptable, trained, secure and stable, therefore more adoptable.

4. We are adding more adoption events in order to place and find more forever homes for our rescue animals. We are constantly seeking new and inventive ways to promote our pets and get them the necessary exposure.

5. We partner with vet clinics, trainers, groomers—all with a common goal and interest of saving and contributing to the care and welfare of animals. Our external partners are very important to our organization and we value these partnerships.

6. Fundraising is always necessary to cover the rising medical costs. We host an annual community fundraiser, occasional online auctions and utilize programs like iGive, Amazon Smile, Fry's Community Rewards and Dog Walking Pet apps that help fund the organization. We promote these “simple ways to give" frequently as it's a way for people to give just by shopping or walking their dog.

7. Our volunteers are the heartbeat of the organization. Without them we wouldn't be able to do what we do. For example our Pet Hotline take calls about lost and found pets, emergency questions, etc. We've added more volunteers recently to manage the increased volume of calls.

8. Twice monthly we re-bag dog and cat food and donate it to those with a financial need (no questions asked). Our food program helps to keep pets with their owners so owners don't have to choose between feeding their human family over their pet family, and helps to keep pets with their owners so they don't end up in overcrowded shelters or the county where euthanasia is likely.

9. We exhibit at local community events to help spread the word about our services and grow our awareness in the community.

Our goals, strategies and capabilities are made possible through our internal and external partners, volunteers, community supports and followers, etc. Volunteers work with residents, local businesses and media to grow awareness of our ever growing services and community support. For example, in 2013 we had just 520 followers on Facebook, and today we have over 4,500 and growing. Our social media outreach is incredibly important.

We have added many new volunteers this year that bring incredible talent with mass communication, marketing, fundraising, database management, grant writing and technical savviness. All these skills have allowed for us to increase our exposure, efficiencies, add projects and programs, build awareness in our community, and most importantly save more animals.

We predominately rescue animals in our own servicing area, but we would like to pull more animals from e-lists. We have been unable to do so because our financial resources don't allow for it and our foster resources are still somewhat limited. As we increase our funds and foster network, we will look to pull more animals and do more owner surrender intakes. Now that we have our new shelter software program, we will also be able to more closely track our rescue activities which will allow for us to qualify for and submit grant applications. Those added resources will allow us to rescue more animals, our intended goal.

The American Red Cross has identified us as the local rescue to call when natural disasters strike in our area. We quickly jumped into action when he flooding in New River occurred in 2014, stepping up to help displaced homeowners find temporary care and housing when they lost their own homes from the flooding. We also donated pet food to those in need during this time. It was an honor and privilege to support this community when they needed us most.

What haven't we accomplished? …Plenty! There is much work left to do and we're poised and ready for the challenge. Our Board of Directors, fosters, volunteers and external partners are standing ready.