Dream House Winner Creates Private Foundation To Fund Animal Rescue Work In Bradley County

  • Wednesday, November 19, 2014

When Jodie Westwood learned she had won Chattanooga’s St. Jude’s Dream Home earlier this year, she knew immediately that some of her winnings would fund work to improve conditions for dogs and cats in Bradley County.

After all, Ms. Westwood had already been donating money and in-kind resources to shelters and rescues, volunteering, and turning her dining room into a makeshift kennel for litters of baby puppies awaiting forever families.

Now that the home has sold and she has her earnings -- $50,000 of which has been donated to the nonprofit, low-cost spay/neuter clinic Dixie Day Spay, and a few thousand of which funded transports for dogs leaving the SPCA of Bradley County for shelters in areas of the country not impacted by pet overpopulation -– Ms. Westwood has bigger plans for her money and hopes to convince others to contribute.

Westwood Farms Foundation is a 501(c)3 private foundation providing grants and support to organizations working to relieve over-population and abuse of companion animals in Bradley County.

“The foundation’s first priority will be providing funding for Dixie Day Spay and other efforts at comprehensive spay/neuter,” Ms. Westwood said. “As important as rescue is to the individual animal, we can rescue 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and never change the overall problem. We have got to reduce the population and preventing the births of more unwanted puppies and kittens is mission number one.”

Second priority for the foundation is providing funding for the SPCA of Bradley County, particularly for funding transports that will move animals at the SPCA out of the overpopulated south and into shelters in areas of the country where dogs and cats are more likely to find potential adopters.

“The SPCA was born as a beautiful, collaborative, community effort to make a more compassionate community. It was a community that was supposed to make the SPCA successful, a community that donated and volunteered. That community spirit has been squashed by a small minority at the cost of companion animals’ lives. I hope some of the foundation’s resources can be used to help the animals and to rebuild a spirit of community around responding with compassion to those who are most vulnerable.”

As the holiday season approaches, Westwood Farms Foundation encourages Bradley County residents to invest in making Bradley County a compassionate community in one (or several) ways.

“Priority number one,” Westwood said, “if you have unaltered dogs or cats – or your mother or your brother or your neighbor has unaltered dogs or cats -- call today and make an appointment for spay/neuter. We don’t have room for more puppies and kittens in our shelters. Part of your role as a responsible community member is taking care of your own. If you don’t have the financial resources to spay/neuter your pets, call Dixie Day Spay and let’s talk about what we can work out.”

Second on the holiday to-do list, Ms. Westwood said, is to volunteer.

“The SPCA is especially in need of volunteers to help with animal care, office work, fundraising, you name it -- they need working hand. Volunteerism from the community had been destroyed by a lot of hate-mongering and it’s time to stop that and not let the words of a few hateful people keep us from saving our community’s animals.”

Third, Ms. Westwood said, if you have room and resources in your heart and home, adopt a shelter pet.

And, finally, she said, if you have the financial resources, donate. Donations to the Westwood Farms Foundation are tax-deductible and all grants provided by the foundation will be to those doing companion animal work in Bradley County.

Donations can be made by Paypal to westwood3@bellsouth.net or by mail to Westwood Farm Foundation, 5350 Frontage Road NW, Cleveland Tn. 37312. If you would like your donation to be restricted to Dixie Day Spay or the SPCA, please note that. Donations not designated will be used for general purposes of providing support in efforts to reduce overpopulation of and help companion animals with medical and other needs in Bradley County. 

 

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