People are part of those resources that led to our success! Like Jeffrey Kessler who is running for the United States Senate!
Since the election cycle is upon us, this is information that should be made available. We apologize for the delay in getting this out to you. There are few who were influential in the earlier years of the legislation that resulted in our current WVSNP program. We owe it to those folks who supported us to provide this information to those they have impacted.
We asked Theresa Bruner, the current President of FOHO WV for any history of the state WV spay neuter program and the bills that could be attributed to Jeffrey Kessler who is running for U.S. Senate this year. We knew he had been influential but thought we would go to the source.
Theresa Bruner -“I need to tell you a story about Jeffrey Kessler (D-Marshall) and his impact on our state spay neuter program in West Virginia. He was the animal welfare champion on this spay neuter issue 10-15 years ago. We were naïve yet passionate about curbing the explosive pet overpopulation in our state, saving taxpayer dollars and reducing shelter euthanasia. He was FOHO WV’s past President, Betty Burkett’s Senator from Marshall County. He never let Betty or any of us down in our fight to accomplish this.
He sponsored our very first Spay Neuter bill SB 745 in 2009 with funding included. He reintroduced similar bills in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Finally, in 2013, SB 202 with funding stripped out again was passed to establish the WV State Spay Neuter Fund at the WV Dept. of Agriculture. He was President of the WV Senate from 2011 through 2015. In 2015, he helped get our spay neuter rules passed so that needed next was to secure funding. He did not give up on us while we gained experience and fought battles trying to get a bill passed. We had little trouble with getting our bills passed through the Senate chamber at least while he was in charge. Now, the House was another story with the strong opposition we faced from the Pet Food Lobby. What really made a difference was to have someone like Jeffrey Kessler in our corner.
This highly successful program was finally partially funded in 2017. To date, we have altered 139,000 dogs and cats with this successful program. Thank you Jeffrey Kessler.”
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WVVAW took on the funding of the WV Spay Neuter Assistance Program zealously. Most of our information is taken from the www.fohowv.org site with their permission of course. FOHO WV has gathered data for years about the overpopulation and euthanasia among our canine and feline friends. While FOHO WV will educate you, WVVAW will rally you to call legislators and be active politically to obtain funding for WV SNAP. We know we can FIX WV but we need your help. Contact us here at info@wvvaw.org or message us on the Facebook page to join our effort. Our posts on this site have a wealth of information for you on WHAT, WHY AND HOW we can do this.
Download this Special Report on the Solution for Pet Overpopulation in WV 2017
WV Spay Neuter Special Report 2017
WV Spay Neuter Special Report 2017
Download this 2 page summary on the WV Spay Neuter Funding Solution for 2017
Spay Neuter Funding 2017
30 second Commercial – Thanks to FOHO WV for making and sharing these videos & thanks also to Frankie Michelle Dennison of Harrison Humane Society for her assistance with this.
Digital ads for spay neuter fund 2017
Public Service Announcement Radio AD:
This radio ad is running on WCLG in Morgantown and we want it to run throughout WV radio stations! Here is the link for the ad. If you know of a radio station in your area please help us to get this ad on their station. Print this and take it to your local station to get this PSA on their station so we can spread this message to all!
Each year, animal shelters in West Virginia take in over 50,000 cats and dogs, and each year, about 40% of these animals, including perfectly healthy and adoptable pets, are euthanized. Meanwhile, West Virginia taxpayers spend nearly $10 million annually to impound, care for, and euthanize unwanted dogs and cats. By funding the WV State Spay Neuter Fund, we can control this pet-overpopulation by helping pet owners and communities throughout West Virginia spay and neuter local cats and dogs! We can save money and save lives!
The Mountaineer Spay Neuter Assistance Program (M-SNAP) has loaned this wonderful radio ad to be used to obtain funding for the WV Spay Neuter Assistance Program. As of Aug 31, 2015 M-SNAP has paid for nearly 5,000 surgeries for a cost of more than $440,000! Visit their webpage (www.m-snap). Plus both M-SNAP and ReTails also have FB pages. ReTails is a thrift store at the Morgantown Mall which helps support S/N costs.
Thank you M-SNAP for all you have done in your area and are now willing to continue to do to reduce WV pet overpopulation through funding the WV State Spay/Neuter Program.
Please visit and like the WV Spay Neuter Assistance Program Facebook page
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/SupportersWVSpayNeuterFund
National Groups / Resources
ASPCA American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
HSUS – Humane Society of the United States
State Animal Welfare Group
FOHO WV The Federation of Humane Organizations of West Virginia
State Legislature