HEART for Pugs: Heartworm Education & Responsible Treatment

In 2025, we launched HEART for Pugs, a dedicated program created to ensure every rescue pug in our care receives heartworm testing, prevention, and treatment, while also educating the community on why heartworm prevention is absolutely essential.

Every pug who enters our rescue receives a full medical evaluation, including heartworm testing and prevention. Too often, pugs arrive already heartworm positive or with a history of receiving no prevention at all. No matter their past, we make sure they never face that risk again.

Why This Campaign Matters

Heartworm prevention and treatment are not optional. They are lifesaving.

Every pug entering our rescue receives:

✔️ Heartworm testing upon intake
✔️ Six months of heartworm prevention
✔️ Critical, lifesaving treatment if heartworm positive

For infected dogs, treatment can mean months of painful injections, strict crate rest, repeated vet visits, medications, and intensive monitoring. It is hard on the dog, hard on the foster, and expensive for the rescue.

Prevention is simple. Treatment is not. That is why HEART for Pugs matters.

🐶 In 2026, we already have a powerful reminder of why this program matters.

Pookie entered rescue heartworm positive and recently required lifesaving surgery due to Caval Syndrome, one of the most severe and dangerous complications of heartworm disease. His medical bills have already exceeded $13,000, and his fight is not over. Pookie still has to complete heartworm treatment to address the remaining worms in his heart, which means continued veterinary care, medication, strict rest, and careful monitoring.

Pookie’s story is heartbreaking, but it is also exactly why HEART for Pugs exists.

Heartworm disease is preventable. But once a dog is infected, the road to recovery can be long, painful, dangerous, and extremely expensive.

📆 In 2026, our focus is simple: monthly support.

Heartworm prevention is not a one-time expense. It is a monthly promise. Every pug who enters our rescue receives a full medical evaluation, including heartworm testing and prevention. Too often, pugs arrive heartworm positive or with a history of receiving no prevention at all. No matter what happened before they came to us, we make sure they are protected going forward.

Monthly donors help us keep that promise.

What Your Monthly Gift Provides

A small monthly gift can make a real difference for the pugs in our care.

$10 = 1 month of HW prevention for 1 foster pug
$20 = 1 month of HW prevention for 2 foster pugs
$50 = 6 months of HW prevention for 1 foster pug
$100 = 1 HW test for 1 foster pug

These monthly gifts help us plan ahead, purchase prevention consistently, test every pug at intake, and respond quickly when a pug comes to us heartworm positive.

2025 Impact

• $9,271 spent on heartworm prevention
• $2,026 spent on heartworm treatment
• $11,297 total invested in lifesaving heartworm care
• $11,970 raised through the HEART for Pugs campaign

That support helped us protect foster pugs, treat infected dogs, and continue educating the community about the importance of year-round prevention.

To keep our promise of a healthy heart for every pug who comes through our doors, we need to raise at least that amount again in 2026. Monthly donors make that possible.

❤️‍🩹Become a HEART for Pugs Monthly Donor

Heartworm prevention works best when it never stops. The same is true for rescue support.

By becoming a monthly donor, you help provide steady, reliable funding for heartworm prevention, testing, and treatment throughout the year. Your gift helps us say yes to the pugs who arrive scared, sick, neglected, untreated, and completely dependent on us to make things right.

Your monthly gift helps ensure that no pug in our care goes without heartworm testing, prevention, or treatment, regardless of their past.

💙 Because when it comes to heartworm disease, education, prevention, and responsible treatment save lives.

👉 Learn more about the HEART for Pugs program and meet the foster pugs you’re helping:
https://pugrescueflga.com/heart-for-pugs

Thank you for supporting Pug Rescue of Florida & Georgia. Together, we can give every pug the healthy heart - and future - they deserve.

The HEART For Pugs Fundraising Campaign