If Your Love Should Stray

Hi all!

July has been our Cat Days of Summer promotional month: the adoption fee for all adult cats has been reduced to just $50 (usually $95). I'm very, very happy to report that we're dealing with either happy coincidence or enormous promotional success … either way, a LOT of cats have gone home this month!

Congrats to: Simba, Charlotte, Tiara, Gabby, Potter, Cali, Kermit, Magnum, Cameron, Baby, Buck, Moe, Sova, Pantera, Kusco, Frita, Lucy, Patches, Ruby, Buddy, CHUBBS!, Hawthorn, Graphite, Tubby, Tank, Spade, and Finkster.

Tubby was adopted last week!

The promo isn't quite over yet … still one day left to bring a new feline companion into your family at the reduced adoption rate!

Our kittens have been going just as quickly, of course; their babyish cuteness is the only promotion they need. Congrats to Friday, Pikachu, Pudge, Sonoma, Smokey, Napa, Dasher, Cupid, Dancer, Prancer, Comet, Donner, Ariel, Jasmine and Belle on their new homes.

We had one rabbit adoption last week: Quincey! And Alice, Beatrice and Bianca--all guinea pigs--also found new homes.

Our dog population has been incredibly low this summer. In fact, as of last week's census we only had 16 dogs in house (about half our capacity)! So we don't have a lot of dogs to congratulate, which in this case is a happy thing. Brody, Fred, C.J., Miles Davis, Layla, Delilah, and DeeDee found new families.

A few other dogs who never made the adoption floor recently found their way home, too. These three were strays, brought to us by animal control.

We named two of them Little Debbie and Daniel Boone. They seemed to be from the same family, as they clearly knew each other and seemed very close. In fact, the animal control officer (ACO) had only been able to catch Daniel Boone … but once he got Daniel in the truck, Little Debbie came running and jumped in the truck of her own accord, not wanting to be without her buddy! Both appeared to be older in age and we found a number of tumors on one of the dogs. Little Debbie was so covered in fleas that most of the hair on her lower back around her tail area was missing.  

Fortunately, we were able to find a microchip in one of these dogs and tracked down the person listed on the chip--a woman who lives in New York State. Upon getting in touch with her, this woman told us that when she and her partner had separated, he had taken the two dogs (actually named Lady and Baxter). She had not seen the pups in over two years and had assumed that they were still living with her ex-partner. After hearing from us, she checked in with her ex, who said he had re-homed Lady and Baxter. There the trail goes cold. The important thing is, they ended up back together again, and were found by the police.

After completing their mandatory week-long stay (legal hold) at the animal control facility, Lady and Baxter were turned over to us. We decided to place this pair with their original owner, who was very obviously upset over the ordeal the dogs had been through and was eager to take them back to her farm in New York. She said the dogs are very bonded and was not surprised they had been found together. She joyously picked them up at the shelter (Lady and Baxter no doubt equally joyous!) and brought them home again.

So why must dogs complete a legal hold with animal control? It's meant to provide owners with time to reclaim the dogs before they're turned over to a third party (like HSCC). Animal control will usually scan a found dog for a microchip and look for ID tags in an effort to contact the owner. Because this is such a small state with a relatively small dog population, it's fairly unusual in Vermont for a dog who is wanted at home to not be reunited with his family. That's why we have very few cases like Lady and Baxter's, in which dogs coming from animal control are returned to their owners. Or like Audrey Hepburn's case. 

Audrey came to us from animal control, too. Our lost cat coordinator, Amanda, regularly checks craigslist.com for lost pet postings, and came across a post for a missing dog named Suzie. Suzie looked just like Audrey, and upon getting in touch with Suzie's people, we soon learned that Audrey was Suzie! The really frustrating thing was that she had been missing for two weeks--all the while sitting in animal control, right there for reclaiming. Unfortunately, the owners had not thought to check with towns outside of the one they occupy (Suzie had ended up in a different town). To make matter worse, they had had Suzie micro-chipped, but numerous scans did not pick up the chip (it will likely need to be re-implanted). Needless to say, the family was thrilled to be reunited with their pup, and we were happy their searching had finally come to fruition, too! 

Working with and understanding the animal control system can be very confusing. It doesn't help that there is no official state- or federally-mandated protocol for how towns must handle strays ... so every town does it a little differently. It's important to learn about your town's process (how long the hold is, where found dogs are posted by animal control, etc.), and especially important to understand that once a dog has been held for their town's required stray hold, the ACO or town officials are free to do whatever they want with the dog (take the dog home, give it away, euthanize it, bring it to the shelter). At that point the original owner is no longer the legal owner of the dog, and may need to go through an adoption process and/or pay fees to get the dog back.  

Some helpful tips:

1) Contact all proper authorities (ACO, police department, humane society, etc.) to report that the dog is missing. Craigslist, Front Porch Forum, the Lost & Found Animals of Vermont Facebook page and other online resources are great, but not all town officials check these for postings of missing dogs. It's best to be as proactive as possible and get the word out to as many people as you can, especially the people who will be caring for the dogs once they are in the care of a municipality.

2) Keep current information on your dog's tags and consider micro-chipping. A microchip is not a tracking device; it's more like information storage. It stores an owner's name, phone number and address, which will appear when the chip is scanned by a shelter or authorities. 

3) Get your dog licensed with the town you live in! It's not only the law, it can help authorities reunite a missing dog with the family it's been licensed to.

4) Call officials in other surrounding towns. Dogs have a tendency to travel long distances and can cover a considerable amount of ground in a short period of time. It's not uncommon for a dog to end up in another municipality before s/he is recovered.

Hope that helps. After all, we'd really like to keep our dog population at its current low numbers ;)

That's the good news this week!

Give a Penny, Save a Penny

At last, an update! With the Walk behind us, we can all breathe a little easier now. We had a great time at the Walk, by the way--it was lovely to see so many of you there! Some of you have already heard about this year's milestones, but they bear repeating:

·         This year, you all raised $7,000 more than has ever been raised online before.

·         The average amount raised per fundraising page this year was $200 higher than last year's page average!  

·          And 98% of those who created fundraising pages actually obtained donations, which is a 25% increase from last year!

Pretty awesome. The money our community raised will do a ton for our animals!
 

See more fun at the Walk here! Photos by Jared Katz of Black Dog Photos

Speaking of, let's get to the adoptions. We have so many to report since the last update!

Cats: Nuzzi Jade, John, Mike, Sam, Rocky, Taylor, Casper, Odie, Midnite & Seymour (!), Allycat, Garfunkle, Maggie, Pacer, Layla, Malikeye, Colors, Izzy, Zebra, Chowder, Panda, Ella, TJ & Cooper, Kathina, Captain Jack, Costello, Kinslee, Bisque, Paprika, Suzie all went home.

Kittens: Jake, Jill, Jen, Jim, Jack, Neville, Spock, Ronald, Batman & Robin found new homes.

Smalles: Mango the guinea pig; Biscuit and Crumb (hamsters) went home.

Dogs: Tucker, Ohren, Lola, Jackson, Bella, Soleil, Maddy, Maximus, Pugsley, Sterling, Bear, Jake are in new homes.

That's 56 animals in six weeks!

And there's yet one more. Our featured adoptee is … PENNY!

Penny is a young beagle-type mixed breed who came to the shelter in mid-March as a stray. Right off the bat, it was easy to see she was in need of help: Penny had a condition called "cherry eye," in which the gland of the dog's third eyelid becomes inflamed and protrudes over a portion of the eye. Our medical supervisor, Jen, also found an umbilical hernia. Other than that, though, she appeared to be in relatively decent health. And her temperament was downright wonderful. At just 20 pounds, Penny's small stature did nothing to dwarf her big personality. Inquisitive and engaged with her surroundings, Penny had definite thoughts about the world and was not afraid to express them. For instance, if one of our animal care staff asked her to sit, Penny had plenty to say about it. Barking and baying, she would eventually plunk her small rear end down -- but our staff swear she talked back while doing so, retorting something like, "Why don't you sit first!"

At other times, Penny was not about to interrupt her nap in yard if she wasn't ready to. If staff called her in while she was sprawled in the yard enjoying a snooze, she opted to "play dead" instead. Short legs and long ears akimbo in the sun, Penny would grant the flustered animal care person no more than a slightly opened eye before sinking back into slumber.

Yep, Penny was a playful and often silly girl. But because of her eye condition, her time spent at the shelter was definitely not all fun. Penny spent the majority of her residence here in a cone. Anyone who's observed a dog in a cone knows just how enjoyable they find that to be.

In early April, we sent Penny to Green Mountain Animal Hospital to get her spayed, repair her umbilical hernia, and correct the cherry eye. GMAH gave us a fantastic deal: $500 to do everything! The spay and hernia healed well, but unfortunately, Penny's eye did not (not uncommon with cherry eye).  GMAH suggested we try medication rather than revisiting surgery right away--so Penny's cone stayed on for two more weeks, and she was not allowed to roughhouse with other dogs. Penny remained patient and upbeat. But … the meds didn't work either. So we scheduled a consultation for Penny with the only Board-certified vet ophthalmologist in the area, Dr. Hoy of Vermont Veterinary Eye Care.

Penny on her way to a consult with Dr. Hoy. Photo taken by our med supervisor, Jen Parker

Living up to her excellent reputation, Dr. Hoy discovered the cause of inflammation to be a small, sharp piece of cartilage under the swollen gland that was not allowing the eyelid to heal. She told Jen that another surgery was the only fix--otherwise Penny would be destined for a life of chronic eye infections. We sent Penny back a few days later for surgery, not realizing then that if the surgery were a success, we would have to follow it up with eye meds administered four times a day for two weeks straight! Poor Penny. The surgery did go well, and Jen posted signs around the shelter to help staff remember to treat Penny's eye according to the rigorous schedule. Our staff did a fantastic job, and Penny's eyelid dramatically improved over the next two weeks. By the end of that period, Dr. Hoy was satisfied enough with the results to recommend she be made available for adoption.

What a glorious day for Penny! 

Photo by Mountain Dog Photography

The cone finally came off for good for the first time in two months, and Jen and our canine supervisor, Robyn, gave Penny her first official play date in a very long time. They brought her out to our large play yard with Jen's pup, Winnie, and burst into laughter as Winnie and Penny somersaulted over each other, Penny--in typical fashion--telling Winnie exactly what she thought about her rough play as soon as she was right side up again.

Photo by Mountain Dog Photography

Penny went home three days after she was made available--we knew she'd go fast, that cutie! We were so happy to watch her prance out the front doors with her new family, butt a-wiggle and nose held high.

All in all, we'd spent ~$1200 on Penny's two eye surgeries and various medications, hernia repair, and spay surgery--all provided at great discount. We had some outside help, too: Mrs. Heinz's fifth grade class at Orchard School decided to hold a Yankee Candle sale to raise money for HSCC. Would you believe they raised $800 profit in candle sales?! Well, $400 of that covered Penny's second eye surgery. The other half was spent on all kinds of pet supply goodies at Pet Food Warehouse! Such an amazing help.

We have seen so many examples of youth fundraising over the last year: bake sales, candle sales, greeting card sales, art sales, pet supply drives, donations in lieu of birthday gifts … the kids in our community continually show incredible selflessness and compassion. We hope Penny's story shows the impact that hard work makes in the lives of shelter animals! Penny, for one, will now live a life free of chronic eye discomfort. We're sure she'd have PLENTY to say about that!

That's the good news this week. Thanks for your support!

Queen Charlene Led the Way

Today we write in honor of a faithful participant of our Walk for the Animals: a beautiful lady with long, flowing white hair and sparkling dark eyes; refined taste; and the confident ambition of a successful leader. Queen Charlene made Walk history. She also stood about two feet high. She was a gorgeous American Eskimo.

Charlene’s doting person, Marian, assisted the Queen in her many successful Walk ventures. Marian writes:

“The 6th Walk for the Animals [twelve years ago!] was the first event for Charlene and me … I chose Charlene out of all of my dogs because she was beautiful, she loved attention, and she loved to go for a walk. She knew my walking shoes and she'd have a fit when she saw me putting them on; she'd run around the house barking until I snared her and put her leash on. Each year at the Walk, no matter where we started in the crowd, she'd pull ahead until she was in the lead. Then she'd hold her beautiful head high, smile, and wag that beautiful plume of a tail. She loved it. And she loved winning."

Indeed, Charlene and Marian have taken the top fundraising prize for several years now, and together raised thousands of dollars for HSCC!

“People loved giving Charlene money,” Marian writes. “After a while people would ask if it was ‘time to give Charlene money again.’ She had a following.”

And Marian helped.

“Each year I made a postcard with her photo and a theme: ‘Take Charlene for a Walk,’ ‘Still Going Strong,’ and, of course, in 2010 as ‘Sweet Sixteen’ with her crown and sash. Somewhere I also have ‘Queen Charlene,’ ‘Keep Charlene on Top’ (she's sitting on a bench and my other dogs are under the bench) … you get the idea. I'd enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope so it was easy for people to send a check back to us.”

We, too, looked forward to the advent of Charlene’s inevitable win at the Walk each year. It became tradition to announce Marian and Charlene as the winning fundraisers. In the midst of applause, a proud, petite white dog would emerge purposefully from the crowd, approach the stage with her starlet smile—fur blowing in the breeze—and accept the award with the knowing grace and humility of a dignitary. We loved that moment.

Make a tribute to Queen Charlene's work for shelter animals.

On May 5^th, we received this email from Marian:

“The star of the walkathon, the lovely (both inside and out) Charlene, died today. She lived for two words: ‘good girl’—and she earned those words hundreds of times over her almost 18 years. So the walkathon this year, for me, will be in her memory.”

As you can imagine, we were deeply saddened by this news. It’s hard for us to imagine the Walk without Charlene.

Marian has chosen Charlenes’ 15-year-old sister, the Fair Miss Bianca, to fill her predecessor’s dainty white shoes this Sunday—because Miss Bianca is “the softest dog in the world.”

Marian and Bianca began their rounds over the weekend, and have raised over $700 already.

If you haven’t begun fundraising yet, could you follow Charlene's lead? Set up a fundraising page online or download a pledge form to raise money offline. Don't feel like fundraising? Make a tribute to Charlene by donating to Marian and Bianca's page.

We have only five days left to make the Walk a success for our shelter, and are still $13,000 from our goal. You do not have to attend the event to help.

We have a special award for Charlene planned for this year’s Walk. We hope you’ll join us in honoring her steadfast work for her temporarily less advantaged fellow animals. And what better way to remember her, then by asking your friends, neighbors, family to invest in the futures of the animals at HSCC ... with a wag and a smile!

Thank you.

You can find details about the 18th Annual Walk for the Animals here.

Strika Out at the Shelter

Happy May!

In explanation of the recent irregularity in updates, it's officially crazy time for us here at the shelter. This month alone our event schedule includes the annual rabies clinic (last weekend); the May Day benefit concert at the Monitor Barn in Richmond (this Friday); another restaurant night at the The Scuffer (date TBD); and a flurry of planning for our largest fundraiser of the year: the Walk for the Animals (June 10th!).

We've got exciting things happening on the adoption front, too. For example, starting tomorrow, May 8th, NorthCountry Federal Credit Union will kick off a creative new promotion to help get our animals adopted! Every Tuesday they'll post a featured animal of our choosing on their Facebook page. If the animal is adopted within two weeks, they'll donate $100 to the shelter! Needless to say, we love this idea.

With three weeks of adoptions to report, please bear with a couple of loooong lists (long lists of adoptees=good thing!):

Cats: Zack, Ella, Inka, Petunia, Honey, Lola, Nutmeg, Ozzy, Daphney, Moca, Jinx, Molly, Mary Anne, Callie, Bubby & Baby Girl together, Flapjack, Aurora, Princess, Casper, Strika, Mike and Sam found new homes. Wendy and Buffcat were reunited with their searching owners. And kittens Monty, Kaboodle, Friskee, Whiskas and Fancy were here for no more than two days.  

Dogs: Lou (Beagle), Ike (GSD), Scrappy (Terrier mix), Ginger (Golden), Jaeger (Lab), Wilbur (Lab), Zoey & Meisha (Silky Terriers), Stella (Lab), Zeus (Golden) and Charlie (Springer Spaniel mix) are enjoying the springtime with their new families.

Charlie is a great candidate for the featured adoptee because he came to us last December in a very sorry state. This two-year-old Springer Spaniel mix suffered from an extreme case of demodetic mange and allergies that left lesions, bald patches, and sores all over his body. 

Charlie before

Despite the severe discomfort he must have been in, Charlie was the sweetest dog you could ask for. Through a host of medications and treatments over five long months, our medical supervisor, Jen, was able to help this affectionate guy beat the mange and simultaneously get his allergies under control. Finally, last week, Charlie emerged all shiny, fresh and new to join the ranks of available dogs--fully displaying the happy-go-lucky, bright, goofy pup he was born to be!

Charlie after

Last Saturday, in the midst of our rabies clinic, Charlie danced out the front doors of the shelter with his new parents in tow. The couple beamed with with pride as we wished Charlie a wonderful future, and Charlie? That sparkling dog gave us a big ol' hound grin with those generous lips of his!

Fabulous news, but I'm not quite done yet. I also wanted to tell you about Strika the cat!

Strika is a one-year-old gray tiger kitty who was relinquished to the shelter with her litter of one-week-old kittens. When Jen checked Strika in, she specially noted that this cat wasn't just shy … she was terrified! For whatever reason, Strika seemed to be very undersocialized. And as you might imagine, a cat who's uber shy is much less likely to attract potential adopters.

Because Strika's kittens were so young, she and her brood went straight into foster care with one of our invaluable foster moms, Connie. Our feline supervisor, Kayla, crossed her fingers that Connie's care might help Strika gain confidence just as much as it did her kittens … and wouldn’t you know that Strika had a bit of an effect on Connie, too! The foster mom ended up falling in love with the young gray mama, and vowed that she would help Strika learn to trust people.

Nine weeks later, the kittens were spayed/neutered and ready to return to the shelter for their big debut on the adoption floor. As mentioned above, those kittens didn't have much time to get used to the shelter. They were whisked right into new homes! But what of Strika? Strika also never had to face the difficult task of adjusting to the shelter environment and meeting lots of new people every day. Because in the end, Connie just couldn't part with her. And when you consider that just last week Strika--who'd always been most comfortable in hiding--willingly approached Connie and asked her for pets … well … it's evident that this particular cat ended up in Connie's nurturing care for a reason. And why should she ever have to leave it?

Yep, foster parents make great differences in the lives of homeless animals--even when they don't adopt their charges! "Kitten season" (which is now mostly year round) will soon hit its peak, and we're always in need of more temporary homes for young kittens. Does this sound appealing to you? A "failed" foster mother myself (I adopted a singleton kitten I fostered), I can say that it's not for everyone! Aside from the obvious hazard of not being able to say goodbye, caring for youngsters who are very young and motherless, or who have health issues, can be quite time-consuming. And of course, the older they get, the more kittens tend to take over the home … But if you have the right living circumstances and a lifestyle that's conducive to raising kittens, please consider helping our mission in this very important way. Because when we run out of foster homes, the kittens have to remain at the shelter. And shelter life is far from optimal for babies who have weaker immune systems and need social development. A good way to start in exploring foster care is by reaching out to our feline supervisor, Kayla, with questions (Kayla@chittendenhumane.org).

Okay, now I'm done. That's the good news this week. Enjoy the flowers!

Best,
Megan

Meeko Shall Inherit Your Heart

Welcome to fully-fledged spring!

Canine Supervisor Robyn, Feline Supervisor Kayla, and I saw the flowers blooming in Mystic, Connecticut last weekend at the New England Federation of Humane Societies Annual Conference, which drew hundreds of folks involved in animal welfare--from animal control officers, to volunteers, to tiny animal rescue organizations, to employees of the Humane Society of the United States and the ASPCA.

We found a great majority of the workshops fascinating. Topics that made us think: open adoptions; pit bull advocacy; animal enrichment; how to tell the difference between feral cats and frightened domestic cats. A lecture that sparked extensive conversation was entitled: "Shelter-ers or Rehomers?" That topic deserves an entire blog in itself, and I'd like to write about it soon.

But for now, let's discuss our animals who've gone from the shelter to a home!

Two dogs found homes last week: Quigley, a nearly blind Golden mix (sweetest guy ever), and Millie, an adorable, floppy, small breed/Terrier mix.

Eight cats went home! Congrats to Queenie, Shamus, Shanti, Parka, Luna and Sebastian. In amazing news, Curry is finally in a home! This seven-month-old cat grew up here in our shelter, in an isolation room. Sadly, over the course of his entire kittenhood, he exhibited chronic vomiting.  Our medical supervisor, Jen, and visiting veterinarian, Dr. Susan McMillan, tried EVERYTHING to fix this little guy. In the end, a raw food diet stopped the vomiting, and he was finally made available for adoption. We're overjoyed to know that he's finally living life outside of a cage.

And we're just as happy about the adoption of our featured adoptee … MEEKO!

Meeko

Many of you have seen Meeko featured on our Facebook page, if not met her in person, because she's been here a very long time. At least, much longer than Siamese kitties usually remain unspoken for here!

Meeko was relinquished to us in late February because her owner passed away. A beautiful Chocolate Point, Meeko is typical of her breed in that she has a BIG personality! And unfortunately, the particular bent of her personality is not especially adaptable to life in a shelter. Meeko has no tolerance for other animals. And is not unendingly patient with multiple human strangers handling her. After a week of "hissy/swatty" behavior with staff attempting to clean her cage, our feline supervisor moved her into her own office for closer observation. Fortunately, free of the company of other cats, Meeko came out of her shell and showed her social side. Kayla quickly learned that Meeko has her preferences: no scratching of the hind end; limited petting; a fondness for men over women; no hugging, please … but overall, Kayla observed nothing of alarm. Still, the thought of placing her in a Tokyo cage in the lobby, next to other cats in Tokyo cages, with volunteers taking her out of the cage to clean each morning … just didn't seem conducive to Meeko's success at the shelter. So the cat moved in with our volunteer and events coordinator, Shayla.

Shayla has a special place in her heart for Siamese and was excited to meet Meeko. The feeling was not completely mutual. After a week in the little office, Meeko yearned to expand her horizons and began jumping the gate. Shayla reacted by leaving her door closed … after which Meeko learned to take advantage of unwitting strangers who mistook the intentions of the blue-eyed cat winding between their legs for affection. She only needed six inches of open doorway.

Meeko's favorite thing in the office was a peacock feather--which object of sport just happens to be all the rage among our cat population these days. But Meeko's no blind follower. She genuinely loved that feather. Staff would watch from the front desk as Meeko suspiciously eyed the feather, daring it to mock her just one more time. When fed up with its cheekiness, she'd raise a chocolate paw and ferociously go to work, smacking its silky head again and again with an alacrity enviable of any boxer at the speed bag. Afterwards, convinced it had learned its lesson, she'd jump aloft Shayla's chair and gaze fondly at the chastened feather with heavy-lidded eyes. That single blue and green feather hanging in Shayla's office provided Meeko the extra bit of physical and mental stimulation she needed to make it through four weeks in a small space. But its significance would play a larger role yet.

Meeko had quite a few interested visitors, but her lack of cuddliness seemed to turn those folks away. Seven Days lent a hand by publishing Meeko's photo in the paper--which garnered quite a few calls of interest. But as soon as the callers learned of the cat's intolerance for other animals, they lost interest. Until last Thursday.

Thursday afternoon, a couple from Hardwick came in specifically to meet Meeko. Perhaps it's the fact that they live amidst acres and acres of undisturbed woods that lends them a "back to the earth" quality. Their cat had died, they said quietly, and they were ready to find a new cat. They'd seen Meeko in Seven Days. And had known instantly she was the one.

Shayla told them Meeko couldn't live with other animals, expecting the usual disappointed response. But no--they had no other animals. It was no problem. The man explained that when he first saw Meeko's photo in the paper, he grew nervous that they couldn't get to the shelter fast enough to adopt Meeko before someone else did. But then a thought came to him distinctly: Meeko is your cat and will be there for you when you are ready. His fears were calmed.

Shayla introduced them to Meeko, and watched warily as the man began to pet the Siamese without apology--pushing every button Shayla knew Meeko has. Finally, the inevitable: Meeko said "No!" with her teeth. But it wasn't her usual impatient fussiness: she communicated gently, with patience, and rubbed right up against the man again afterwards as if to say "No hard feelings!" Shayla couldn't believe it. "He was able to touch that cat more in ten minutes than I've been able to in a MONTH!" she said. And he just kept saying, "This is my cat. This is my cat!"

After a few minutes, the man turned to his wife and asked what she thought. "I don’t think I need to weigh in," she replied. "She's clearly yours."

The man left the room to fill out the paperwork, and his wife made an overture to Meeko. Shayla explained that Meeko is very male-centered--had never lived with a woman and seemed much less interested in befriending women. "You could try offering her your shoe to sniff--she likes shoes," Shayla suggested. The woman did not merely hold out her foot. She took off both of her boots and laid them on the floor. Meeko sniffed the boots--and then dropped to the floor and began to roll over them and over them. Shayla swears she caught a look of admiration for the woman developing in Meeko's eyes. 

"I have money in my pocket for this cat today," the man announced when he returned. "That's great," Shayla said, "But please know there are multiple steps to adoption that usually require a couple of days to complete." Not for this couple. Within an hour they'd completed the adoption process--including obtaining a glowing reference from their notoriously hard-to-reach vet … and we had an appointment open for their exit interview.

"Do you think she'll be a good mouser?" the man asked Shayla, as he waited for Meeko to get packed up. "We have some mice in the house."

"Oh yes!" Shayla replied, remembering the peacock feather.

Meeko's horizons expanded exponentially that very afternoon.

"But the craziest thing about all of this?" Shayla said to me in a credulous voice as she excitedly related the details of Meeko's adoption: "This man has a peacock feather braided into his hair."

That's the good news this week.

Best,
Megan

That Bunny Bond

23 animals adopted in the last two weeks! How's that for sheltering success?

One kitten, a vivacious Tuxedo named Gromet, was first to find a home. He was followed by 16 adult cats! Congrats to Babear, Minnie, Abigail, Tyson, Sabrina, Faye, Astro, Pebbles, Loki, Greta, Cissy, Bea, Miss Kitty, Chocolate Chip and Elmo together, and … finally … SALTINE! 

Saltine

This senior long-haired all-white beauty has been waiting months for a new home. As so often happens with long-term residents here, when it rains, it pours: Saltine suddenly had three interested parties all at once last week! One of the families drove here all the way from Massachusetts just to adopt her. Fortunately, their trip was not for nought: Saltine joined them for the long trip home.

Four dogs are new family members this week, too! Congrats to Terrier mix Oliver, Black Lab Shadow, Cocker Spaniel Squishy, and Lab-mix May.

 

Our featured adoptees this week? Good friends Penelope and Leonidas! Penny and Leo are one-year-old bunnies who were relinquished to us in late February because of a changing family situation. Penny, a black Rex-mix rabbit, and Leo, a gray American-mix rabbit, lived in the same home and got along well, but, we were told, were not necessarily bonded.

Penelope (L) and Leo (R)

Penny and Leo's owner called us at a time when we had no room for two more bunnies at the shelter--but was dealing with an emergency situation. So we turned to a woman who's fostered rabbits for us before: HSCC volunteer Nikki DeSarno, who also runs a chinchilla rescue named "Frodo's Friends Rescue"  from her home.

Nikki previously fostered speckled rabbits Oreo and Samoa for us, and did a wonderful job caring for them. She did just as well with Leo and Penny, who were shy and skittish when she took them in. She noticed that they loved to play, however: "They would entertain me by tossing toys and paper towel rolls all around the pen!" So she decided to use their playtime to help the pair develop confidence and trust in people. She sat with them in their playpen and pretended to ignore them at first. "After a while, curiosity kicked in and I would feel a little nuzzle on my foot or leg as they took turns sniffing me and running back to their tunnel," she said. By the time the two came back to the shelter, they were totally different rabbits. Leo was even outgoing, and ended up starring in one of our calendar shoots!

Leo in "Party Animals"

Penny and Leo are unlike our usual featured adoptees in that they didn't have an epic stay at the shelter; in fact, they were spoken for even before making their debut on the adoption floor. About a month into their foster care, Cara (our small animal coordinator), received a phone call from a woman who wanted to grant her daughter's birthday wish for a pet rabbit. They had been researching rabbit care for two years, she told Cara, and knew exactly what they wanted. Cara told her about Penelope and Leo, and the women wanted to meet them right away. Fortunately, space had opened up at the shelter, so in the bunnies came, and the woman decided on Penelope for her daughter that very afternoon.

The next day, however, Cara began to rethink splitting them up. It seemed each time we walked by their enclosure, the bunnies were grooming each other, lying smushed together side-by-side, or playing togther. Bonded bunnies will fail to thrive if separated, and Cara worried that these two had grown so close in foster care that they really ought to stay together. Nikki had noticed the same thing: most evenings when she came home from work, she'd find them snuggling together.

The mother returned with her daughter the next day, and Cara hoped to convince them to take both bunnies. But she didn't even have to try! In the first place, the daughter decided she was more intrigued by Leo than Penelope. In the second place, she noticed the rabbits' affection for each other immediately. At one point during the visit, Penelope began grooming Leo's ears. "Oh, they love each other, Mom!" the girl cried. It was an easy decision: the daughter would get double the bunny companionship she'd wished for! Leo and Penny went home with a very excited young lady on Saturday.

This is a wonderful story to feature because this family knew exactly what they were getting into. Unfortunately, many people who take on rabbits don't realize that they're actually quite high maintenance pets--or that a rabbit's lifespan is a good ten years!

Cara keeps an eye on craigslist.com, and has already begun to notice the multitude of ads that typically crop up this time of year for baby bunnies. Easter is prime time for bunny breeding, and shelters across the country are routinely slammed with rabbits from May through the summer. In fact, rabbits are the most frequently relinquished companion animals after cats and dogs.

Rabbits are highly intelligent animals that need lots of exercise and enrichment to thrive--we say at least one hour out of the cage a day, but more is ideal. Rabbits can also be clicker trained (we hope to capture video of that soon!) and litterbox trained. 

Freshly-cut Timothy hay is best for rabbits.

And let's face it: they're expensive pets. Rabbits need an unlimited supply of Timothy hay (not cheap) in their diets to prevent gastrointestinal stasis, or blockage in their digestive tracts. They also do best with a changing array of fresh veggies every single day. And don't forget the chew toys! Rabbits need to chew to keep their teeth a manageable length … and bored rabbits will chew destructively. Regular brushing and nail trims are also required.

A lot of this is relatively "new" information. I cringe to think of the life of the rabbit I had as a child, before I knew about daily exercise and training and toys and unlimited hay … The more we get to know our fellow creatures--the more intelligence and complexity we discover in them--the more we realize how few animals actually are "low maintenance pets." And isn't that intelligence and creativity the very reason we find these animals' companionship so fulfilling? More really is more when it comes to animal care.

Fortunately, it seems that Leo and Penelope will get all of the love and attention and enrichment they could possibly desire. And … they have each other :)

That's the good news this week!

Best,
Megan