Pets should not have to die, be euthanized, or be surrendered because their guardians could not afford to pay for their medical care. Hope4Paws is our new and additional Sunshine's Friends program emphasizing our continued commitment to our community. Hope4Paws will lower the number of pets unnecessarily being given up or euthanized. The program will help pet guardians keep their pets instead of having to surrender them because their medical care is beyond what they can afford to pay. The program will help prevent families from having to surrender their pets to county shelters. It is an alternative approach to taking pets out of county shelters and finding new homes for them.

This program will fund medical care that is beyond basic care or routine procedures like spay/neuter, vaccinations, deworming, wellness checkups etc. It will provide help with medical expenses for pets that need surgery, treatment for injuries or serious, life-threatening illness in order to survive and live without suffering.

Eligibility for this program is based on residency and income and will be determined on a case by case basis.

Won't you help build a fund so we can provide relief to suffering animals and make it possible for them to live healthier, pain-free lives while remaining with their families?

Quality food, cat litter, bedding, bowls, enrichment items like toys and scratches, and other supplies are critical to a pet's well being and happiness. These items are available at local pet supply stores.

Sunshine's Friends shops at these places:

• Chewy.com - place your first order and we receive  referral donation from Chewy
• PetSmart, Ellicott City, MD and Columbia, MD
• Arundel Mills Mall, Hanover, MD
• Whole Pet Central
• Petco
• Pet Supplies Plus

This Standards of Care document provides both current practices as well as future goals. It is intended to be read in its entirety so that information is not taken out of context and misunderstood. This document was created based primarily on:

• Title 15, MD Department of Agriculture, Subtitle 01, Chapter 11 “Animal Shelters – Standards of Care”, Agriculture Article §2-1701 at seq., Annotated Code of Maryland (April 23, 2018);
• Association of Shelter Veterinarians, “Standards of Care in Animal Shelters” (2010);
• Humane Society of the US (HSUS), Shelter Advocate Toolkit “The 5 Freedoms” (2010).

Last revision: 20230127.

Standards of Care Manual343.24 KB12/06/2023, 20:00