2017 Calendars are now available! Back in June, we asked for photos of your favorite pets and you really delivered. We received nearly 300 photos this summer. More than 145 beautiful color photos appear in the calendar and we think it’s a really nice publication. Calendars are $13 each, payable in cash or check in stores, and are available at

We thank all of these businesses for their kind support and we hope our friends will buy a calendar from them and visit their locations often.

For more information, see our Facebook page, email bhannable@gmail.com, or call 978-922-7190. Thank you!

Click on the image above to view it at full size.

If you would like to purchase the 2017 FOBA Calendar online, simply click the Donate button below, then enter $13 for each calendar you would like, and under Special Instructions type “Calendar.” Easy! If you’d like the calendar mailed to you, please add $3.00 for the first calendar and $0.50 for each additional calendar to cover postage.

Annual Fabulous Fur Ball! This is our major fundraiser for the year, to be held on Saturday, October 14 at 7 PM – 11 PM at the Beverly Franco-American Club, 44 Park St, Beverly. The very popular band Rico Barr will provide live music. There will be dancing, good food, and lots of great raffle and silent auction items. All animal lovers are asked to come and support FOBA’s rescue and adoption efforts. Besides saving animals in and around Beverly, FOBA’s mission is also to establish a no-kill shelter in Beverly. Please support this most worthy cause! Contact Bonnie Hannable at bhannable@gmail.com, 978-922-7190 or Heidi Roberts at heidiroberts@comcast.net, 978-927-4157 for tickets and further information. Please support this most worthy cause! FOBA is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) organization.

To see a full-size version of the Fur Ball 2017 poster, click the image above.

If you would like to purchase tickets for the Fur Ball online, simply click the Donate button below, then for the donation amount enter $25 for each ticket you would like, and under Special Instructions type “Fur Ball.” Easy! Tickets will be held for you at the door.

Dog walk “Strut Your Mutt,” will be held on Saturday, October 1, rain or shine, from 11-2 p.m. at the Shoe Pond, Cummings Center, Beverly. If you have questions about this event, please email heidiroberts@comcast.net or call 978-927-4157.

To see a full-size version of the Strut Your Mutt 2016 poster, click the image above.

To register for the dog walk, send a check for the $20 entry fee to FOBA, PO Box 3378, Beverly, MA 01915, or pay at the registration table. If you would like to register for Strut Your Mutt online, simply click the Donate button below, then for the donation amount enter $20 as the entry fee, and under Special Instructions type “Strut Your Mutt.” Then, check in at the registration table at the dog walk.

The Friends of Beverly Animals (FOBA) is seeking your best animal photos for our 2017 calendar. Last year we received over 200 submissions. There were so many great ones to choose from, it was really challenging to decide which ones to use. We regret that we could not use all the photos submitted.

We’re asking you to send us a favorite photo or two (no more than three of each pet, please!) of your dogs, cats, hamsters, birds, horses, any animal you care about, even one of a backyard squirrel or raccoon will be considered, as long as it’s a good and interesting photo. Since we hope to get the calendar printed in October, the deadline for submission is August 1, 2016. Send to bhannable@gmail.com and include the words “2017 calendar” in the subject line. Indicate if you’d prefer to see your photo in a particular month, although we cannot promise that will happen.

Photos should be good quality (at least 100 dpi or 4″x6″ in size), not blurry or too dark, or with no people or parts of people (hands, feet, etc.) in them. Please identify the animal(s) by name and state the owner’s name. We will not print owners’ names, but we need them in order to keep track of photos submitted. Preference will be given to rescues and those adopted through FOBA, so please let us know if your pet was adopted from FOBA, a shelter or other rescue organization. We will do our best to acknowledge all photos received. Please share this message with anyone you think might be interested in having their pet in FOBA’s 2017 calendar.

Attached is a pdf and a jpg of the cover of last year’s calendar, to give you an idea of what we are looking for, in case you’ve never seen one of our calendars. For anyone who would like to place an ad in the calendar, the prices are $25 for a business card ad; $50 for a half page and $100 for a full-page ad. Advertising space is limited.

If you had a pet in our previous calendar(s), we hope that you enjoyed seeing your animal friend there, and we hope you’ll submit another photo for the coming year. If your pet didn’t make last year’s calendar, please try again. Whether you sent us photos and/or purchased a calendar last year, we want to thank you again for your support.

We will keep saving animals in need and pursuing our dream of one day having a shelter in Beverly. If you have any thoughts about how we can reach that goal or questions, please let us hear from you! Also, keep those happy tales (tails) stories about your pets coming and we’ll use as many as we can in our newsletters or E-News bulletins.

Thank you so much for your support! If you have any questions, please email me or call 978-922-7190.

Bonnie Hannable, Calendar & Newsletter Editor
& Everyone at FOBA

Click on the image above to view it at full size.

Did you know that some of the money that FOBA raises though events like the Fur Ball and through FOBA calendar sales goes toward a trap-neuter-release program for stray cats in Beverly? When we learn about stray cats in a neighborhood, FOBA volunteers feed those cats and once the cats are used to being fed, the food is moved inside a humane trap with a trap door that closes after the cat goes inside to eat. The traps are constantly monitored so the cats can be moved to a safe location as soon as they are trapped. A vet then examines the cats, gives shots and medications as necessary, and neuters or spays the cat. If the cat is reasonably friendly, they are rehabilitated in a FOBA foster home until they are adopted. If the cat is truly feral, it is released in the neighborhood where it was found. A neutered or spayed cat helps keep other stray cats out of that neighborhood, without producing kittens and making the stray cat problem worse for the neighborhood. Our trap-neuter-release program gets some stray cats off the streets and into loving, permanent homes, and it improves the health of cats that are truly wild and stops them from producing kittens.

Here are three Thanksgiving Cats. All black CHESTNUT (center in photo below) was trapped in Beverly on Sunday, spayed on Monday, and released back into her neighborhood on Wednesday. Pretty good for a street kitten. Her two siblings are showing signs of friendliness and are currently being worked with in foster homes. Much warmer than their Cabot street corner.

Click on the image above to view it at full size.