MISSION
"Fur-Ever Friends of North Carolina’s mission is to prevent neglect, abuse, cruelty, and exploitation of all animals and ensure that their interests and well-being are fully, effectively and humanely protected by an aware and caring society."
Accomplishing Our Mission
Since our beginning in 2004, Fur-Ever Friends has continuously assessed our community to determine where the most critical animal welfare needs exist. The following programs address issues related to the most basic needs of food, shelter, medical care and quality of life.
Share the Warmth Fur-Ever Friends canvases area neighborhoods and relies on tips from the community to find dogs in need of shelter and warmth during the cold winter months. Since 2015, our volunteers have distributed hundreds of dog houses and bags of wood shavings to help dogs stay warm and dry, along with thousands of pounds of pet food. Our efforts have recently evolved into hosting pet food distribution events throughout the year where we are stationed at specific locations around Winston-Salem and people come to us to pick up food for their pets.
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Rico Sick and Injured Memorial Fund Started in honor of, and named for, a K9 officer who was stricken with bone cancer and eventually succumbed to it. The fund is used to assist with Vet care for sick and injured animals as well as those that are victims of cruelty and/or neglect. Over the years, this fund has spent $165,000 and helped over 1,400 animals.
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Nikon's Fund Established by Fur-Ever Friends in 2016 in memory of Nikon, a heroic K9 officer, and in honor of all other K9 officers who serve and protect our community. Upon each K9's retirement from the force, each of their handlers will be gifted a $250 retirement grant as well as financial assistance with medical emergencies during its lifetime.
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Cruelty Investigation and Education We have hosted training for law enforcement officers on how to identify, handle and investigate animal cruelty issues. So far, we have trained 200 law enforcement officers and Assistant District Attorneys from 30 agencies in 18 counties.
We also maintain a Cruelty Fund that offers monetary rewards for information that leads to the arrest of persons responsible for acts of animal cruelty.
Spirit of Collaboration
We collaborate with other animal welfare organizations in the area to make lives better for dogs and cats in our community. Although Fur-Ever Friends has no facilities for animal care, we work alongside other organizations to ensure care is available when needed. We look for opportunities to bring area animal welfare groups together to address important issues like advocacy, cruelty, animal protection and many more. Some examples of collaboration are working with other animal welfare groups to re-write the tethering ordinance in Forsyth County and raising money to equip every fire truck in the county with an animal rescue oxygen mask.
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A Voice For The Voiceless
Fur-Ever Friends is an important source for advocacy and education. Our volunteers help persuade legislators and government officials to understand and take action on issues like animal cruelty, over population, tethering (chaining dogs), fighting and abandonment. We sponsor programs to educate our community about proper animal care and ways to become animal advocates.
