Walker Co. Animal Shelter partners with Petco Love to ‘give pets their best shot’

Animal Shelter partners with Petco Love to ‘give pets their best shot’ on April 9

The Walker County Animal Shelter is partnering with national nonprofit Petco Love to give pets their best shot for a healthy life by hosting a free pet vaccine event on Saturday, April 9.

In order to encourage pet parents to keep their pets up to date on vaccinations, Petco Love will provide free pet vaccines to the Walker County Animal Shelter for family pets in need. As puppy and kitten season heats up, pet exposure to contagious and deadly diseases, such as parvovirus, distemper and panleukopenia, increases. However, these diseases are preventable with a simple shot.

Through the Give Pets Their Best Shot initiative, the Walker County Animal Shelter aims to vaccinate over 600 pets. The free vaccine event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 9 at the Walker County Animal Shelter, 5488 North Marble Top Road in Chickamauga. Vaccines distributed through the Petco Love initiative will be the DAPPv Canine and HCP Feline vaccines.

“Treatment for these deadly diseases can be prohibitively expensive for many pet parents,” said Susanne Kogut, Petco Love president. “By providing free vaccines to those in need, we can help these pets live a healthy life. Through this national effort and our other Petco Love Care initiatives, we continue our 22-year history of strategic investments and innovation to end unnecessary pet euthanasia.”

“We urge the Walker County community to take advantage of this free resource being offered by Petco Love to help reduce the spread of disease and ensure the health and wellness of pets in our community,” said Emily Sadler, shelter director. “In addition to these free vaccines, we will offer microchipping for $10 during this vaccine event. Microchipping increases the chances you will be reunited with your four-legged friend if they get lost, stolen or end up at the shelter.”

Last year, Petco Love launched a 1 million free pet vaccine campaign, which has helped 400,000 pets to date. Fifty percent of participating pet parents surveyed reported their pets had never been vaccinated against parvovirus, distemper, or panleukopenia. With Bissell Pet Foundation as an additional partner, Petco Love’s goal is to increase awareness and accelerate the distribution of vaccines.