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The dog (and cat!) days of summer are only at the shelter

There is a “BC” cartoon circulating right now in which one character claims to have found the ultimate sun block. When the second character asks what it is, he is informed: “It is directions to Washington”. Yeah, no sultry dog days for us yet- we are having our typical often-dreary June weather.

Technically, summer doesn’t happen until next Sunday, but at the shelter, we are already having dog (and cat and kitten) days. Summer is a great time to bring a new pet into the family. With school over, soccer moms and baseball dads often have a little more free time, and the kids always want something to do.

With some extra time, the family can welcome a new pet into the home, and the kids can get more used to having additional responsibilities caring for a pet before school starts. We have some wonderful family dogs, large and small and in between, just waiting to share in the summer fun.

Also, we are getting in some darling kittens of all colors and descriptions. These little cuties are just two of our playful kittens. Bring the family in and see if we have your next best friend!

Photo op for people and their pets on Doggie Olympics Day

Have your photo taken with Fido or Fluffy by professional photographer Ed Streit. This is a fund raiser for the Humane Society, and Ed is donating his time and the $25 sitting fee goes directly to the shelter.

Photos will be put in a secure location online after the shoot, and 5×7 prints can be purchased for $2 each, including delivery.

Space is limited, so reservations are highly recommended. Call Rod or Verna at 642-4748 to reserve your spot. This is a wonderful opportunity for owners to get a professional quality picture of their beloved pets. Pictures will be taken this Saturday, June 21, from 1:00-4pm at the Long Beach Depot building (just North of Dennis Company).

Thanks, Ed!

For more information on the Doggie Olympics, visit: http://funbeach.com/events/doggieolympics/index.html

For more informaiton on Ed Streit Photography, visit: http://www.edstreit.smugmug.com/

By Cory McKeown

June is Adopt-a-Shelter Cat Month

And we are ready! We are finally getting kittens in, and have a cute selection. There are more feline families in foster care, and they will also be arriving at the shelter very soon. So, if you want to be “smitten with a kitten”, come on down!!

Even though much attention this time of year is focused on kittens, we want to remind everyone that we also have wonderful adult cats waiting for loving homes. Some of these adult kitties have been waiting too long for homes and just need to be given a chance. Ask our staff about our ‘adult cat special” and help a deserving kitty find a home.

June is also adopt Juno Month!!

Juno is hoping that some of the adopt a pet in June thinking will carry over to her and she will find a loving home. She is a year-old Chocolate Lab mix, and has a great potential to be a loving and loyal companion. Lab lovers know what wonderful pets they can make, but they also know that labs can be slow to grow up. Juno needs a patient and caring human friend to guide her as she becomes more mannerly and reaches her full potential. She definitely has the desire to be a very good dog- she just needs some love and attention and someone to show her the way.

In memory of a Greyhound

When Cody and Star were at the end of their Greyhound racing careers, they won the biggest race of their lives. For the first time, they were not seen as just money-makers born and bred to run, but through Greyhound rescue, were adopted into the comfortable home of a local couple, and finally knew what it meant to be loved.

At the shelter, we had the opportunity to know these gentle dogs when they were boarded with us from time to time when their owners traveled. When they first started staying with us, they were a little shy and frightened, but became more outgoing as they became more comfortable with us.

Star remained quieter and more subdued, but Cody quickly became a clown. He delighted in playing with his favorite shelter toy “Mr. Squeaky”, and loved it when we laughed at him, which we did often.

Sadly, last week Cody lost his battle with cancer and passed away. Rest in peace gentle boy. We will miss you.

By Cory McKeown with photos from the Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project

When dogs cry

I knew I was in deep emotional trouble when in just watching the previews of last Friday’s Oprah show featuring puppy mills I was reduced to sobbing. As someone very involved with humane issues, I knew I should watch the show to learn more about the deplorable lives these dogs in these “puppy factories” live. After all, they say knowledge is power, and Oprah is a very powerful public figure who exerts tremendous influence on American Society. And her shows are always well done and informative. So, even though I knew the program would be hard to take, I felt I needed to know as much about the subject as I could learn to be a more effective and caring animal advocate.
Well, the previews were heart-wrenching enough, but the whole program was the things nightmares are made of for those of us who care about animals. The dogs were shown in beyond-deplorable conditions. Some of them couldn’t walk on normal surfaces because they were only used to walking on wire…. Female dogs being bred every heat cycle, producing litter after litter of puppies and getting no attention from their owners other than the basics, such as food. The expose said that the adult breeding dogs are often shot to death by the owners when they can no longer produce puppies…

While we have no large-scale puppy mills in our community, we do have “back yard breeders”. These breeders might treat their dogs a little better than the ones shown in the puppy mills, but the bottom line is the same: the dogs are bred time after time all in the name of profit.

The very sad thing we do have all too often in our community is dogs living their lives on the end of chains. Sometimes they have shelter; sometimes they don’t. Because their chains are usually in a fixed spot, the areas around the dogs, their entire worlds in effect, become mucky, muddy pits. And they live in these pits year after year, with little, if any, contact from their owners other than to be fed.

And because dogs are such social creatures, being so isolated causes them to cry and sometimes bark endlessly. This behavior often either concerns or aggravates neighbors, depending on how they feel about the situation.

We want to do something about chained dogs and are starting a new program at the Humane Society called the “3-F’ program. What this stands for is “Fences for Fido”, and we are hoping for donations of sturdy welded wire fencing and posts, or cash donations to help us get dogs off chains and into a cleaner, fenced environment. Our members donate the labor, and we have already put up several new yards for some dogs that were living their lives on chains. A wonderful secondary effect of these yards is that the owners are often much more likely to interact with their dogs and provide them much- needed human contact when the dogs aren’t leaping at them from the ends of chains, and jumping all over them with muddy paws. Please contact the shelter if you would like to help with this program.

One thing the Oprah program stressed over and over is that public awareness and action can put puppy mills out of business. There are some wonderful dogs and puppies available for adoption in shelters, even some pure-bred dogs. Did you know that statistically, about 99% of the puppies available in pet shops come from puppy mills?

Animal lovers, it is time for us to turn our passion into action. As they say: “think globally and act locally”. If you see dogs in our community living neglected lives, or dogs that could benefit from a better environment, please call us. Those of us who care need to be there.

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.

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

By Cory McKeown with photos by Melanie Epping

It’s Time to Fall in Puppy Love!!

We have darling puppies again awaiting adoption to good homes. There are four girls and two boys in this little canine family, and they are about nine weeks old. The pups are truly mixed breed- perhaps a combination of Shepherd, yellow lab, and husky. Also, rumor has it that Daddy may have been a traveling salesman from Chow City….

They are very healthy and playful, and adore attention from people. The pups should be medium/large to large dogs and ideal canine companions for individuals or families. They have their first shots, will soon be spayed and neutered, and ready to come home! See these puppies on Petfinder.com.

R.C. - This “Bandito” is Ready to Steal Your Heart

This young Cattle Dog was found several weeks ago, running up the road wearing a harness and trailing a leash. No one has come to claim him, and now he is up for adoption.

He is a very friendly and extremely intelligent dog, and his “raccoon eyes” markings make him look like he might be up to something- hopefully stealing someone’s heart and finding a good home.

R.C. loves to go for walks, is housetrained, seems good with cats and other dogs, and has some basic training. He is so smart and anxious to please, and should take readily to further training. He is athletic and a great size- about 40 pounds.

This “Bandito” would make a wonderful hiking companion, and would fit nicely into an active household or even as a loyal buddy for a single person or couple. Come and spend some time with R.C. - if he is the dog for you, he will steal your heart! R.C. on Petfinder.com

These boys and girls are about 8 -9 weeks old and beautiful. Their mama had them under a nice lady’s porch so she brought them in and cared for and raised them and now they are all ready for new homes. Could these beauties be what you’re looking for?

We’ve also got orange, chocolate and grey tabbies, calico, torti and black kittens, as well as cats in most every color and breed imaginable. Will you help Santa find them forever homes this holiday season?

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=9886006

and

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=9747480

and

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=9637062