About Us

Mission & Goals

• Reduce the number of homeless and unadoptable animals. Prior to January 2010, all Heartworm Positive dogs were considered unadoptable and were euthanized.
• Provide life-saving treatment for Heartworm Positive Rockwall Shelter Dogs.
• Rockwall PAWS is the first non-rescue organization in North Texas to incorporate Heartworm Treatment into the adoption scenario.
• We turn them from unadoptable to adoptable and give them a second chance at life. This prevents the owner from having to assume the huge expense of treatment, or the dog going without treatment.
• Educate dog and cat owners about Heartworm Disease
• Impress upon owners that Heartworm prevention is easy and inexpensive.
• Treatment is not always easy and never inexpensive.
• **Cats should be on prevention because there is no available treatment at this time.
• Provide HW Prevention literature for distribution at Spay Neuter Network ‘Hope Mobile” (surgical hospital) in Rockwall.
• Educate owners about puppies and heartworm disease.
• Test all dogs (blood test) at 6 months of age and start on monthly prevention.
• Retest every year to validate the animal is negative (necessary for prescription renewal).
• Continue prevention for lifetime of the animal.
• Encourage Spay/Neuter as part of responsible animal ownership.
• Check for Heartworms at 6 months of age.. an ideal time for spay/neuter.

How Is The Money Used?

Money is used to pay for the Heartworm Treatment administered by our three Veterinarian providers: Ridge Road Animal Hospital, Pet Doctor,and Animal Hospitals of Rowlett and Heath. The owner/adopter make their own appointment (pre-authorized by Rockwall PAWS) and is responsible for getting the animal in for all of the required visits and treatments. Rockwall PAWS is billed directly by the Veterinarian.

When requested, we assist with Spay/Neuter funding and help ill or injured animals if funds available and Heartworm Positive dogs are covered.

Treatment

Rockwall PAWS pays for the pre-treatment heartworm test, Chest X-rays (when medically needed and required due to the pet being a senior or having a compromised immune system), over night hospitalization required for the treatment, and the ‘shots’ (Immiticide) – the most expensive part of the treatment. Immiticide is dosed by the weight of the dog and costs $400-$600. There are often other expenses such as Antibiotics, Pain medicine, or Prednisone; if the Veterinarian thinks they are needed, we request that the adopter take care of these additional expenses.

Treatment is based on many factors: age, additional preexisting disease and severity of heartworm infestation…each decision is individualized because there is no sure way of telling how long the dog has had the disease. All treatments require a minimum of 30 (thirty) – 60 (sixty) days of restricted activity/quiet time.