BROWARD COUNTY, FL - Animal Care and Adoption has introduced the “Healing Hearts Program” to help provide treatment for heartworm-positive dogs. Through this special program, shelter dogs diagnosed with heartworms will be treated free of charge at Animal Care. The program will be funded through a recently awarded $250,000 Petco Foundation Life-Saving grant.

Heartworms are contracted through a mosquito bite. The worms that pass from the mosquito to the dog settle in the heart. Over time, the condition can be debilitating, and even cause death. The good news is that heartworms can be cured,however the treatment can cost hundreds of dollars. For this reason, heartworm-positive dogs were often overlooked at the shelter. The Healing Heart Program will remove that expense so affected dogs have a much better chance of being adopted and placed on the road to recovery.

“We are very grateful to the Petco Foundation for giving us this chance to treat our special needs pets,” said Lauralei Combs, Director, Animal Care and Adoption Division. “The expense of treating a heartworm-infected dog is often a deterrent for many adopters. Through the generosity of the Petco Foundation, we will now be able to remove that barrier to adoption.”

For more information about Broward County Animal Care, visit Broward.org/Animal. For more on the Petco Foundation, visit petcofoundation.org and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by using #PetcoFamily.

About Animal Care
Broward County Animal Care and Adoption is dedicated to providing shelter for lost and homeless pets. The agency provides access to hundreds of shelter pets hoping for a new home. Please prevent unwanted pets and have your pet spayed or neutered. For more information about the agency, visit our website or like us on Facebook.

About the Petco Foundation
At the Petco Foundation, we believe that every animal deserves to live its best life. Since 1999 we've invested more than $250 million in lifesaving animal welfare work to make that happen. With our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners, we inspire and empower communities to make a difference by investing in adoption and medical care programs, spay and neuter services, pet cancer research, service and therapy animals, and numerous other lifesaving in initiatives. Through our Think Adoption First program, we partner with Petco stores and animal welfare organizations across the country to increase pet adoptions. So far, we've helped more than 6 million pets find their new loving families, and we're just getting started. Visit petcofoundation.org to learn more about how you can get involved.