Latest News
Brody’s Retirement to South Pasadena
In honor of Heartworm Awareness Month, the Friends of Strays staff decided to pay Brody a visit. After Dan’s passing, Brody moved into his nextdoor neighbors Michel and Dolores’ lovely cottage overlooking the Gulf. Brody, now heartworm free, excitedly greeted us at the front door, tail wagging and insisting belly rubs. Read more
Spring Break Campers Join Friends of Strays’ Furever Family
Friends of Strays Animal Shelter welcomed children from the James B. Sanderlin Neighborhood Family Center into its Furever Family. On March 18, Friends of Strays Shelter Director Mari Salls had the privilege of engaging with the participants of the Sanderlin Center’s Spring Break Camp on the topic of responsible pet ownership. With the help of her canine assistants... Read more
FOS Receives $5,000 Grant from BISSELL Pet Foundation
Friends of Strays (FOS) is proud to announce it has been awarded a $5,000 grant from BISSELL Pet Foundation (BPF) for spay and neuter procedures. FOS hopes to address overcrowding in shelters and rescues by preventing unwanted litters of kittens in Pinellas County. Read more
Let's Celebrate Spay-Neuter Awareness Month!
Friends of Strays is paving the way to a no kill Pinellas County by stabilizing our community cat population through our RTF (Return-To-Field) and TNVR (Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release) programs. Read more
Paving the Way to a No Kill Pinellas
Friends of Strays is paving the way to a no kill Pinellas County. With the help of a $250,000 grant from Best Friends Animal Society, Friends of Strays Animal Shelter’s new Pinellas Cats Alive! program is estimated to save the lives of 2,800 community, or free-roaming, cats in 2021. Read more
TNVR: More Than Population Control
Long-term population control may be the intended consequence of TNVR, but there are health benefits to every individual cat as well. Vaccines protect outdoor cats from disease and parasites, while spay/neuter surgery comes with longer life expectancy, lower rates of certain cancers, and fewer behavioral issues. Read more
Empty Shelters, Full Houses
Minnie spent her 12 years in and out of the shelter system. A baby on the way, moving to an apartment that doesn’t allow pets, her dislike of most other dogs - whatever the reason, no adoption seemed to stick and Minnie found herself back at the shelter through no fault of her own. When she arrived at Friends of Strays, we were determined to change her luck. Read more
The Dan Calabria Heart-to-Heart Fund: A Good-Bye Salute and a Happy Beginning
In a year that was too frequently filled with sad news, we wanted to share a warm story of friendship and how sorrow can turn into joy. Former Friends of Strays Board Member, Bill Grom, recently established the Dan Calabria Heart to Heart Fund in honor of his late friend and their shared love of shelter animals. Read more
Better Together: Award-Winning Program Helps 1,303 Pets Stay with their Families Amidst Pandemic Woes
Friends of Strays’ Safer At Home program has wrapped up after providing 1,303 pets from 469 Pinellas County families with free veterinary care and pet supplies. A targeted, short-term program that ran from May-December 2020, Safer At Home was designed to help those in our community financially affected by COVID-19 care for their pets through the pandemic and ensuing economic recession. Read more
Home for the Paw-lidays: All Adoption Fees Waived at Friends of Strays for the Rest of the Year!
Amidst the holiday season, Friends of Strays is thrilled to announce that all pets will have their adoption fees waived for the remainder of 2020 in our “Home for the Paw-lidays” adoption promotion! Read more
A New Giving Tuesday Record!
THANK YOU to everyone who helped make this the most successful Giving Tuesday in Friends of Strays history! Whether you donated or helped us spread the word, we couldn't have done it without you! Read more
Friends of Strays Helps Cats from Ocala Hoarding Situation
Friends of Strays is assisting Marion County Animal Services with an extreme hoarding situation involving more than 500 cats. All cats were living together in a single home in Ocala, FL. Friends of Strays, along with other Florida shelters including Cat Depot and Jacksonville Humane Society, have taken in a number of these cats where they will be placed for adoption. Read more
Friends of Strays Resumes Doggy Day Out After 6 Month Hiatus
After a 6 month pause due to COVID-19, Friends of Strays’ exceedingly popular Doggy Day Out program is set to resume Monday, October 5th. Read more
Friends of Strays Gifted $60,000 from Milkey Family Foundation
Friends of Strays Animal Shelter is thrilled to have received a gift of $60,000 from the Milkey Family Foundation. In addition to a $10,000 donation earlier this summer to support general operating expenses, we’ve just received a $50,000 grant which will be invested in our new life saving programs designed to offer a second chance at life for those pets without one, as well as help our community's struggling families keep their pets where they belong: at home. Read more
Taylor Morrison Raises $4,000 To Help Friends Of Strays Keep Pets With Families
Taylor Morrison, the nation’s fifth largest homebuilder and developer, has donated $4,500 to support Friends of Strays’ Safer At Home Fund. Read more
Friends of Strays’ Pet Guardianship Program: So your pet will never be without a loving home
Friends of Strays’ brand new Pet Guardianship Program is a safe way to transition your pets into a loving new home, should they outlive you. By designating Friends of Strays as a temporary guardian of your pets, our trusted staff will pick up your pets and bring them to our shelter, where they will be cared for as beloved family members. While we find them the perfect new family, your pets will stay in the home of one of our trained and caring foster volunteers. Read more
2-Time Super Bowl Champion Fosters Orphaned Kittens for Friends of Strays
Logan Ryan, two-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots, and his wife Ashley, have joined the Friends of Strays family! The Ryans, well known for their work in animal welfare, are fostering four kittens for Friends of Strays who were found orphaned under an abandoned building in Largo, Florida. The couple’s two young children named their temporary house guests Apple Jack, Cocoa Puff, Lucky Charm, & Fruity Pebble but lovingly refer to them by their nicknames: Jack, Puff, Lucky, & Pebble Read more
Felines for Frontliners: Fee-Waived Cat Adoptions at Friends of Strays for Essential Workers the month of August
In collaboration with Clear the Shelters, Friends of Strays is waiving adoption fees on cats and kittens for our community’s essential workers for the entire month of August. Felines for Frontliners will be a part of the sixth annual Clear the Shelters effort, a nationwide pet adoption campaign hosted by NBC and Telemundo. Read more
No Dog Left Behind Fund Established at Friends of Strays Will Help Pinellas County’s Most At-Risk Dogs
Friends of Strays’ longtime supporter Barbara Stakk has given Pinellas County’s most at-risk dogs, and those who love them, ample reason to celebrate.
The newly established No... Read more
COVID-19: A Silver Lining for Homeless Pets? How Friends of Strays Plans to Keep its Kennels Clear
Is entering an animal shelter always the best option for a homeless pet? Friends of Strays, like many shelters across the county, has seen our kennels clear as a result of COVID-19. With so many working from home, we’ve seen our community step up to foster and adopt at unprecedented rates; and for the first time ever, the demand for shelter pets is greater than the supply. This got our staff thinking -- what programs can we implement to make an empty shelter the new normal, even in post-COVID times? Read more
Friends of Strays Joins Home To Home Initiative
Friends of Strays has teamed up with Home To Home -- an interactive website created to help keep animals in homes and out of shelters. It provides a positive and proactive method to rehoming pets... Read more
Friends of Strays and COVID-19
***ADOPTIONS WILL BE BY APPOINTMENT ONLY WHILE WE ARE CLOSED DURING COVID-19***
Amid growing concerns surrounding COVID-19, Friends of Strays will be closing temporarily as of Monday, March 23.
Please, if you’ve been... Read more
Friends of Strays Announces Safer At Home Fund
Friends of Strays is proud to announce its new Safer At Home Fund, a resource for our community members facing financial hardships as a result of COVID-19. The idea behind the Safer At Home Fund is... Read more
Let Us Draw Your Pet!
Let us draw your pet!
Our staff have spare time on their hands now that everyone is stuck at home, so we thought we'd have some fun by having a little art fest! For a minimum donation of $20, one... Read more
Found Kittens? Don't be a Kit-Napper!
When we find a litter of kittens, our good-hearted instincts tell us to jump in and help. Please don’t! Thankfully, human intervention is typically not required. In fact, the best thing you... Read more
5 Things To Do if You're Preparing to Foster a Kitten
The following article is a guest post from Saved By the Bark blogger, Mandy Lee.
So, you’ve decided to welcome a foster kitten into your home. Congratulations, and good for you!... Read more
Pets and COVID-19
Friends of Strays understands the growing concerns surrounding coronavirus, COVID-19, across our community. We are closely monitoring the situation and following protocol as laid out by animal... Read more
A Good Cause for Paws 5K
Every year, the students of Lakeview Fundamental’s gifted class are assigned an “I Care” project. These children are tasked with doing some good in their community for a cause... Read more
FOS Recognized for Short-Term Foster Program
All aboard the Foster Express Train! Friends of Strays was 1 of 155 shelters across the country to participate in a short-term foster challenge, The Foster Express, from November 22, 2019 - January... Read more
David Vargas, State Farm Agent, Partners with FOS
Friends of Strays Animal Shelter has partnered up with local State Farm Agent, David Vargas, for his Quotes for Good initiative. In Quotes for Good, whenever a community member contacts David for a... Read more
Ray Jay's Miraculous Recovery
In early December, a Raymond James employee found a 5-week old kitten laying in her front yard. At first glance, the kitten appeared to be dead, but upon picking her up, this Good Samaritan... Read more
We Want YOU To Host a Pawjama Party with a Shelter Pup!
Someone let the dogs out – Friends of Strays’ dogs that is! Friends of Strays is asking members of the community to host our shelter dogs on two-night sleepovers as part of a... Read more
Friends of Strays Announces Support of Bill that Would Ban Declawing of Cats in Florida
We're proud to have announced our support to the Florida State Senate Committee on Agriculture in favor of Senate Bill 48, legislation that would prohibit the harmful practice of elective declawing... Read more
Dr. Emerson Removes Stick Lodged in Dog's Mouth for Years
Buddy was playing a permanent — and painful — game of fetch.
Buddy, an 8 year-old mixed breed, was getting a teeth-cleaning last week at Friends of Strays when Dr.... Read more
Happy Tails: Chopped Suey and Kimber
Chopped Suey and his littermates Wasabi & Sushi were ordinary kittens at Friends of Strays. Per usual, these adorable brown tabbies returned from foster care at 8 weeks old, hit our adoption... Read more
Home for the Paw-lidays: FOS Waives Adoption Fees on Cats for Remainder of 2019
As we enter the holiday season, Friends of Strays is thrilled to announce that all adult cats will have their adoption fees waived for the remainder of 2019! Thanks to a grant from Maddie’s... Read more
Adopting a Dog with Demodedic Mange
Demodedic mange may look scary, but there's really no reason it should discourage you from adopting a dog. It's a treatable inflammatory condition caused by demodex mites that results in itchy... Read more
FOS Teams Up With Max's Mercantile To Help Heartworm Dogs
We are SO excited to announce that we've teamed up with Max's Mercantile St Pete to start the Paws-itive Crew for Heartworm Dogs at Friends of Strays!
When you adopt a Heartworm-positive... Read more
TNVR in Pinellas County
Pinellas County Animal Services (PCAS) recently held a series of public meetings to gather community input on a proposed amendment to an existing community cat policy that would allow for... Read more
Punks 4 Paws
Back in 2011 Matt Shelley was living in Auburn, Alabama. Matt was involved with a shelter in a nearby, rural community and along with the help of some friends, came up with the idea of a music... Read more
Wags & Whiskers: The Great Catsby
Wags & Whiskers: The Great Catsby is right around the corner! Join us on October 12th for a glamorous evening filled with 1920’s glam and entertainment at the breathtaking St. Petersburg... Read more
Hurricane Dorian Relief
Both animals and people living in the Bahamian areas devastated by Hurricane Dorian are in desperate need of basic necessities and if you’re anything like us, you’re wondering how to... Read more
Congrats, Elaine on 5 Years with Friends of Strays!
Animal care staffer Elaine Tapp just celebrated her 5 year anniversary with Friends of Strays. It’s a safe bet that our entire staff would agree, with a strong degree of certainty, that no... Read more
Fourth of July Pet Safety
Like many Americans, you may be looking forward to a festive Fourth of July. There will be barbeques, parties at the beach, and of course no celebration can be complete without watching fireworks... Read more
Pick Your Price During the Month of July!
Hurry down the to the shelter! During the entire month of July, adopters will be able to name their own adoption fee at Friends of Strays! This special will apply to all cats 1 year and older.... Read more
Arin Greenwood Joins Board of Directors
Friends of Strays is thrilled to announce that we have added Arin Greenwood to our board of directors!
Arin is a local animal welfare advocate & author. She's the winner of Creative Loafing's... Read more
Friends of Strays’ New Doggy Day Out Program Lets you Borrow a Shelter Dog
Looking for a friendly companion to join you on a walk or for some ice cream? Friends of Strays is proud to announce its new Doggy Day Out program, which pairs members of the community with... Read more
Volunteer Spotlight: Sandy Winter
Friends of Strays all-star volunteer Sandy Winter had quite the life before landing in Saint Petersburg. From South Dakota to Austria, she’s lived more places than most visit in a lifetime.... Read more
Friends of Strays Named Official Rescue Partner of Sunshine Kitty Catfe
Want a place where you can go hang out with a bunch of adoptable cats while enjoying a tasty beverage? Maybe you fall in love with one of those cats and decide to adopt it. Maybe you already have... Read more
Friends of Strays and The Saint Petersburg Free Clinic Announce Pet Food Pantry Partnership
Beginning Monday, February 25th, Friends of Strays will be joining forces with the St. Petersburg Free Clinic for our Community Pet Food Pantry. The Friends of Strays’ Pet Food Pantry has... Read more
