Pet Talk

by Cathy Davis
    This Saturday, there will be a benefit dance for the Houlton Humane Society animal shelter, held at the American Legion Hall on Bangor Street. The doors open at 8 pm and the admission fee is $6 per person. Northern Maine Motor Society will be DJing the event and the United Veterans Motorcycle Club will help with security. Animal Shelter volunteers will provide homemade snacks that can be purchased for a “recommended donation” amount, or any other amount you wish to donate. 
    This is the kick-off event to our summer calendar of fundraisers, followed by an exciting day at the shelter on Saturday, June 23 that we are calling “Paws, Claws and Beaks.” This event will include a petting zoo for the kids with chicks, goats, baby bunnies and other animals. There will be puppies, kittens and baby rabbits available for adoption. Some of these puppies are rescues from southern Shelters where the shelters are so full that they can only hold animals for a short period of time before euthanizing. When we have room, we will pull animals from these shelters and adopt them out. There are very few puppies in this area, and yet a lot of families are looking to adopt, so this is a way to help in both directions – bring you a new little love for your home, and save a life.
    We have been working with Connecticut Underhound Railroad and other rescues for over a year now. The animals that come in are fully vetted, spayed and neutered, and microchipped, all up to date on their shots and after the mandatory quarantine time, ready for adoption. There are new puppies coming in shortly and you will be able to visit with them on June 23.
    The shelter has kittens, absolutely adorable kittens, as well as some more mature kitties, who have been with us for a while. We are really pushing hard for homes for all of them and there will be special “deals” on June 23 to include some waived adoption fees, reduced fees, and other incentives. If you bring a treat for the animals with you, a surprise awaits you! We need canned dog and cat food, if you could bring us out a can or a case, we would really appreciate it.
    Following our “Paws, Claws and Beaks” event, we will be hosting a giant yard sale at the shelter on June 30 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
    On July 3 we will be downtown during midnight madness. We haven’t quite decided yet what to serve but we’ll have some kind of delicious snacks, maybe some fun flashy things for the kids, and we’ll be selling raffle tickets. Thanks to Linda Sewall we have a gorgeous quilt to raffle off. We also have a ton of pellets to raffle and a $100 gift certificate to the Elm Tree Diner to raffle, so be sure to stop by our booth and purchase a ticket.
    The next big event will be Rockin’ the Doghouse, scheduled for Sept. 15 this year from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., this is a carnival-like event, with games for the kids, food booths, a car show, live music and something for everyone all day long. If your business or organization would like to be a sponsor for this event, you may contact Heather at the shelter at 532-2862. We are looking for donations of prizes for the car show, prizes for the kids games, items to raffle off, and food and crafts to sell. If you are crafty and you start now, you could make a lot of cat beds, for instance, for us to sell at this event, or dog beds, or doggie treats, or whatever your specialty is. Maybe you love making cupcakes, then mark your calendar to remember us in September.
    Why do we do this? Why do we have fundraisers? Yes, we are supported in part by municipal contracts. Every town is required by law to contract with a shelter for services and that contract requires that the shelter take all stray and abandoned animals from that town, even if the shelter is full. It is not possible to turn away a stray. Regardless of the number, condition, or situation, strays from contract towns must be accommodated. We must have posted public hours. We must have available quarantine facilities as required by state law. But the contract fees do not cover the shelter operating expenses. Your generosity is what keeps us going. If we depended only on the fees from the towns, we would not be able to pay the oil bill, the light bill, the trash removal, the insurance, many of the costs that go along with having an approved facility. 
    Every animal shelter out there faces the same challenge – more animals need homes than there are homes to place them in; their income does not cover their expenses, regardless of where the income comes from; they are struggling on a daily basis to find creative ways to increase revenue so they can save just one more homeless animal; they are constantly competing with other organizations for funding whose causes are equally compelling and serve desperate needs; they are operating on a day by day basis, not knowing from one week to the next if they’re going to be able to pay the bills.
    But every shelter faces these challenges with the same resolve and with the same dedication, no one organization is better than another, no one shelter has faced their challenges without making mistakes, no shelter has all the answers or solved all the problems. We all are here for the same reason, we are brothers and sisters united for one purpose.
    If you would like to be a part of a dynamic organization with a long history of service to the animal community, we invite you to join us. Come to a meeting, come to a fundraiser, drop us a note, friend us on Facebook, adopt a pet.