All in all, a good week

It's been a busy week with several doggie visitors to the office, all of whom were adopted today! This 6 month old pit/boxer mix has been with me all week, a very calm presence eager to see me every morning. It was such a pleasure to see her go home with her new family.

This baby is a blue merle pomeranian, a chunky pomeranian at 16 lbs. I thought he was a raccoon when they first brought him to me. He slept at my feet most of the time. He charmed many people who walked by the office but he caught the eye of a woman this afternoon. He'll go home tomorrow.

And this beautiful standard poodle is also going home tomorrow. He came to us stray and so scared last weekend . He was less scared after a a few days and though still shy, he has such a winsome face that an adopter fell in love with him. It turned out that the adopter is a friend, and I was thrilled Myra would be taking him home.

Even with the ice and snow this week, we had alot of serious adopters and we were able to reunite quite a few owners with their animals, including the goat!

And I got the 09-10 budget turned in. And the electricians came to talk about power for the x-ray machine. And we got some new surgical lights donated, I just have to get them installed and even that may go faster than I could have hoped.

They will lie to you - the people I mean

When someone surrenders an animal to us, we try to collect as much info about the animal as possible - name, age, personality, and whether he/she is sterilized. We had a beautiful white adult female Great Pyrenees surrendered to us a while ago. This owner said she was spayed and she was quickly adopted. Today we had her back - to be spayed!! She had gone into heat. Luckily the new owner was very understanding and simply brought her back to us this morning for surgery. They were so glad to see each other when he picked her up this afternoon.

People lie to us all the time. An animal at large was "let out by a neighbor". A lost animal wasn't outside without a leash, it was "stolen" by people unknown. The surrendered animal isn't "my animal", it's a stray found on the side of the road. I know it's not healthy to be such a cynic but it's hard to be sympathetic when what we really care about it the health and happiness of the animal. It's hard dealing with people who don't have the same level of compassion for these creatures that we do - people who see them as property or as accessories.

But we do it, every day. It makes the happy endings even more precious.

Snow days

Three days of ice and snow have made it kind of slow so far this week. It's unsafe to keep the trucks on the streets, no one is at city hall and and we've had only a few visitors. It also makes for more work for the staff who are able to make it in. Animals poop and need to eat no matter what the weather is. Hopefully we'll be back at full strength tomorrow.

Yeah the clinic staff have their new scrubs!! I've only been working on getting them since last September. It gets so frustrating dealing with the city processes.

The new bank of cages for the clinic is finally in place. Matt and I put them together last Saturday and moved the old bank into Doc's office. This will give them 10 cages for surgery and 6 for isolation. Earlier today I stopped into Doc's office to ask her some questions and could barely hear for all the barking. We need about 4 more isolation areas - something that will certainly be part of our master planning process for a new/renovated facility.

Other good news - a Vizla that was lost two weeks ago was brought to the shelter this past weekend and, thanks to an e-mail we got about her, was returned to the owner. The little one in the photo below was adopted. The dobie is still with us.

New Officemates

Yeah! the carpet's up which has made cleaning up after these two new officemates much easier. The vet brought these two to me. Both need some socializing and are doing well playing with each other. The shepherd mix was a little too aggressive in her play so the dobie mix gently put her in her place.

I must finish painting my office.

Baby

I left work with a lighter heart Friday - both puppies I had in the office went to new homes. The baby rottweiler mix that had been with me since Tuesday was seen by a Mom with two young teenagers who immediately fell in love with him. But Mom said that Dad would never approve. The next morning when we opened the doors the entire family was there and Dad fell in love too. A great family for my baby boy. But what about the 6 week old white female pit mix that came in Wed? The two puppies had been playing and sleeping together for three days, how would she do alone? Could we find a foster for the weekend?

We didn't need to find a foster. My white baby girl pit was adopted by a young couple and late in the day Friday, she went home.

I'm often asked the name of the animal I have visiting in my office. To me they are all Baby. A defense against becoming too attached? Maybe. But the dogs and cats in our care are all my babies.

I went into the office on Saturday to pull up the carpet. I've had a request in for 8 months to have it done but after a week of puppies I decided to do it myself. Luckily it was carpet tiles and it came up easily. Next is to remove the adhesive and stain the concrete. Some things I can get done myself!!!

Owner Took To Jail

That's what the commitment card read - Owner took to jail. He was homeless and had been booked on a minor complaint. His dog, a baby boy rottweiler mix, was signed over to us. He cried continuously in the clinic so they brought him to me. This baby is a total lap dog! He'll run around a little, drink a little water and then want back in my lap. He loves to sleep with his head on my keyboard (right on my B and N) with his paws on the wrist rest. Adorable! He should get adopted quickly.

How many of us have seen homeless people with animals. They love their dog or cat, often feeding them before themselves. They are their travelling companions and their family.

Fate is real

I had talked to the man and his daughter several times over the past week as they walked through the kennels. Last night I thought they were going to take the young collie/shepherd/chow mix male I've had in my office this week but he needed to talk to his wife. I've so enjoyed having this dog with me the past few days and he's charmed everyone whose walked by - I just didn't understand why he hadn't gone home with someone.

Tonight at about 30 minutes to close a woman walked by my office. She looked in and said "here he is! come here honey". Around the corner came the man I had been talking to. They had each visited the shelter at different times and had fallen in love with the same dog! There were a few others they wanted to look at together but ultimately my baby went to his new home with his new family tonight.

It means more

Animal welfare means more than providing food, water and shelter. Sometimes it means ending suffering.

A woman showed up at the front door yesterday evening, one minute after we closed. I saw that she had an animal wrapped in a blanket in her arms. We opened the door and she said she had found this cat outside her home, she didn't know anything about animals so decided to bring it to us. The cat didn't look right to me, her jaw was hanging open and she wasn't holding up her head. I thanked the woman for bringing her in and we took the cat back to Dr. P. who was still in the clinic. Upon opening the blanket on the exam table it was immediately apparent that something traumatic had happened. The hips bones were all wrong and it looked like she had a huge abscess inside her back leg that had burst open. She was extremely thin. And looking into her eyes I saw only pain. We ended her suffering. But she was lovingly held, spoken to softly, and stroked as she fell asleep. She was cared for. Isn't that what we all want?

Nine months

Nine months on the job now. I've learned so much, enough to know there is much more to experience. I didn't think it was possible but I've come to love my own animals even more. I think they've gotten used to me coming home smelling of "other" creatures but they love me just the same. Somehow they help me process all the baggage I come home with. (I know - never end a sentence with a preposition - so bite me!)