PAWS CHICAGO

ANIMAL HEALTH & BEHAVIOR: ENSURING THAT EVERY SINGLE RESCUED PET RECEIVES THE MEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL RESOURCES NEEDED TO NOT JUST SURVIVE, BUT THRIVE IS THE CORE PURPOSE OF THE ANIMAL HEALTH & BEHAVIOR PILLAR OF PAWS CHICAGO'S NO KILL MODEL. THE EXPANDED AND RECENTLY RENOVATED 30,000 SQUARE FOOT PAWS CHICAGO NAN & WAYNE KOCOUREK MEDICAL CENTER IS THE MOST STATE-OF-THE-ART HOSPITAL FOR HOMELESS ANIMALS IN THE NATION, AND IT'S THE FIRST STOP FOR EVERY ONE OF PAWS CHICAGO'S 4,561 ADOPTED PETS. WITH SPECIAL QUARANTINE AND ISOLATION WARDS TO PREVENT DISEASE TRANSMISSION, A TEAM OF EXPERT MEDICAL AND BEHAVIOR PROFESSIONALS ENSURES EVERY PET RECEIVES THE INDIVIDUAL CARE THEY NEED, RESULTING IN AN INDUSTRY-LEADING 98.62% SAVE RATE. FROM UPPER RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS TO DEADLY DISEASES LIKE CANINE PARVOVIRUS AND FELINE PANLEUKOPENIA, FROM INJURIES TO SKIN INFECTIONS, THE PAWS CHICAGO MEDICAL TEAM SEES AND HEALS IT ALL. VETERINARY SURGEONS NOT ONLY SPAY AND NEUTER EVERY PET, BUT ALSO PERFORMED 716 ADVANCED SURGERIES ADDRESSING ORTHOPEDIC CONDITIONS SUCH AS TORN LIGAMENTS, EYE INJURIES, HERNIA REPAIRS, MASS REMOVALS, EXTENSIVE DENTAL DISEASE REQUIRING EXTRACTIONS, AND MANY OTHER MEDICAL NEEDS. THE ONLY SURGERIES THE PAWS CHICAGO INTERNAL VETERINARY TEAM OUTSOURCES ARE CARDIOTHORACIC SURGERIES. THE MEDICAL CENTER AND ITS WORLD-CLASS VETERINARY TEAM TREAT THE MOST SERIOUS CASES ON SITE. A ROBUST FOSTER NETWORK CARES FOR PETS WHEN THEY ARE STABLE AND READY TO RECOVER IN A HOME ENVIRONMENT WITH 1,921 CATS AND DOGS SPENDING TIME IN FOSTER CARE IN 2023.AS PART OF THE FOSTER PROGRAM, HELP ME HEAL (HMH) IS A FOSTER-TO-ADOPT PROGRAM THAT ENABLES ANIMALS WITH LONG-TERM MEDICAL RECOVERIES TO GO INTO FOSTER CARE WITH THEIR ADOPTIVE FAMILIES INSTEAD OF STAYING IN THE SHELTER FOR MONTHS. FOR EXAMPLE, A DOG UNDERGOING THREE-MONTH TREATMENT FOR HEARTWORM WILL BE CARED FOR IN ITS FUTURE ADOPTIVE HOME WHILE IT IS RECEIVING MEDICAL TREATMENT ADMINISTERED BY PAWS IN AN OUTPATIENT CAPACITY. IN 2023, THERE WERE 199 PETS CARED FOR IN HMH HOMES BEFORE ADOPTION.RECOGNIZING THAT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH, SOCIALIZATION AND ENRICHMENT ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT TO A QUALITY LIFE AS PHYSICAL HEALTH, PAWS CHICAGO ALSO HAS FOUR FULL-TIME AND FOUR PART-TIME TRAINERS WHO LEAD AN INNOVATIVE DOG AND CAT TRAINING AND ENRICHMENT PROGRAM FOR PAWS CHICAGO'S HOMELESS ANIMALS. THIS TEAM OF BEHAVIOR PROFESSIONALS AND TRAINED VOLUNTEERS PROVIDE NEGLECTED, UNDER-SOCIALIZED, AND PREVIOUSLY ABUSED HOMELESS DOGS AND CATS WITH ONE-ON-ONE AND GROUP TRAINING AS WELL AS BEHAVIOR ENRICHMENT AND BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION TO HELP THEM BUILD CONFIDENCE AND COMMUNICATION, WHICH LEADS TO SUCCESSFUL LONG-TERM ADOPTIONS. ADDITIONALLY, THE TRAINING AND ENRICHMENT PROGRAM PROVIDES CRITICAL PLAY GROUPS AND FIELD TRIPS FOR DOGS. THIS TEAM ALSO PROVIDES ADOPTERS WITH SUPPORT IN TRANSITIONING ANIMALS INTO A PERMANENT HOME ENVIRONMENT WITH COUNSELING AND POST-ADOPTION CONSULTATION.PAWS CHICAGO'S TRAINING CENTER ALSO HAS A TEAM THAT PROVIDES VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON COURSES TO PAWS ADOPTERS AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. FOR THE PUBLIC, PAWS TRAINERS ALSO LED 141 IN-PERSON CLASSES WITH 1,062 DOGS IN 2023. THEY ALSO CONDUCTED 24 GROUP ZOOM TRAINING CLASSES WITH 139 DOGS.

PREVENTION & SPAY/NEUTER: PAWS CHICAGO PERFORMED 16,587 SPAY/NEUTERS IN 2023, MAKING IT THE LARGEST LOCAL PROVIDER OF FREE AND LOW-COST, HIGH-VOLUME SPAY/NEUTER SURGERIES, AND THE ONLY CLINIC LOCATED IN AND SERVING UNDER-RESOURCED COMMUNITIES WHERE THE MAJORITY OF STRAY, FERAL AND UNWANTED PETS ORIGINATE. THROUGH THE PAWS CHICAGO LURIE CLINIC IN LITTLE VILLAGE, LOCATED LESS THAN TWO MILES FROM CHICAGO'S ANIMAL CARE & CONTROL, THE CITY IMPOUNDMENT FACILITY, PAWS OFFERS SPAY/NEUTER SERVICES WHERE THEY ARE NEEDED MOST AND WHERE THEY MAKE THE MOST IMPACT.PREVENTING UNWANTED PETS FROM BEING BORN IS KEY TO BUILDING A NO KILL CHICAGO BECAUSE PETS BREED EXPONENTIALLY. A SINGLE FEMALE CAT AND HER OFFSPRING CAN THEORETICALLY PRODUCE 420,000 KITTENS IN SEVEN YEARS. FOR DOGS, THE NUMBER IS 96,000. SPAY/NEUTER SURGERIES ARE THE SOLUTION TO PET OVERPOPULATION, AND AS SUCH, ARE AT THE CORE OF PAWS PREVENTION INITIATIVES.AT THE END OF 2023 PAWS CHICAGO HAS PERFORMED 315,347 FREE AND LOW-COST SPAY/NEUTER SURGERIES SINCE THE LURIE CLINIC'S OPENING IN 2000, WHICH HAS BEEN A DRIVING FORCE IN CHICAGO'S REDUCTION IN EUTHANASIA DURING THAT TIME.AS AN ANCILLARY SERVICE TO THE LURIE CLINIC, PAWS CHICAGO HAS OPERATED AN EXTENSIVE COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAM IN 2014 TO EXPAND ACCESS TO SPAY/NEUTER AND PET RESOURCES IN CHICAGO'S MOST UNDER-RESOURCED COMMUNITIES. OF THE PETS COMMUNITY OUTREACH MEETS, 95% ARE NOT YET SPAYED OR NEUTERED, BUT ONCE PAWS FOR LIFE WORKS WITH PEOPLE, 83% END UP STERILIZING THEIR PET AT PAWS.SINCE LAUNCHING IN 2014, THE PRIMARY NEIGHBORHOOD OF FOCUS HAS BEEN ENGLEWOOD, WHERE MORE THAN 49% OF THE POPULATION LIVES BELOW THE POVERTY LINE, BUT SERVICES HAVE IN RECENT YEARS EXPANDED TO NEARBY WEST ENGLEWOOD, BACK OF THE YARDS, AND WOODLAWN AS WELL. PAWS PERFORMED 1,405 FREE SPAY/NEUTER SURGERIES THROUGH THIS COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAM IN 2023.THIS OUTREACH PROGRAM ALSO OPERATES A COMMUNITY MEDICINE PROGRAM THAT PROVIDES 1,614 APPOINTMENTS FOR WELLNESS, PREVENTATIVE AND ACUTE VETERINARY CARE TO PETS WHO WOULD OTHERWISE NEVER SEE A VETERINARIAN.ADDITIONALLY, 54,989 POUNDS OF FOOD WERE DISTRIBUTED THROUGH THE PAWS CHICAGO PET FOOD PANTRY PROGRAM, WHICH OFFERS FREE PET FOOD AND SUPPLIES TO COMMUNITIES IN NEED.PAWS CHICAGO'S FERAL CAT TRAP-NEUTER-RETURN (TNR) PROGRAM IS ANOTHER CRITICAL ASPECT OF THE PREVENTION PILLAR. BY PROACTIVELY STERILIZING AND MANAGING THE FREE-ROAMING CAT POPULATION, THE SOURCE OF THOUSANDS OF UNWANTED KITTENS BORN EACH YEAR, TNR REDUCES THE NUMBER OF ANIMALS ENTERING THE SHELTER SYSTEM WHILE ALSO SAVING KITTENS AND FINDING THEM ADOPTIVE HOMES. IN 2023 PAWS PERFORMED 2,428 SPAY/NEUTER SURGERIES ON FERAL CATS. PAWS ALSO HOSTS AN ANNUAL WORKSHOP TO BUILD OUTDOOR CAT WINTER SHELTERS, WHICH ARE DISTRIBUTED IN THE COMMUNITY.