Animal Compassion Network & Pet Harmony's photostream

Animal Compassion Network, founded in 1997, has grown to over 500 members and volunteers. ACN is a non-profit animal rescue group that fosters and finds homes for stray and abandoned cats and dogs in Western North Carolina. In 2005, ACN found loving homes through our foster care network for 735 unwanted and homeless animals, and we assisted in the adoption of almost 100 cats and dogs from outlying shelters where hope is hard to find. We increased our spay/neuter programs in 2005 by 32%, altering a record 1632 animals! We also fed hundreds of hungry cats and dogs through our Pet Food Assistance Program and fought diligently for more compassionate laws. And! we did all of this while taking in over 100 cats and dogs, rescued from the destruction of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Your support as volunteers, members, foster homes and donors is vital to our success. You are the reason we someday will become a community of No More Homeless Pets.

What do we do?
An important part of our mission is to provide an alternative to kill shelters operated with county funding. As people become more aware of the millions of animals euthanized in our nation each year, our society strives to move towards a no kill solution. ACN is doing its part to move Western North Carolina in this direction but we cannot do it alone. Without community support, our efforts alone are not enough to solve this huge national problem.

The programs we provide as a service to the community are listed below:

Pet food programs for the elderly, disabled and indigent, including Meals on Wheels
Spay/neuter assistance for the pets of indigent pet owners
Low cost rabies and vaccination clinics to promote public health and safety
Education programs in the schools on responsible pet ownership
Telephone help line for counseling, referrals and assistance with animal related issues and problems
What is the Betty Fund?
ACN established the Betty Fund Spay/Neuter Project in 2000 to address the animal overpopulation problem in Western North Carolina. This program strives to reduce the number of unaltered companion animals by offering the economically disadvantaged, the elderly, the disabled and other indigent individuals the opportunity to spay/neuter their pet free of charge or at a drastically reduced rate.

One unaltered dog or cat and its first generation can produce up to 200 kittens or puppies in a year. This translates into 67,000 puppies in six years for a dog and 420,000 kittens in seven years for a cat. Spaying and neutering is the only permanent humane solution.

Since the program's inception, more than 390 animals have been spayed or neutered. Our goal is to continue to increase the number of people and animals we help each year. This will only be possible if this program receives the funding it needs to continue. Individuals contributions are necessary to supplement our many funding efforts. You can contribute by mailing your donations to:
ACN/Betty Fund, PO Box 1704, Skyland, NC 28776.