Every holiday season, between the joy of spending time with family and friends, are the same television scenes: slickly produced commercials from national humane organizations featuring pitiful, sad faces of animals needing help. Dozens of these commercial flash across the screen each day.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Hundreds of those sad faces are right here in Walton County. Dogs abandoned on dirt roads. Boxes of kittens dumped at the shelter. Skinny, mange-infested puppies. None of these needy animals will appear on television, but all need our help. </div><div><br /></div><div>Walton Animal Guild has worked behind the scenes for years to make a difference in our community. Our small budget doesn’t allow for flashy commercials, but our financial needs are just as important.</div><div><br /></div><div>WAG is an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff. One hundred percent (100%) of our donations go toward our programs.</div><div><br /></div><div>We’ve never taken a shortcut on medical care for our fosters, or euthanized an animal for expense-related reasons. But veterinary costs can add up quickly.</div><div><br /></div><div>Maggie needed orthopedic surgery. Pepper required several days of intensive care after coming out of the shelter, plus a later surgery for bladder stones and treatment for gastroenteritis. Jake and Banjo needed treatment for heartworms. Holly needed emergency surgery for an intestinal blockage. They are all healthy and happy now, but total costs for vet care of these five animals was in excess of $5,000.00.<br /><br />They’re not the only rescue animals who needed additional medical treatment this year. Mange is common in rescue animals and many of our dogs required weeks of treatment. An orphaned litter of six pups were bottle fed formula from the age of two weeks. Another litter of seven pups dealt with skin issues for several month, requiring regular skin scrapings, antibiotics, and other treatments. Our commitment to their health is absolute, but the financial challenges are plenty. When the funding runs out, we have no choice but to ignore other shelter animals in need. </div><div><br /></div><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”><a href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5oJv5dF3C00/VDAJKvK1mwI/AAAAAAAABtE/3e0JOdALoaQ/s1600/DSC_7394-cc-Horizontal.jpg” imageanchor=”1″ style=”margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;”><img border=”0″ src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5oJv5dF3C00/VDAJKvK1mwI/AAAAAAAABtE/3e0JOdALoaQ/s1600/DSC_7394-cc-Horizontal.jpg” height=”150″ width=”200″ /></a></div><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”>Banjo</div><br /><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”><a href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6OjP6Yo_NRw/VDAOXwyr8WI/AAAAAAAABtc/5Gh3PYVaxa0/s1600/20142112C.jpg” imageanchor=”1″ style=”margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;”><img border=”0″ src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6OjP6Yo_NRw/VDAOXwyr8WI/AAAAAAAABtc/5Gh3PYVaxa0/s1600/20142112C.jpg” height=”200″ width=”135″ /></a></div><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”>Jake</div><br /><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”><a href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xBPVDUaMD2A/VCTJetl4Q5I/AAAAAAAABsk/sccAP3ewhJs/s1600/Pepper.jpg” imageanchor=”1″ style=”margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;”><img border=”0″ src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xBPVDUaMD2A/VCTJetl4Q5I/AAAAAAAABsk/sccAP3ewhJs/s1600/Pepper.jpg” height=”200″ width=”153″ /></a></div><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”>Pepper</div><br /><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”></div><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”>Holly</div><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”><a href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3lnDmyuBRCw/VJpWtEi1iUI/AAAAAAAABw0/ZJrhVPYrycU/s1600/Maggie.JPG” imageanchor=”1″ style=”margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;”><img border=”0″ src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3lnDmyuBRCw/VJpWtEi1iUI/AAAAAAAABw0/ZJrhVPYrycU/s1600/Maggie.JPG” height=”150″ width=”200″ /></a></div><br /><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”></div><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”>Maggie</div><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”><br /></div><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”><a href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kovL5Hti6D0/VJpWg8DtJxI/AAAAAAAABws/LaJ8aloBSAQ/s1600/Holly2.jpg” imageanchor=”1″ style=”margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;”><img border=”0″ src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kovL5Hti6D0/VJpWg8DtJxI/AAAAAAAABws/LaJ8aloBSAQ/s1600/Holly2.jpg” height=”150″ width=”200″ /></a></div><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”>Holly</div><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”><br /></div><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”><br /></div><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: left;”>WAG is totally supported by animal loving individuals and businesses who care about making a difference in our community. We need your donations to continue helping deserving pets like these! Consider making a holiday gift to WAG and help us change the world for more dogs and cats. Here’s how your donation helps:</div><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: left;”><br /></div><div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: left;”><b>$25 vaccinates a dog. </b></div><div><b>$50 neuters an animal</b></div><div><b>$100 spays a female dog or cat</b></div><div><b>$200 rescues an animal and provides the veterinary care needed to start their journey toward a new home. </b></div><div><br /> You have the power to save a life. Please make your donation today!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><form action=”https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr” method=”post” target=”_top”><div style=”text-align: center;”><input name=”cmd” type=”hidden” value=”_s-xclick” /><input name=”hosted_button_id” type=”hidden” value=”3D6Q9RTG27SUE” /><input alt=”PayPal – The safer, easier way to pay online!” border=”0″ name=”submit” src=”https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif” type=”image” /></div><div style=”text-align: center;”><br /></div><div style=”text-align: center;”><br /></div><div style=”text-align: center;”></div><div style=”-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;”></div><br /><div style=”-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;”><div style=”margin: 0px;”>Paypal links are also on our website homepage at www.wagwalton.com</div></div><div style=”text-align: center;”><img alt=”” border=”0″ height=”1″ src=”https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif” width=”1″ /></div></form>