Pet Talk

by Cathy Davis
    Recently there were some changes made in a few procedures where I work. Always a team player, I followed the new guidelines, but I wasn’t totally convinced it was going to work out exactly the way it was hoped. After just a few weeks, I realized that this change was a wonderful improvement and I emailed upper management with my thoughts about how well this was working out.
    A minute later an e-mail came back to me saying “when I saw your email about thus and such, I was worried something was wrong.” So I jokingly responded, “I must have a bad reputation!” “No”, he says “you have very high standards.”
    And he’s right, I do have very high standards, I expect the very best from myself and often expect too much of others, but I won’t apologize for that.
    Over the years there have been changes at the (Houlton Animal) shelter that maybe we didn’t all agree on at the time; changes that were necessary to improve the quality of life for the animals that we care for; changes that were necessary to keep staff safe, changes that were necessary to protect a large population of animals that depend on us. In the end, all have agreed that these changes have been necessary and in the end, we have a shelter environment that is healthy, sanitary, safe, and loving so that all animals that enter into our facility have a chance for a new beginning.
    Our standards are high, and our results are amazing. In January alone, twenty cats were re-homed, two dogs and a rabbit. We are forever grateful to the staff, who work so hard to make sure these animals are healthy and loved and get plenty of exercise every day. Caleb, Luanne, Marsha and Heather do a remarkable job, and even though he’s not on the payroll, I have to add that we could not do this work without Bob. He’s always there lending a hand, whether it’s to fill in when someone is sick, fix a broken pipe, plow the yard. Whatever it is, Bob is there for us.
    And all the volunteers who help raise the money that is necessary to heat the building and pay the mortgage and insurance and buy the food and pay the vet bill, you are all amazing and every single day there is another donation or another fund raiser going on.
    This Saturday, Feb. 11, there is a concert at the Houlton Center for the Arts (High School auditorium) 3 p.m., with free admission and free refreshments. Please join us for this and have a wonderful afternoon. Donations will be accepted. I can’t tell you how grateful we all are to Chuck Loucka for donating his time to perform. If you play any kind of instrument you can truly appreciate how much work it takes to memorize over an hour of music for a performance. Chuck has been working for months preparing for this event, and we hope you can come.
    On March 10, Tastefully Simple will be holding an open house at the shelter from noon to 3 p.m. This is going to be a fun event and we already have many people coming to this to help support the shelter operations.
    March 14, come dine at the Horn of Plenty from 4:30 to 8 p.m. A portion of the night’s sales will be donated to the shelter. I’ll be there, I love their food! 
    On March 16, our annual box lunch event order forms will be going out about 10 days prior to the lunch to local businesses. We need help with the baking for this event so if you would like to make a couple dozen cookies or a few squares, mark your calendar that we’ll need these on March 15 at the Gentle Memorial building kitchen.
    Each and every one of these events serves just one purpose, to help us continue with the high standard of quality care we give the animals who come to us. A cat is brought in when his owner moves away and abandons him in an apartment. Another is found in a snow bank. A dog is brought in so thin you can see every one of her ribs, and the staff cries as they hug her to keep her warm. One rescue after another, one life saved, one new home for Fluffy, and for every one that goes home, another comes in, or two or three more. The work never ends; we never stop. We don’t retire, we don’t go home and give up because this day we could not save this animal, we go home and remember that tomorrow we can save another, and then another.
    Our standards are high, our energy is great, our passion is endless, and with you as our partners, we can save just one more. Just one more.
    Cathy Davis is a longtime volunteer for the Houlton Humane Society. She can be reached at houltonanimalshelter@gmail.com or 532-2345.