Pet Talk

by Cathy Davis    Twas a week in November, when all through the Shelter, all the creatures were stirring, excited to be visited by over 100 children from Southside and Wellington Schools! What commotion, what a thrill, the children had a great tour, brought out enough food to fill half the dog room, including bleach and paper towels, blankets, toy treats, you name it. Shelter staff was excited to be able to give the groups tours, answer questions, and take pictures.
    Small groups of 20 or less went into the cat room at a time, and they really enjoyed visiting with all the cats and bunnies. It was community service day and the shelter was on the tour and we were so delighted to have them.
    There is nothing that will lift your spirits faster than watching a child with an animal, and no better experience than being able to talk to children about the proper way to pick up a cat, the correct way to cradle a bunny, how to be responsible pet owners, and even a frank discussion about how to act when you come upon a dog that you don’t know and how to avoid being bitten.
    We just want to thank the students, their teachers, and their parents for coming to the Shelter and including us in your day. The donations are greatly appreciated and much needed. 
    If there is anything at all that you can do from this point forward, it’s to share the information that you gathered with your friends and family. Let them know about the benefits of spaying and neutering animals, let them know how many homeless animals there are and encourage them to adopt from a shelter or rescue.
    This is a time of year when we are just recovering from Thanksgiving and looking forward to Christmas, yet for many animals, there are no turkey smells coming from any oven, no warm hearth to curl up on, no lap to nap on. For many animals the harsh reality is that they are living outdoors, lost, perhaps abandoned, with no shelter, no food.
    For some animals, the reality is a shelter or foster home, where they are warm, fed, comfortable, and cared for, but just not the same as having their own family.
    During this holiday season, consider the ultimate gift, the gift of life. You can save a life. You can adopt, you can spay or neuter your own pets, you can donate to a shelter or rescue, you can run a fundraiser, or just save your soda bottles and donate that money. 
    These children and their parents and teachers, not only came to visit the animals, they came to learn, they asked a lot of questions, they walked away with a new understanding of how a shelter works and why shelters are necessary. They worked hard and spent time and financial resources to put together the donations.
    You can do the same thing. You can buy one extra bottle of bleach next time you grocery shop. If you know of someone who has a cat that isn’t spayed or neutered, you can refer them to our grant program, have them call the shelter and if they are low income or elderly, we can help toward the cost of the surgery.
    If you have writing skills, perhaps you would be interested in doing some grant writing. We would like to write a grant application for educational materials so Heather has some handouts to take with her when she goes into the classrooms. We are also finding a lot of people need help with the cost of spaying or neutering their dogs so we would like to write a grant application for that.
    There is just so much you can do to help. At this holiday season, when you are thinking of others, please think of these homeless animals. Thank you so much for all you do!