FOJA is focused on providing the animals housed at Jacksonville's municipal shelter, or in approved foster homes, with medical care unavailable to them due to government funding shortfalls. Even though heartworm is a preventable disease, approximately thirty percent of the animals taken in at the shelter test positive. They currently have no access to treatment for this fatal disease. FOJA’s “Heart Care Program” covers the cost of Immiticide to treat eligible heartworm positive dogs in the shelter and offers financial assistance to heartworm positive dogs adopted from Animal Care & Protective Services.
In 2008 a group of shelter volunteers learned that heartworm positive dogs faced euthanasia because the city lacked the resources for treatment. Those volunteers vowed to do something about it, and FOJA was born. After much research and planning, the FOJA Heart Care Program was created and in 2009, the first heart worm positive dog was treated. Heart Care has been the FOJA flagship program ever since.
What are heartworms and how can I protect my pet?
Check out the Heart Worm Society's website to read about heartworm, and how to protect your pet from getting them.
How much does it cost to save lives?
The cost of heartworm treatment can easily add up. The majority of FOJA funding goes to our “Heart Care Program.” Heartworm treatment costs $60 to $400 per dog depending on their size and severity of disease. Thanks to our generous donors, we are able to save the lives of shelter dogs suffering from heartworms.
Lives saved through the foja heart care program
We now have healthy hearts thanks to your donations!
This is Luna aka Pepper, a heartworm positive dog that was adopted from ACPS in October, 2014. Through generous donations to FOJA, we were able to assist Luna's owner in paying for her heartworm treatment. As you can see, Luna is smiling big and happy to be in her new home and on the road to recovery.
Here's Daisy riding home to her new wonderful life after being adopted at the Mega Adoption Event. Daisy is heartworm positive and is being treated through FOJA's heartworm assistance program. Daisy's new mom says, "We are enjoying Daisy very much, she is such a doll!" We all love happy endings and new beginnings for our shelter pets!
I adopted Zane at the end of June, 2014. She received her last round of heartworm shots just before Christmas and has to go back for her checkup in May. This little girl has so much energy now and absolutely has a zest for life. Zane loves to be outside, she chases squirrels at the dog park, and loves to destroy any toy she gets her paws on! My favorite thing about her is she is a complete love bug, she is the sweetest thing and will be anyone's friend, especially kids. All that being said, I wanted to say a huge thank you to all the FOJA members because without your help, I could not have afforded the vet bills to get Zane healthy. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed and I sing your praises to everyone I know. I can't thank the team enough and I hope that one day Zane and I will get a chance to come and say thanks to you all! With gratitude, Eva and Zane Simpson
Our special heart throb Chang recently learned of Dyson, a blind and deaf dog, who is being fostered while undergoing heartworm treatment. Since Chang was successfully treated for heartworms last year (with FOJA's assistance) and adopted by his great daddy Richard Shoup, Chang wanted to pay it forward to Dyson. Chang made a generous donation to FOJA to help Dyson with his treatment and care. Thank you Chang!!!
We are loving life with Logan. He is such a sweetie and will do anything for belly rubs! He loves the outdoors and we love taking him on long walks. -Logan's Family
Logan was adopted in Feb. 2015. He was heartworm positive when he was adopted, and FOJA has assisted with the cost of his treatment.