Pet Talk

By Cathy Davis    This time of year it’s so busy you can barely catch your breath but once the holidays are over there seems to be a real lull. We kind of hibernate in a sense. No presents to buy or wrap, no parties to attend, no cookies to bake, no big family meals to prepare. It’s a wonderful time in a way; time to rest, recoup, re-energize, and this year, time to plan for a little winter fun.
    On Saturday, Jan. 12, from noon to 3 p.m., there is going to be a big party at the animal shelter and you are invited. We are calling this “New Homes for the New Year” and it’s a party to bring in friends and visitors with the hopes of adopting out some of our long-term residents. There will be adoption “deals” going on all day long, and the best thing you could possibly do is go to the shelter before Jan. 12 and fill out a pre-adopt form so if you are interested in puppies, dogs, or cats, you know you’ll be able to leave with a new family member that day.
    But this isn’t “just” an adopt-a-thon, we will also have outdoor winter fun including a huge bonfire, some games including pin the nose on the snowman, biggest snowball contest, snowball target contests (assuming we still have snow) and maybe even a scavenger hunt. We will have hot food and hot cocoa, a bake sale, and of course there are many items that are always available for sale at the shelter including dog shampoo and conditioner from Mutt Nose Best, candles and room sprays, dog collars and leashes, cookbooks, t-shirts and sweatshirts. 
    I can’t wait for this event. I’m so excited, just something to brighten up a cold winter day, a chance to spend time with the best people and the most beautiful animals. I hope you can join us and if you have any scrap pallets or other dry wood and would like to contribute them for our bonfire, please bring them with you.
    Winter is a very trying time for the shelter in many ways. Across the country animal shelters find that adoptions are often slow in the winter, and yet animals keep coming in, faster than they go to new homes, and financially we struggle in the winter as the bills are higher and the income is down.
    Here’s an opportunity to shed the winter blues and have some fun, listen to some good music, laugh and play in the snow with your kids, and if you are so inclined, maybe consider taking home a new friend.
    Last week I told you about Marvin, a beautiful chocolate brown Maine Coon, and before Pet Talk was even published Marvin had found his forever home. I am so excited for him and wish this for the rest of our pet population.
    We have a real sweet all white kitty who is deaf as a doornail, but sweet, my goodness this is a sweet cat. (can I say sweet often enough?) The one thing we have discovered is that this kitty doesn’t care for dogs much, so we’re hoping for a nice quiet home, perhaps a home where this is the “only child” of an older couple. Please consider providing a home for this kitty.
    We did a count the other day and out of an entire room full of felines, half of them are all black. What’s up with that? This seems to run in cycles, sometimes it’s black and white kitties that don’t move, and right now nobody wants a black cat? Imagine if nobody wanted you just because you had red hair, how sad!
    We also have some very long-term residents that deserve a chance at a new home.
    They have sat in cages for months, watching people come in, walk by, peer in their cage, and then walk out with another kitty. Don’t tell me they don’t know what’s going on because I know better. They might not “think” in the English language but I know that in kitty speak they are thinking “what the heck, what’s wrong with me? Please take me. What do you think “MEOW” stands for anyway, it stands for ME. I want you to pay attention to ME.”
    Sadly, there are situations where someone loses a pet to old age, disease, accident.
    If you have recently lost a pet, please consider adopting from the shelter. The life you save may be your own, the peace of mind, the contentment, the companionship that you have lost when your beloved pet goes on to the next world can’t be “replaced” by a new pet but there is a void that can be filled and a sense of real joy as you get to know your new pet.
    Please mark your calendar to join us on Jan. 12 and in the meantime, don’t wait till then to adopt, please consider adoption today. Thank you!
    Cathy Davis is a longtime volun    teer for the Houlton Humane Society. She can be reached at houltonanimalshelter@gmail.com or 532-2345.