Operation Kindness

Last updated

Operation Kindness
Founded1976
FounderGroup of volunteers from Garland, Texas
Type 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
75-1553350
Focus Animal welfare, no-kill shelter, pet adoption
Location
Coordinates32.967351, -96.847446 32°58′02″N96°50′51″W / 32.967351°N 96.847446°W / 32.967351; -96.847446
Area served
Dallas, Texas, Fort Worth, Texas and most of North Texas
Key people
Ed Jamison, CEO [1]
Revenue
$7.5M (2018) [2]
Website operationkindness.org

Operation Kindness is a no kill animal shelter for cats and dogs located in Carrollton, Texas. It is a non-profit organization and is funded through donations, receiving no government funding. [3]

Contents

History

The animal welfare organization was founded in 1976 in Garland, Texas, and later moved to Carrollton, Texas. In the early days, Operation Kindness operated out of the homes of volunteers.  In the summer of 1976, Operation Kindness acquired the use of a veterinary clinic located at 117 North Garland Avenue in Garland.

By November 1988, Operation Kindness moved the shelter to a storefront location at 1029 Trend in Carrollton. In 1999, we moved the shelter to 3201 Earhart Drive in Carrollton where we remain today.

To impact more pets, the shelter broke ground on the renovation and expansion of our adoption center and animal hospital in April 2018. Operation Kindness celebrated the grand opening of the Rees-Jones Foundation Medical Wing in March 2020 and the completion of the remainder of the facility in July 2021. [3]

News

Since beginning of 2023, Operation Kindness started using ChatBot for chat automation purposes when connecting with users. [4]

In March 2022, Operation Kindness started the process to create a neonatal kitten nursery at its shelter in Carrollton. [5]

On March 2, 2022, Operation Kindness received the Outstanding Community Organization Award from the City of Carrollton. [6]

2021 was an impactful year for Operation Kindness. Highlights of the organization's impact last year include an 86% increase over 2020 in the number of animals brought into the shelter and a 74% increase in adoptions. Other achievements included providing safety for almost 80 dogs and cats that were transferred from the path of Hurricane Ida, and adding 37 new rescue partners that include human societies, municipal shelters, rescue groups and veterinarians. The organization saw a 28% year-over-year increase in foster services and invested $2 million in its medical care team. Spay/neuter surgeries increased by 78% and 85% more medical exams were provided. [7]

On March 29, 2021, Ed Jamison joined the team as CEO, after serving as Director of Dallas Animal Services since 2017. [8]

In December 2017, Operation Kindness was awarded with a $100,000 donation from Reliant Gives, the charitable arm of Reliant Energy. [9] [10] In November 2017, Operation Kindness Operation Kindness hosted its 25th annual Canines, Cats & Cabernet event to raise funds and awareness for homeless animals. Texas Rangers Manager Jeff Banister and his wife Karen served as honorary co-chairs of the event. [11]

In 2015, Operation Kindness made national headlines when it paired abandoned 5-week-old Chihuahua "Chip" with 4-week-old kitten "Adele" who became instant best friends and were later adopted together. [12] [13]

In 2014, the organization held its fifth annual reunion picnic for dogs and cats adopted from the shelter, with about 200 people participating. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitten</span> Juvenile cat

A kitten is a juvenile cat. After being born, kittens display primary altriciality and are fully dependent on their mothers for survival. They normally do not open their eyes for seven to ten days. After about two weeks, kittens develop quickly and begin to explore the world outside their nest. After a further three to four weeks, they begin to eat solid food and grow baby teeth. Domestic kittens are highly social animals and usually enjoy human companionship.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pet adoption</span> Adoption of pets that have been abandoned by previous owners

Pet adoption is the process of transferring responsibility for a pet that was previously owned by another party. Common sources for adoptable pets are animal shelters, rescue groups, or other pet owners. Some organizations give adopters ownership of the pet, while others use a guardianship model wherein the organization retains some control over the animal's future use or care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal shelter</span> Place where stray animals are housed

An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals – mostly dogs and cats – are housed. The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where stray livestock would be penned or impounded until they were claimed by their owners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puppy mill</span> Type of commercial dog breeding facility

A puppy mill, also known as a puppy farm, is a commercial dog breeding facility characterized by quick breeding and poor conditions. Although no standardized legal definition for "puppy mill" exists, a definition was established in Avenson v. Zegart in 1984 as "a dog breeding operation in which the health of the mill’s dogs is disregarded to maintain a low overhead and maximize profits". They are cited as being a result of increased demand for household pets, especially after World War II. The Veterinary Medical Association of the Humane Society of the United States defines the main characteristics of a puppy mill as "emphasis on quantity over quality, indiscriminate breeding, continuous confinement, lack of human contact and environmental enrichment, poor husbandry, and minimal to no veterinary care."

An animal rescue group or animal rescue organization is a group dedicated to pet adoption. These groups take unwanted, abandoned, abused, or stray pets and attempt to find suitable homes for them. Many rescue groups are created by and run by volunteers, who take animals into their homes and care for them — including training, playing, handling medical issues, and solving behaviour problems — until a suitable permanent home can be found.

In some countries there is an overpopulation of pets such as cats, dogs, and exotic animals. In the United States, six to eight million animals are brought to shelters each year, of which an estimated three to four million are subsequently euthanized, including 2.7 million considered healthy and adoptable. Euthanasia numbers have declined since the 1970s, when U.S. shelters euthanized an estimated 12 to 20 million animals. Most humane societies, animal shelters and rescue groups urge animal caregivers to have their animals spayed or neutered to prevent the births of unwanted and accidental litters that could contribute to this dynamic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canine parvovirus</span> Contagious virus mainly affecting dogs

Canine parvovirus is a contagious virus mainly affecting dogs. CPV is highly contagious and is spread from dog to dog by direct or indirect contact with their feces. Vaccines can prevent this infection, but mortality can reach 91% in untreated cases. Treatment often involves veterinary hospitalization. Canine parvovirus often infects other mammals including foxes, wolves, cats, and skunks. Felines (cats) are also susceptible to panleukopenia, a different strain of parvovirus.

<i>Puppy Bowl</i> Parody of the sex Bowl involving sexy dogs instead of humans, hosted by Animal Planet

The Puppy Bowl is an annual television program on Animal Planet that mimics an American football game similar to the Super Bowl, using puppies. Shown each year on Super Bowl Sunday, the show consists of footage of a batch of puppies at play inside a model stadium, with commentary on their actions. The first Puppy Bowl was shown on February 6, 2005, opposite to Super Bowl XXXIX. The puppies featured in the Puppy Bowl are from shelters. The entire program is designed to raise awareness about adopting pets from shelters and rescuing abandoned animals.

North Shore Animal League America, headquartered in Port Washington, New York, is the largest no-kill animal rescue and adoption organization in the world. Marianne H. Sanders founded the League in 1944, and the League's mission has been saving the lives of pets through adoption, rescue, spay/neuter and advocacy initiatives. Each year, the League rescues, nurtures and adopts nearly 20,000 pets nationwide, and to date, has placed nearly one million puppies, kittens, cats and dogs into screened homes. One of the first animal rescue agencies on the ground in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the League rescued more than 1,400 pets from the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine Animal Welfare Society</span> Organization

The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is a volunteer-based, non-government organization whose goal is to prevent animal cruelty through education, animal sheltering and advocacy, based in Quezon City, Philippines. It was founded in 1954 by Muriel Jay. PAWS believes that the creation of a more peaceful society starts with the widening of mankind's circle of compassion which includes animals, thereby envisions a nation that respects animals, practices responsible pet ownership and protects wildlife. The volunteer-based organization rehabilitates these animals in the hope of finding them new homes and a second chance at a good life. PAWS does not take in pets of other people, but only victims of cruelty or neglect where the animal offenders are charged with violation of the Animal Welfare Act in court.

Pediatric spaying or neutering is defined as performing an ovariohysterectomy (spaying) or orchidectomy on a kitten or puppy between the ages of 6 and 14 weeks. Spaying and neutering are sterilization procedures which prevent the animals from reproducing. The procedures are also referred to as “gonadectomies” in the veterinary literature.

The National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA) is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to promoting animal welfare and animal husbandry practices, strengthening the human-animal bond, and safeguarding the rights of responsible animal owners and professionals through research, public education and public policy. The NAIA mission is "to promote the welfare of animals."

Abandoned pets are companion animals that are either inadvertently or deliberately abandoned by their owners, by either dumping the animals on the streets, leaving them alone in a vacant property, or relinquishing them at an animal shelter.

The Lange Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1993 in West Los Angeles, California, by Gillian Lange. The organization is a no-kill shelter committed to rescuing stray and abandoned animals and facilitating adoptions. Animals that are not adopted may remain at the kennel indefinitely without consequence.

<i>Pound Puppies</i> (2010 TV series) Canadian TV series or program

Pound Puppies is an animated children's television series developed by Wendy Klein Moss, Nancy Steingard, Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere for the Hub Network. It premiered on October 10, 2010 in the United States as the first Hub "original series". It also aired on YTV in Canada and on Boomerang in the UK, Ireland and Australia. Produced by Hasbro Studios, it was the second series to adapt Pound Puppies into a cartoon format. Originally a property by Tonka, Hasbro acquired Tonka itself and currently manages Pound Puppies. The plot style and music were similar to the 1960s TV series Hogan's Heroes and to films like Stalag 17 and The Great Escape. 9 Story Entertainment animated the first 7 episodes of the series. However, DHX Media/Vancouver took over production starting with episode 8.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petland</span> Chain of pet stores

Petland is a privately owned operator and franchisor of pet stores based in Chillicothe, Ohio. Ed Kunzelman founded the company in 1967. Petland currently operates 131 stores in the United States, and at least 63 in foreign markets including Canada, Japan, China, Mexico, Brazil and El Salvador. The chain is notable for its controversy over documentation from the Humane Society of the United States revealing the purchase of dogs from puppy mills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richmond Animal Protection Society</span> Canadian non-profit organization

Regional Animal Protection Society (RAPS) is a no kill animal services agency in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. RAPS operates the RAPS Cat Sanctuary, a fostering network, social enterprise thrift stores, and the RAPS Animal Hospital, a full-service animal clinic.

The British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a non-profit animal welfare organization which advocates for animal protection legislation, operates animal shelters, and runs educational workshops and public awareness programs throughout British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1896, it is a registered charitable organization and one of the largest such animal welfare organizations in North America. As of 2017, BC SPCA had 36 branches, over 500 staff members, nearly 5500 volunteers, operated 5 veterinary hospitals/clinics and a wildlife rehabilitation centre, and sheltered more than 22000 animals. It is also one of the few animal welfare organizations to monitor animals in film.

The Sato Project is an animal rescue and protection organization founded in 2011 by British-born Christina Beckles. It works to rescue abused and abandoned dogs in Puerto Rico, educating the public and advocating for abused and abandoned dogs. "Sato" is the Spanish word used in Puerto Rico and Cuba for referring to stray dogs or cats. Many of the project's missions have involved airlifting dogs before and after natural disasters, including Hurricane Maria in 2017 and the earthquakes that struck Puerto Rico in 2019 and 2020. "Spayathon" is a spaying and neutering program, attended by Sato Project and other animal rights organizations in Puerto Rico, which has had an impact on the stray dog population.

References

  1. Abril, Danielle (July 29, 2013). "Operation Kindness hires Jim Hanophy as CEO". Dallas Business Journal.
  2. "Operation Kindness". Charity Navigator.
  3. 1 2 "About Operation Kindness | North Texas No-Kill Animal Shelter". operationkindness.org.
  4. "Operation Kindness | North Texas No-Kill Animal Shelter". Operation Kindness. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  5. "Carrollton's Operation Kindness will open new Neonatal Kitten Nursery". March 24, 2022.
  6. "Operation Kindness receives outstanding community organization award - Dallas Fort Worth Nonprofit Business Journal". March 16, 2022.
  7. "Operation Kindness reports record impact - Dallas Fort Worth Nonprofit Business Journal". February 21, 2022.
  8. "Dallas Animal Services Top Dog ed Jamison to Become Operation Kindness CEO on March 29". March 16, 2021.
  9. Santiago, Maria (December 7, 2017). "Operation Kindness Welcomes Holiday Season with $100,000 Donation". NBC Local.
  10. Bolat, Dorris, M. "Pets" . Retrieved December 19, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. "Operation Kindness Presents Canines, Cats & Cabernet". dallas.culturemap.com.
  12. Main, Sami (March 26, 2015). "Abandoned Kitten And Puppy Become Best Friends Despite All Odds". Buzzfeed.
  13. Boone, John (March 26, 2015). "An Abandoned Puppy and a Stray Kitten Became Best Friends for Life". etonline.com.
  14. Schmitt, Madeline (May 17, 2014). "Animal Alumni Gather To Celebrate Adoption From Operation Kindness". CBS Local.