Charitable Events Archives – Acupet Veterinary Care

Pet Pictures with Santa A Huge Success!

It’s hard to believe, but our 4^th annual Pictures with Santa Paws has come and gone. This past Saturday, November 21st we had over 40 pets come through and have their picture taken with jolly old Saint Nick. And this year we had a few different pets than we’ve had before, including Amazon parrots, a couple of ferrets, and a pot-bellied pig!

As in years past, all the pictures were shot for free, and this year we even gave every participant a professionally printed 8×10 glossy photo printed right there before they left. And also as in years past, we accepted donations to our favorite charity, the Big Cat Rescue in Carrollwood, FL.

$356 Raised For The Animals at Big Cat Rescue!

The Big Cat Rescue is a rescue and rehab center for the care and nurturing of injured, abandoned, and orphaned large felines. It’s located near the Citrus Park Mall in Carrollwood, and has been around for over 20 years now. The work they do there is truly remarkable, and they’ve continued to grow because of the wonderful work of their many volunteers, as well as the thoughtful donations of people just like the pet owners who came out for our event this weekend.

Because of the generosity of our great clients we were able to raise $356 for the rescue, every penny of which will go to the care and feeding of these great cats. We encourage everyone to visit the Big Cat Rescue to better understand the challenges the animal care industry faces in regards to these rescued and orphaned animals. You’ll be amazed and glad you went.

Over 700 lbs of Food Collected So Far
for The Volunteer Way Food Drive

Well, it’s been over a month now, and the response to our pet food drive for The Volunteer Way has been phenomenal. Due to the generosity of our wonderful clientele, we’ve collected over 700 pounds of pet food for the poor and elderly pet owners of Pasco County!

The Volunteer Way is a 503c charitable organization that supports over 100 homebound, low income seniors here in Pasco County. Their work includes basic needs such as food, personal items, pet foods and basic transportation services. Best of all, unlike other, larger charities, their administrative expenses are less than 1%. Thanks to their great work, your donations actually do make a huge difference in the lives of Pasco’s elderly.

At Acupet Veterinary Care, we are more than happy to help all we can in encouraging our clients (or anyone else with extra pet food) to donate their unused or unwanted pet food for this worthy cause. Donations can be dropped off at our office during normal office hours.

Here’s a great Thank You letter we received from the dedicated people at The Volunteer Way:

Dear Dr. Remillard and staff,

On behalf of The Volunteer Way and Kids Against Hunger, I would like to thank you and all of the customers at Acupet for the generous donation of 260 pounds of pet food that was collected from our food box during May, 2015. Your gift helps many homeless and low income seniors and families in our community. Many of them have jobs, but not enough money to buy their beloved pets food. They can barely pay their rent and utilities.

Thank you for believing that no pet should ever have to go hungry. Without you, we would not be able to achieve our mission of helping those caught in the struggle of poverty.

Blessings,

Martha O’Brien
Assistant CEO

As of this writing we’ve now collected over 700 lbs of pet food in the two brief months we’ve been asking for donations. So we thank YOU, our terrific clients, and your tremendous generosity for helping those who need it the most.

Pet Food Drive for Seniors of Pasco County

The Volunteer Way helps poor and indigent seniors in Pasco County, who struggle to find the means for even the bare necessities of life, such as food and shelter. Many of these people are disabled, handicapped, and home bound, and just getting out of the house is very difficult for them. For some, the only family or companion they have is their beloved pet. We see it at our practice every day, and do what we can to help.

To that end we are starting a pet food drive to assist The Volunteer Way in their battle against senior hunger. We are asking anyone who can, and who has leftover or unused portions of pet food to please donate them to this great cause. You can bring them to our clinic and we’ll make sure that the needy seniors of the area receive them. We need dry or canned foods for both dogs and cats.

Thank you to everyone in the Acupet family for helping with this great cause. Our clients are the best in the world, and always help out those who are most in need. On behalf of The Volunteer Way and the seniors they help, we say Thank You for everything you do.

What: Pet Food Drive
Who: The Volunteer Way
Why: To benefit the needy and indigent seniors of Pasco County
Where: Acupet Vet Care
When: Ongoing. Drop off donations during normal office hours

$345 Raised for the Big Cat Rescue from Pet Pictures with Santa!

We held our 2nd annual Pet Pictures with Santa event this past Saturday, and it was a huge success. Over 50 pets arrived to have their pictures taken with Santa Paws – a 100% increase over our inaugural event last year.

The event was free to all participants, and donations were accepted for the Big Cat Rescue in Carrollwood. Through the generosity of our pet community and the hard work of our volunteers we raised $345 for the big cats. The funds have already been earmarked to help finish the perimeter wall for the new large cat enclosure.

So thank you to everyone who participated in the event, and an extra-big-cat Thank You to everyone who donated for this great cause. We’ll definitely do it again next year; in the meantime be sure to visit and help support the wonderful people and all the cats at the Big Cat Rescue. 🙂

Here are some of the great pet shots we took:

Postscript:
Here’s a really nice Thank You note we received from the Big Cat Rescue:

Dear Jessika, Dr. Tony, and everyone at Acupet Vet Care,

I hope that this note finds you and all of our AcuPet friends well and looking forward to a holiday season filled with abundant comfort and quality of life.

All remains well in the Big Cat world, albeit hectic, as we continue to tend to the needs of the magnificent creatures that call Big Cat Rescue home as well as advocate in support of others around the world.

On behalf of everyone at the sanctuary (especially the cats!) I wanted to thank you SO very much for the very kind donation and pictures that you so kind sent as a result of the 2014 Santa Paws event that you and your colleagues conducted!

It will be my pleasure to send you a couple of pictures of the 8″x8″ “Pave the Way” brick that we’ll soon be creating in recognition of your kind and continued support of the magnificent creatures that call Big Cat Rescue home.

With warmest appreciation for all that you and your colleagues continue to do in support of the animals,

Jeff

Jeff Kremer
Director of Donor Appreciation
Big Cat Rescue
A permanent sanctuary to 100+ big cats
12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL 33625

Acupet Supports the Alzheimer’s Family Organization

This weekend we played in the Alzheimer’s Family Organization 14th annual charity golf tournament. It took place at Timber Greens Country Club in New Port Richey. This is our 3rd year supporting the event, and this year we upped our participation by sponsoring a hole.

The Alzheimer’s Family Organization is a local charity that assists those people who’ve been affected by this disease. From their website:

The Alzheimer’s Family Organization is a regional 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization incorporated in the State of Florida and governed by a local volunteer Board of Directors whose mission is to assist caregivers and families who are affected by Alzheimer’s disease or related disorders. Our funding comes from private sources, individuals, corporations and fundraising events.

The event was very well organized and everyone involved had a great time. We look forward to supporting them again next year for this very worthwhile event.

Thanks for Joining Us at Barktoberfest :)

Thank you to everyone who joined us Sunday at Sims Park in New Port Richey for the 7th Annual Barktoberfest Adopt-a-thon celebration. We had a great time seeing old clients and new faces, as well as getting to visit with the literally hundreds of pets in costume. It was all for a great cause, the weather was wonderful, and the crowd was larger than ever. Here are just a few of the creative and original costumes we saw.