Second Chance: More Community Medical!

08 Oct Second Chance: More Community Medical!

Second Chance Humane Society’s Animal Resource Center and Thrift Shops have been serving San Miguel, Ouray & Montrose Counties for 27 years. Call 626-2273 to report a lost pet, learn about adopting a homeless pet, or about our Emergency Response, Community Medical, Spay/Neuter, Volunteer, or other services. View shelter pets and services online: www.adoptmountainpets.org.

Go here  for more options from Second Chance.

Your dog has been your best friend for years. During the pandemic he has been your greatest comfort that got you through the darkest moments. He lifts you up and is there for you when others are not. The connection you have forged is mutual and you depend upon each other. And you just realized that you must give him up. How are you feeling?

Sounds like a horrible scenario doesn’t it? Unfortunately, there are people that face this reality often. They lose their job, their home, are facing serious health issues, a variety of real-life issues bring people to this place. Which is exactly why Second Chance created its “Living Better Together” program, keeping pets and people together.

The most significant barriers in maintaining lifetime care for pets, particularly for families that are struggling financially, is access to veterinary care. The cost of veterinary care for many families is beyond reach, and for some families in our region it is physically out of reach (requiring a two to three hour round trip). As a result, many pets are not receiving basic medical care or are being relinquished or abandoned.

An estimated 29 million dogs and cats live in families in need of financial assistance. However, there are also middle-class families that live paycheck to paycheck, with limited funds for veterinary care, especially when the need involves high-cost care.

We know the human-animal bond supports mental, emotional, and physical health and well-being, including increases in self-esteem and self-worth. Pets bring joy, support, protection, comfort and a connection to the community. All people, regardless of income, deserve to enjoy the abundance of benefits that accompany these relationships.

When families encounter barriers to veterinary care, it sometimes results in their pets experiencing extended illness or premature death, causing emotional distress. In many instances, these pets are relinquished to the animal welfare system, thus breaking up the family and adding to the burden of the animal welfare system.

Instead, Second Chance Humane Society wants to ensure families have access to needed services via their Low-Cost Community Medical Program. Through this income-based program pets receive a free medical exam and full menu of low-cost services such as spay/neuter, vaccinations, dental care, micro-chipping, bloodwork, diagnostics, medical treatments and even end of life care.

Due to high demand Second Chance recently expanded these low-cost services, now available 2-3 days per week at the Second Chance medical clinic in Ridgway. Second Chance also brings a mobile clinic directly to the underserved communities of Western Montrose County.

“Living Better Together” was initiated last year and, despite varying restrictions and other pandemic-related challenges, treated 386 pets in need, many who had never seen a veterinarian before. You can learn more about these appointment-based services on the Second Chance here.

About Me:

My name is Bandit. I am a healthy 1.5-year-young Shepherd Mix awaiting my forever home! I have a lot of energy so I am in a foster home learning to direct it through hiking, jeeping, and hanging out with my new horse friends! I am doing great in the house and with other dogs and feel very ready for my forever family. Looking for an adventurous BFF?

AND… To kick off the new Second Chance Highlights section we wanted to share this uplifting story:

Another Heart-Opening Second Chance Story Must Read…

Hermione & MB

Recently, a Second Chance adopter, MB, reached out to us with a heartwarming update of her feline adoptee Hermione, now a certified emotional support animal living with her in a college dorm in New York City.

Her story is a lovely illustration of Second Chance’s mission, “Connecting Pets, People & Community While Saving Lives,” and we were given permission to share it with you all.

MB shared how the world around her came crashing down and “felt very wrong” when she was 11 years old and lost her father to cancer. The weeks, months and years that followed were very hard and she developed anxiety and depression.

Her mother recognized how lost and lonely her daughter was and decided she needed a therapy animal. That was how Hermione came into her life.

The pair went to Second Chance and met a variety of adoptable pets, none felt right until she had almost given up and was brought in to visit a rescued barn cat and her litter of 4-month-old babies, who were all extremely shy.

MB shared, “We walked into the room, and sure enough the cats scattered. However, I sat down on the floor in the middle of the room, and no sooner had I done so than one of the kittens wriggled out from where she had been hiding, dashed over to me, and curled up in my lap. She was purring so loud it sounded like there was a microphone against her throat, and she was rubbing against my hands trying to get me to pet her. I looked down at her and just felt this intense love right away. I told my mama ‘this is my cat.’ I just knew. We brought her home and she purred all the way. I couldn’t stop crying with happiness. I named her Hermione, because as a kid my greatest wish had always been to have a friendship as wonderful as the friendship between the golden trio in Harry Potter, and I knew right away that this little kitten and I would have just such a friendship.”

Hermione lived up to her name and the two developed a powerful bond that brought great emotional relief to HB. “She helps enormously to calm me when I’m anxious, help me feel less alone, and make me happy when I’m sad. She likes to sleep against my side and rub her face against mine in the middle of the night to make me pet her, just as she did that day at the shelter.”

Hermione has adjusted wonderfully to college life and helped make MB’s transition smooth, who shared “I truly believe she has saved my life and continues to do so.

Animals have profound abilities to sense the emotions of their humans, and if you love them hard they will repay that love ten-fold. Their intelligence and therapeutic power should never be underestimated. Thank you, Second Chance, for giving me a best friend and a companion that I cannot imagine my life without.”

We look forward to updates from Hermione and MB (photo below), who we are so glad found each other and are so grateful to for demonstrating the power of the human-animal bond!