SARASOTA – “It truly is a gift, to the animals and to anyone looking to adopt them,” said Savannah Samberg who adopted ‘Berkley’
The Humane Society of Sarasota County has launched a TLC program which benefits pets with pre-existing conditions that will require lifelong medical care after they are adopted. Berkley, an 8 year old Australian Shepherd mix was one of the pups backed by TLC
“Berkley had severe heartworm when we we’re fostering him and that caused some damage that was irreversible to his heart and also his lungs so he is on heart medication daily for life,” said Samberg.
Berkley now needs thoracic radiographs annually to monitor his condition. Through the TLC program, his long-term medical needs are covered which comes as a relief to his adopter, Savannah.
“Adopting a dog especially one with lifetime conditions can be very expensive and a huge undertaking as I said, so the program does offer the opportunity to just honestly follow your heart and adopt a dog that you fell in love with on the website or when you’re visiting a shelter, or when you’re fostering and not have to worry so much about the finances,” said Samberg.
TLC program animals are selected on a case by case basis by staff, and then given a treatment plan by the humane society’s Medical director.
Senior Director of Operations, Rebecca Gustafson says the program is a game changer for those looking to adopt
“In the past they may have fallen in love with a dog and then realized that it has some issues and might have made them turn away from it and say, I just can’t afford that care, but now they have this option, that we can cover the cost of some of these things and it opens up the opportunities for adopters to look at pets that they maybe would have never looked at before,” said HSSC, Senior Director of Operations, Rebecca Gustafson.
For more information on the program, you can visit the TLC Program website.
