By Cory McKeown with photos by Melanie Epping

“Gentleman Bob” has a polite request: “Take me home, please!”

When this handsome young shepherd mix entered our shelter, he was named simply “Bob”. But, because of his wonderful personality and stellar manners, he was soon nick-named “Gentleman Bob”, and quickly became a staff favorite.

Gentleman Bob likes everyone, and is so well-behaved that he sets a good example for our more rambunctious young dogs. He loves to go for walks, is a delight on a leash, and is very intelligent and anxious to be an even better people pleaser than he already is. He would love to be the adored new addition to a family, and would reward his new owners with his loyalty and wonderfully well-behaved canine companionship.

“Rocky” is off to a rocky start in his young life

“Rocky”was adopted as a kitten from our shelter just a few years ago, and lived a good life with owners. A good life, that is, until his owners decided to move and didn’t feel they could take him. A common story we hear all too often.

When he first arrived back at the shelter, Rocky seemed bewildered and upset, but was still his usual outgoing self. As his time has worn on, however, this beautiful young Lynx Point Siamese mix has become more withdrawn, and he has taken to hiding for long periods of time under his bedding. No matter how attractive a kitty is, it is difficult for him to get adopted if no one can see him….

Rocky would soon recover and be a great kitty again if he were to be welcomed into a loving home. He is very affectionate, and would probably get along with bigger dogs and another playful, outgoing cat. He has been known, however, to pick on small dogs and “fraidy cats”. He has little use for either!!

Please come and take the time to meet Rocky- sweet talk him out from under his bed- he will make it worth your while!!!

Shelter Wish List

We are again running very low on our supply of sturdy, larger dog collars. We like to be sure every dog that is adopted goes out wearing a nice collar, and it is very hard for us to keep enough collars on hand to meet the need.

Donations of canned dog and cat food would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks to everyone for caring about the animals!!

By Cory McKeown with photos by Melanie Epping

A rose by any other name would be: a beautiful pointer!

Rose is a very aptly named dog: she is absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. This affectionate spayed five year old beauty is a pure-bred German shorthaired pointer, or “GSP” as their admirers say. She is trim and athletic and loves to go and do- she would be a wonderful addition to an active family or a steadfast companion for a busy single person.

She walks well on a leash, and gets along well with most dogs, so she probably would be a good companion for another active dog, as well.

Rose is not a “couch potato” dog and would not be happy being confined in a small space or in an environment where she could not get adequate exercise. True to her breed, she is not “hyper”, but has a good energy level, and is attentive, learns quickly, and is eager to please.

If Rose sounds like the ideal dog for you or your family, come and meet her. This pretty flower is very anxious to be planted in someone’s heart and home!!

The kittens will be arriving soon- “foster parents” needed

]Spring is here, and soon also will be the kittens. Often we get in tiny kittens that have lost their mama but are not yet weaned. We very much need “foster parents” for these tiny tabbies that must be bottle-fed and carefully nurtured to survive. This can be a wonderful and rewarding experience that can be very life-enriching for people who have the time and dedication to help- ideal for “empty nesters”. We provide all necessary equipment, instructions, and technical and emotional support. If you are interested, please call the shelter at 642-1180 and talk to Diana, our shelter manager. We will soon have babies that need you!!

Shelter wish list

We would be very grateful to receive donations of good used heating pads to help keep baby kittens warm. Also, donations of Purina Kitten Chow would be most appreciated. Thank you for your support.

FAMOUSLY!!!

I absolutely adore this little guy! Upon our return, he spent about an hour behind the couch, emerging briefly for food and drink, followed by another brief stint behind the couch. By the two hour mark he was flopping around on the couch next to me, showing off those humungous paws and purring as if he’d lived here his whole life. I’ve modified his name somewhat: Sammy Butters (’cause he’s such a head butter), this boy knows how to command attention.

My sincerest thanks to both [Diana] and Arlene – above and beyond the call of duty. Please keep me in mind if you get in any poly kittens, I think there might be just enough room for one more baby.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sue

Perdido and Sadie are the best of friends. He’s starting to get into a routine. It’s actually good that I’ve been home. He’s had at least one pee accident every day. We’ve got an open-wire crate to help get him used to being able to hold it. At night he starts out sleeping on the bed with me, but eventually he jumps down and sleeps in the crate or just outside it at the end of the bed.

I’ve included some pictures. The one picture is of Sadie cleaning his ears. She’s been very maternal with him. The other picture is of the two dogs checking out some flying bugs in the heather. The two dogs can be apart and do their own thing, but then Perdi will run along where ever Sadie is walking. The third picture is one of the boy all by himself.

He’s such a goof-ball and loves to play with Sadie. He found a wiffel ball under the deck and we play catch with that until his tongue is longer than his tail. Right now he’s curled up on the floor next to me sound asleep. He and Sadie played chase much of the morning and now both are sacked out.

It was time for Sadie to start on Frontline flea treatment, so we got a weight appropriate dose for Deedo too.

Stuart and Kendra

By Cory McKeown with photos by Melanie Epping

Ah, but it was a grand evening, indeed! Wearin’ of the green for makin’ of the green!!

The Humane Society St. Patrick’s Dinner and Auction on Saturday was a great success, thanks to everyone involved!! A sell-out crowd enjoyed a wonderful dinner catered by the Shoalwater Restaurant, and everyone had great fun bidding on auction items and socializing.

We want to sincerely thank everyone for their wonderful support of this event, our biggest fundraiser of the year. We are very grateful to the volunteers who organized and set up the dinner and auction, and to everyone who donated items for sale. Supporters who attended the event gave 110% when it came to bidding on items, and much needed money was raised to support the needy animals at the shelter and our community programs. Thank you all so much!!!

Murphy is a people-pleasing “perpetual kitten”
We have had some wonderful adoptions recently of some of our “long time “kitty residents that have been featured in this report. People have stepped up to the plate and adopted both Sweet William and Little Lady into good homes, and now we are hoping the luck will continue for Murphy.

This handsome butterscotch and white boy has been with us for several months. He is a charmingly large kitty, with the personality and demeanor of a kitten. He loves to play, enjoys other cats, and is exceptionally affectionate.

Murphy would be a wonderful feline addition to a family with school-aged children, or anyone wanting an enjoyable and interactive young cat. He is a wonderful guy waiting to enrich someone’s life with his great “purrrrsonality”!

Shelter Wish List

Spring, and therefore kitten season, is just around the corner. We are hoping for donations of Purina Kitten Chow for the tiny tabbies to come. We try to feed the little ones a consistent diet to prevent digestive upsets, and have found Kitten Chow to be well tolerated by most the kittens.

By Cory McKeown with photos by Melanie Epping

Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty!

No, we haven’t mistakenly switched our dog and cat picture- this sweet black lab mix female dog is named “Kitty”. When we got her several weeks ago from another shelter, she was almost painfully shy. But, with some good old TLC from our staff and volunteers, Kitty is coming out of her shell and proving to be a very nice dog, indeed.

She is about 2 years old, housebroken, and has a very soft, sweet face with big brown eyes. Kitty loves to go for walks, and is a pleasure to take out. She gets along well with other dogs, and would probably even be a sweet companion for dog-tolerant cats.

Kitty would be the ideal dog for someone, individual or family, looking for a quieter, sweet-mannered dog. Visitors to the shelter often don’t notice our quieter dogs such as Kitty. But, if someone takes the time to pet her and speak softly, it becomes apparent that she is truly a good little soul who is just waiting to quietly enrich someone’s life.

Little Lady has been passed over now for months

Sadly, Little Lady’s story is one we see too often. She came to us way back in June, and had with her a family of tiny kittens. She and the kittens went to one of our “foster moms”, and when the kittens were old enough, the little family was brought back to the shelter.

The kittens have all gone to good homes and poor little mama lingers day after day in the kitty playroom- passed over for the more brightly colored or more outgoing cats. Little Lady is just barely out of kittenhood herself, and would love a quiet home where she would be appreciated for her gentle nature. She was a wonderful mama to her babies, and now it should be her chance at a good life.

Shelter Wish List

What we are really, really hoping for and needing is a good turn-out for our upcoming St Patrick’s dinner and auction. This is our biggest fund-raiser of the year, and is vitally important in helping us get the money needed to help care for the animals.

The event will be held on March 15 at the Chautauqua Lodge, with a wonderful Irish dinner catered by the Shoalwater Restaurant. We have received some very nice items for auction. We are asking for everyone’s support for this important event- two years ago at our last auction, our business supporters were very active participants, and everyone had a great time! Come on bankers, realtors, and other business people- the animals need your support! We are selling tickets in groups for those who want to reserve a table. Tickets are $30, and are available at the Humane Society shelter.

Hi!

Mel and I are really happy we made the trip down to your wonderful facility and found our new kittens there!    Please tell Toby we are sorry it didn’t work out for him… but that he’s still the coolest looking cat in the place! 

We have renamed them.  The boy is named Charlie… after the character in 2 1/2 men played by Charlie Sheen.  He’s so laid back and found the comfortable couch and stretched out within minutes of getting home.  It was so funny… sort of like saying,  “hey, these are cool digs, I could get use to this place!”    lol

And on the way home “Alice” just didn’t seem to fit.  She looked like a little princess to me.  So I thought, ok, Princess!   But on arrival home, after some water and food and a bit of discovery, she became this little wild attack cat!  LOL  Crouching and hunting Charlie and coming up behind him and whacking him and running under a chair to do it all over again!  He just ignored her.. which was great….    My girlfriend came over and I said, “how can I name her Princess?… she’s so agressive!”  and she offered up Zena… princess warrior!  lol  So Zena it is. 

Yesterday we took them to Banfield in Federal Way and I signed Zena up for their whole plan which will include everything…  She weighed 1’6ounces!  What a fiesty little 1# though!  We just get the biggest kick out of her.  Both of them had been sneezing… but everything checked out fine.  No lung congestion, no fleas, no ear mites, good bones etc etc… and no eye or nose stuff to make them want to prescribe something for the sneezing… maybe just normal.   Zena is set up for shots to start on February 3rd.

They fill our house with joy.  Thanks so much.

And I’ve told everyone what a great operation you run down there!

Patty and Mel

——

Hello!

We love them sooo much!

Zena and Charlie are perfect together too!… I think because she was sooo young… she just adapted to him as a surrogate mother… sort of. 

She will just lay on top of him and purr when they are on the post together and he seems to just like it.  Very comforting to them both I suppose.

For a kitten, Zena wants to do and learn everything really fast… like a big cat.  It’s fun to watch her… no baby when it comes to new things.   Now that she weighs almost 3 lbs (!) we started this last weekend with the kitty door to the garage to see if she could move it and go through.  (Charlie uses it… but likes the litter box in the house better because its more convenient!  lol)  Well… we held it open and she jumps through fine… goes straight to the litter box and hops in like a big girl… then right back to the window … paws it… and we open it up!  so amazing!….   by Sunday… Zena could come back in by herself! … has no fear of it at all… and I am thrilled!    We will still keep the one in the house for another couple of weeks… since we’re gone mostly during  the day and she is so little still.

My daughter works only 6 miles from our house and spends her lunch hour with them almost every day.  Charlie loves to sit on you and touch you and is very very loving…

Superbowl, with several people over, he just came in the room and made his rounds, letting everyone pet him. 

I’ll send pics when I can.

Patty

Hello SPCHS!

I just wanted to send you a 2.5 year update on Bear (aka Henry). What an amazing gentleman you gave us! His almost paralyzing separation anxiety is gone and he is free and happy. People just needed to give him a chance, I so glad we had the opportunity to do so.

Thank you for your kindness and dedication! You have changed more lives then you could ever know.

THANK YOU!

Christine

Hi, Diana,

just thought I would give you an update on Barney. We now call him,
‘Sam.’

He’s doing wonderfully. After we left the shelter on Sunday, we went to
Leadbetter Point State Park where he and Shadow ran on the beach and
played in the water. They had a great time. Then we made the long drive
home. He started in the back of the car, but then moved to the seat
w/Shadow. She wasn’t thrilled about that, but she’s adjusting and is
very tolerant of him. For his part, he’s been very nice to her, not
clobbering her or jumping on her. He’s also been fine w/the cat.

Yesterday, I took him on a 5 mile walk through the neighborhood. He
literally greeted everyone on the sidewalk (old men, children, women
w/baby joggers, other dogs). He needs a little work on the lease, but it
shouldn’t be much. He seems to pick up things quickly. I’m going to sign
up for a basic skills class with Shadow’s old trainer, so he’ll be busy
learning new things.

This afternoon, I’m taking him to the vet, so I’m hoping that he has a
clean bill of health.

Anyway, I’ll send you another note soon. I just wanted to let you know
he’s in good hands and very much appreciated! He’s a great dog! What a
sweetheart.

Thank you for your help (meeting us on Sunday, answering all of my
questions, giving me your opinion about him, etc). You’re the reason
that we have a sweet new dog in our family.

Thank you,
Jill

Diana,

Hi! Hope things are going well up in WA.

Sorry it has been a while since I’ve sent you an update on Cody but things have been hectic on this end.

Cody is doing great. He is about 95 pounds and just loving life. We have enrolled him in Doggy Day Care and he goes maybe once a week and has a blast. The rest of the time it’s off to the dog park. His training is coming along great and he loves to play with the frisbee and hide the cookies. Hal and I tease him and always tell him “that he is quite the character”. We got a tattle tale to keep him off the bed and we came home the other day and he buried it and then brought it out to show us. We could do nothing but laugh. He is so smart. We take him to breakfast on the weekends and everyone loves him. Our neighbors told us that the next time they want to adopt a dog they are going to let Hal and I pick one out as we always get great dogs. Attached are some recent pictures.

Say hi to everyone for us.

Hugs,

Donna, Hal and Cody.

Cody

Millie & Cody

Cody & Shea

Cody

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to give you an update on Buster. He is doing great, no
problems adjusting at all! He has made himself right at home, hoping up on
the bed at night and enjoying the big back yard. He has a doctor
appointment tomorrow for a check up and some shots but he seems to be in
perfect health, running around with our other dog and barking at the horses
next door. He is very polite inside he has not had any accidents and settles
down nicely when he comes inside. Thank you so much for saving this
wonderful guy…he is a perfect fit for our family and we just love him so
much!

Take care
R.S.

I will try to send you a picture, everytime I try to get one he won’t sit
still!

By Cory McKeown with photos by Melanie Epping

Hoss and Tammy: “We really miss our homes- are you looking for us?”

These two nice dogs are about as different as two dogs can be, but they have something very important in common- both were found as strays, and both were dragging leashes when they were found. They have been at the shelter for several weeks now, and sadly, no one has coming looking for either of them.

“Hoss” is a handsome older Rottweiler with a wonderful disposition. He was found in the Naselle area, and the vet estimates his age at 12 or so. This friendly, very mellow fellow was very stiff with arthritis when we received him, but is moving about much better now that we have been giving him arthritis medication. Hoss appears to be purebred, and is just an all-around nice guy.

Little “Tammy” is as small as Hoss is big, but shares his story. This sweet terrier mix was found waiting outside Jack’s County Store in Ocean Park, and is well-cared for. But, like Hoss, no one has called or come looking for her.

If these two nice dogs were lost by good owners who simply don’t know where to look for them, we are hoping with all our hearts that they will come and get them. But, if as sometimes unfortunately happens, they were “dumped”, then we hope that they can find new loving homes. They are both up for adoption. It would be so nice if they found homes, and we didn’t have to look at their sad “are you looking for me?” faces much longer.

Poor Sweet William has been planted at the shelter for 183 days!!

Several months ago, we featured Sweet William in this column, and sadly, he is still with us, watching the other cats go to loving homes. He is a very affectionate and mellow adult tabby cat, who loves attention and is good with other cats. Sweet William is very good with his scratch box habits, and lives up to his name all around.

Some people insist that animals don’t have the same sense of time passing that humans do, and this may be true. But, even though Sweet William can’t tell you himself that he has lingered here for 183 days, you can see the look of hope and optimism on his face when a visitor stops to pet him, only to have his hope dashed time after time as they walk away without him. Someone please give this wonderful cat a chance in a new loving home- Sweet William might have nine lives, but it would be a shame if he spent so many of them alone.

 Shelter Wish List

What we are really, really hoping for and needing is a good turn-out for our upcoming St Patrick’s dinner and auction. This is our biggest fund-raiser of the year, and is vitally important in helping us get the money needed to help care for the animals.

The event will be held on March 15 at the Chautauqua Lodge, with a wonderful Irish dinner catered by the Shoalwater Restaurant. We have received some very nice items for auction. We are asking for everyone’s support for this important event- two years ago at our last auction, our business supporters were very active participants, and everyone had a great time! Come on bankers, realtors, and other business people- the animals need your support! We are selling tickets in groups for those who want to reserve a table. Tickets are $30, and are available at the Humane Society shelter.