Pet Talk

    by Cathy Davis
    Last week was an incredible week, especially Friday, when we adopted out five cats and made over $400 on our yard sale, in the rain, in the cold, on a Friday. Of course four strays brought in by animal control immediately replaced these five cats. So we never seem to get ahead, but that’s OK. That’s what we’re here for, and that’s why we have to always be having fundraisers so that we can be there for those strays.
    Saturday we continued the yard sale and sold some more stuff, boxes going out the door, and there were still some pretty nice things left so we decided to leave the sale set up in the garage and this coming Friday we’ll have our last and final sale from noon to 3 p.m. We have been very fortunate this year to have some decent temperatures, so let’s hope this lasts at least another week.
    We have four chairs for sale that do need a little cleaning but are otherwise in excellent condition. They’d be great for the den or camp – two of them are matching wingbacks. If you know how to re-upholster, these would be great projects for you. There are also some Christmas decorations, various glass items, just a little bit of everything. Just when we think something probably won’t sell, someone comes along and tells us they’ve been looking for just this item.
    Our sales are set up by donation, so you pay what you think an item is worth, no haggling, no over-priced items, everything is a bargain, so stop by Friday and while you’re at the Shelter, ask for a tour of the facility, check out our donor tiles, visit with our dogs and cats, do a little cuddling. I guarantee that your blood pressure will be lower when you leave. The Shelter is such a happy place, very cheerful and calming at the same time. The animals are so well cared for and there is just nothing in the world like sitting in a room and having a purring kitten in your arms to make you smile.
    Our next fundraiser will be “Homes for the Holidays” on Dec. 10. This event is a pure adopt-a-thon event, with the intent being to find homes for our critters so they will not have to spend Christmas in an animal shelter. We will have door prizes, games, snacks, a bake sale, Santa will be on hand to take pictures with you and your family and because we are going to have this right at the Shelter this year, we ask that you do please leave your pets at home, for their safety and the safety of our shelter animals, and have your picture with Santa taken with a Shelter pet, as another way to help us advertise these beautiful animals and all they have to offer new adopters.
    There will be some discounts offered on adoption fees on this day, but all adopters will still have to be qualified homes.
    We had a lady call us one time who noticed that we offered to waive an adoption fee on a particular animal and she was very concerned that offering a pet “free” would mean it was not going to a good home, so we assured her that there is still an adoption procedure, a pre-adopt form, we do still check references, we make sure the landlord will allow pets if the prospective adopter is a renter, and we do prefer that all other household pets already be spayed or neutered. So waiving the fee does not waive the entire process.
    There are some shelters that have moved to an “open adoption” format, where anybody who walks in the door can have a pet, and that is working well for them as far as moving animals out of the shelter, but we’re not sure how well that works for the animal. With an open adoption format, you’re not sure if you are adopting into a situation where there is animal hoarding, or if it’s someone who maybe has moved 10 times and left their animals behind every time, or just what the situation might be, so we do have a very brief pre-adoption form and a very simple procedure to check vet references, and personal references, only for the safety of the pet. It is our goal to place animals in forever homes where they will be well cared for, vetted when necessary, loved and cherished. This is not a retail environment where anybody who wants a bottle of soda can buy a bottle of soda. These are warm loving animals who need care and nurturing and we don’t apologize for being careful about who they are placed with.
    Please do not wait until December to decide to give a deserving pet a new home. Right now there are dozens of cats in our shelter and thousands of cats in shelters across the state who need to feel the warmth and comfort of a loving home. Visit us and other shelters, on Petfinder.com for information and photos about available pets. Visit us on Facebook where there are some gorgeous photos of our pets or check our website, www.houltonhumanesociety.org for more information.