By Cory McKeown with photos by Melanie Epping
Max: This sweet hard-luck pup is hoping love will turn his life around
Life has started out hard for this young lab mix pup. First, he had the misfortune of becoming lost in the Central Oregon town where he lived. This small town has no animal shelter, so Max ended up being housed at the local veterinarian office. No one came looking for him. He was on the “short list” at the vet’s office when one of our volunteers, who was vacationing in the area, happened to see him when she went in to get some medicine for her sister’s cat.
She knows a good dog when she sees one, and she knew Max was way too nice a pup not to be given a chance. So, she transported him to Central Oregon Humane in Bend, where they gave him his shots, neutered him, and put him up for adoption. Even after returning home, though, this caring volunteer couldn’t stop thinking about Max. So, she and her husband drove to Bend and brought him to our shelter.
Things were going well as Max settled into our shelter. Then, he started having trouble with his neuter incision, and had to receive care and antibiotics from our local veterinarians. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he has had to wear a bright orange muzzle now for several weeks, to keep him from licking!!!
Through all of this, Max has remained an extremely nice young dog. He is very quiet and sweet, and loves to be cuddled- he will crawl on your lap with the slightest invitation!! Max has a beautiful, glossy easy-care short coat, loves to go for walks, and is a wonderful size- about 40 pounds. He has a little more growing to do, but will not get much bigger. He can be shy with men, but warms up easily if given gentle encouragement.
Max is almost well and needs a good home and a loving family or person to turn his life around. Are you the one who can start him on the way to good luck?
We have a fall crop of beautiful “cattens”
As you may have guessed, “cattens” is our shelter nickname for the young cats, teenagers if you will, who are bigger than tiny kittens but still not full grown. Right now, we have a selection of some of the prettiest and nicest “cattens” we have ever seen- those of us who have been at the Humane Society for a while agree that this bunch of young cats are exceptionally attractive and have great personalities.
We have kitty teens of all colors and coat patterns, including ones dressed in gray flannel, orange Halloween costumes, leopard look-alikes, and solid colors. “Cattens” can be a wonderful addition to a household, because they are still kittenish enough to entertain with their playful antics, yet reliably housetrained and sturdy enough for active, but loving school aged kids. And, even though they are teenagers, these guys will pay attention to their new families, and not spend endless hours on the cell phone or ask to borrow the car!!!
Shelter wish list
Our dogs are telling us they are getting nervous because they are running low on dry dog food, and would be very grateful to receive some munchies. We have found that Pedigree or Costco’s Kirkland brand seems to settle best on their tummies.
We want to thank our supporters who have come with donations of laundry soap to keep us doing the 10-12 wash loads a day necessary to keep the shelter pets in a clean environment. We so appreciate all our supporters and the care shown to our needy pets.
