Jones Veterinary staff carry on holiday tradition after vet’s death
Posted at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, December 23, 2022
Jones Veterinary Hospital and Andalucia Animal Shelter teamed up and raised $975 in tribute to the late Dr. Louis “Doc” Jones with photos from SantaPaws last week.
The late Dr. Louis “Doc” Jones in a photo from a past SantaPaws event at Jones Veterinary Hospital. Dr. Jones, who died earlier this year, started the fundraising program for the Andalucia Animal Shelter. (PHOTO SUBMITTED)
Held on Friday, December 12, 16, from 2-4 p.m., the event also provided several donations to benefit pets at local shelters.
“Doc Jones passed away suddenly in March 2022. His passion was animals and children of all ages. His memorial service was even held at Jones Veterinary at the request of his family. He started doing community wide outreach for fundraising for neutering and low cost neutering and also helped with our animal shelter pets in need. Nobody knows how many years he has behind all this,” said Carrie Sowell of Jones Veterinary.
SantaPaws first launched in 2021 at Jones Veterinary Hospital. “Doc Louis decided to reinvent his passion, and that’s how we came up with the idea of doing SantaPaws photos. This is basically a pet photo taken with Santa Claus. All we ask for is a wishlist donation of supplies or a monetary contribution to the Andalucia Animal Shelter account at Jones Veterinary to be used for the medical care of shelter animals in need in our hospital.
Jones Veterinary staff initially decided not to hold Santa Paws this year. Santa Claus was played by Rob Richburg from Andalusia.
We miss Doc so much. It hurts my heart to do this without him. Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus, who are great people, came to see us in November and asked why we hadn’t set a date. Santa insisted that Doc would want us to do it, so Dec. 16 was the date chosen in memory of Dr. Jones. We work closely with the shelter, Kayla, staff and volunteers on a daily basis. We fully intend to develop this annual pet event in honor of Doc Jones. We also plan to add an event in the spring or summer each year. Christmas is a wonderful time in Andalucia, and our community provides one, but the need is there all year round,” Sowell said.
According to Sowell, the Andalucia Animal Sanctuary can still use additional funds. Several months are a struggle. Director Kayla Robbins does an amazing job up there. Many people want to criticize the work, facilities and funding, but so few actually step in to make a difference.
Andalucia Animal Shelter was grateful to have partnered with Jones Veterinary. “We are so grateful to the staff at Jones Veterinary for organizing this event and helping us raise funds for the shelter. We had fun participating and are grateful to those who have helped us with much needed donations for our pets here at the shelter. It’s been a slow year for us, but we hope the new year will bring people willing to adopt and provide a loving home for these animals,” Robbins said.
Jones Veterinary was opened by Dr. Jones. Louis Jones 47 years ago. Dr. Troy Jones joined almost 20 years ago and was recently joined by Dr. Britney Reynolds.
“We have an amazing staff who love all pets as much as our own. We are now owned by Southern Veterinary Partners (SVP). help pets as usual and have the ability to host events like SantaPaws for the community,” Sowell said.
For more information, call Jones Veterinary Hospital at 334-222-4713 or Andalusia Animal Shelter at 334-222-8705.
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