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Wanted: Companions and compassion
By Carol Childs for CHHS
Smart, active, sweet, petite and ironically named
“Ruby,” this seven-month-old gem of a Blue-Heeler pup is being fostered
at Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society (CHHS) by the executive director of
the shelter, Cassie Welsh, until Ruby finds a forever family to love,
work for and please.
Found as a stray in mid-February in the Lake
Toxaway area, Ruby has been fostered for the past three weeks by Welsh.
“She’s as smart as a whip,” Welsh says, adding that this lovable young
Blue Heeler (aka Australian Cattle Dog) is already housebroken and
basic-obedience trained. Ruby curls up in bed next to Welsh every night
and is looking for a home where she can continue to be a beloved indoor
pet that shares lots of outdoor activities by day with her forever
family.
Ruby would make a great (and grateful) agility
dog, and that kind of training would provide an excellent outlet for her
stamina and intelligence. She’d also happily and tirelessly join you
hiking, biking, or jogging as well as going on to meet the challenges of
more advanced obedience training and/or competition. Ruby definitely
needs daily physical and mental exercise, because a bored Cattle
Dog/Blue Heeler can quickly become a mischief-maker.
Ruby is good with kids, crowds, even cats! She
loves meeting new people and going new places, wagging all the way.
Herding dogs like Ruby are ever-eager to learn and please, making them
attentive, loyal companions and faithful friends for life.
FOODBANK:
In these tough economic times, with folks across the country losing
their jobs and homes, unprecedented numbers of surrenders of family pets
to shelters are becoming a nationwide crisis. If you find yourself
having to choose between feeding yourself or your pets, CHHS can help
out temporarily, so your four-legged friends won’t have to miss any
meals or be surrendered. Call or come by CHHS for information about
receiving free dog chow or cat food from the foodbank. On the other
hand, if you are in a position to donate unopened bags of pet food to
the shelter’s foodbank, you can help less fortunate families in the
community keep their beloved companions.
Your kibble contributions to the foodbank can be
deposited in the CHHS donation box at the front of the Ingles store in
Cashiers or brought to the shelter in-person.
With the support of
CHHS, you can help reduce the number of homeless strays in our area,
too. Coupons for free or discounted spay/neuter procedures are
available at the shelter and other locations in Cashiers, Highlands and
Sylva (see details below). CHHS will also help capture feral cats and
supports spay/neuter and release programs.
Volunteers needed:
Even if you're not in a position to
adopt a pet right now, you can still help the shelter animals
tremendously by volunteering to walk dogs (they are jubilant about
walking with volunteers instead of just running the fence line), which
helps socialize them and increases their chances for adoption. Join the
group of dog-walking volunteers at CHHS every
Friday from 10 a.m. till
noon, or bring a friend or co-worker to the shelter on your lunch break
any other weekday for a meaningful dog walk instead of dessert. Dog
walking not your bag? How about cat cuddling in the community room or
playing with puppies in the Greta Somerville Community Dog Park located
on CHHS grounds? If you care about animals, you can help—no other
qualifications are necessary!
Even if you're not in a position to
adopt a pet right now, you can still help the shelter animals
tremendously by volunteering to walk dogs (they are jubilant about
walking with volunteers instead of just running the fence line), which
helps socialize them and increases their chances for adoption.
Join the group of dog-walking volunteers at CHHS
every Wednesday from 10 a.m. till noon, or bring a friend or co-worker
to the shelter on your lunch break any other weekday for a meaningful
dog walk instead of dessert. Dog walking not your bag? How about cat
cuddling in the community room or playing with puppies in the Greta
Somerville Community Dog Park located on CHHS grounds? If you care
about animals, you can help—no other qualifications are necessary!
CHHS needs kitty litter and Milk
Bones!
As donated dollars are all budgeted for food, shelter maintenance and
improvements, staffing, and veterinary care, we need material donations,
too, like old sheets and towels for bedding, newspaper for puppy pens,
and kitty litter, lots of kitty litter! Next time you shop at Ingles in
Cashiers, please add a box of any type or brand of litter to your cart,
which you can then leave at the CHHS donation box at the front of the
store on your way out, or buy litter wherever you shop and bring it to
the shelter in-person, where you can meet the many benefactors of your
kindness and generosity.
Bringing Home a New
Dog:
Crate Facts.
According to the Paw Rescue organization, housetraining problems are
the top reason people give up dogs. Crates aid in housetraining because
of dogs' den instincts; they avoid messing where they sleep. Crating is
cruel only if the dog is physically uncomfortable or if left too often
or too long. Limit crating to 4-5 hours maximum a day.
Important:
Teach your dog that good things come in the crate. Place appealing toys
in the crate; feed in the crate. Stay in the room awhile and praise
when the dog rests calmly in the crate. Resist letting the dog out if
she cries. However, if she has to relieve herself, honor that. Over
the transition period, gradually open the crate door and increase the
number of rooms to which she has access.
Do not keep dogs in dark, damp basements, garages, or non-family areas;
this thwarts your efforts to raise a socialized, well-behaved,
house-trained animal (http://www.paw-rescue.org/dog_guide.php).
Bringing Home a New
Kitty:
Please
keep in mind that the move from a shelter to a new home can be quite
stressful for an adult cat. "Most
cats take about two weeks to adjust to a new environment.
But understand that each cat is different; some take a day, some 5 days,
others can take up to a month to get used to your home"
(http://www.nsalamerica.org/pet_talk/cat_home.html).
A little patience for starters will be greatly rewarded in the long run,
when the bewildered kitty who cowered under your bed for a week becomes
a well-adjusted, loving member of your family.
Declawing Cats: More
Than Just a Manicure:
According to The Humane Society of the United
States, "Too often people believe that declawing is a simple
surgery that removes a cat's nails, the equivalent of a person having
her fingernails trimmed. Sadly, this is far from the truth. Declawing
traditionally involves the amputation of the last bone of each toe and,
if performed on a human being, it would be comparable to cutting off
each finger at the last knuckle." (http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/cat_care/)
Please
keep in mind that the move from a shelter to a new home can be quite
stressful for a cat. "Most
cats take about two weeks to adjust to a new environment.
But understand that each cat is different; some take a day, some 5
days, others can take up to a month to get used to your home"
(http://www.nsalamerica.org/pet_talk/cat_home.html).
A little patience for starters will be greatly rewarded in the long run,
when the bewildered kitty who cowered under your bed for a week becomes
a well-adjusted, loving member of your family.
The Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society (CHHS)
is organizing a volunteer fostering program to provide temporary homes
for stray dogs and cats on the shelter's waiting list until adoptions
free-up space for the animals to move up the list and into the CHHS
no-kill community.
Besides a
big heart, volunteers for dog foster-parenting should have a fenced
yard, and the purr-fect cat foster folks must be ready, willing and able
to keep a kitty indoors for a limited time, until the shelter has space
to take in a cat or two from the waiting-list. Vaccinations and
veterinary checks and even spay/neutering procedures will be provided
for animals in foster care through the CHHS shelter, and the
vaccinations of existing family pets in foster homes must be complete
and current as well.
You can help save a life by
fostering a stray dog or cat, rescuing them from the streets or a trip
to a kill-facility. Please call Angie Williams or Karen Foster at CHHS
(743-5752) to make an appointment to visit the shelter for an in-person
interview and answers to any questions you may have about the volunteer
fostering program.
The stray critters of the
community, large and small, certainly do appreciate your generosity and
support.
You make a difference.
Even if
you're not in a position to adopt a dog right now or to make a monetary
donation, you can brighten the lives of shelter dogs just by giving them
an hour of your time. Every minute they spend with caring folks,
whether playing in the Dog Park on the shelter grounds or walking on
leash for awhile, improves their chances for adoption. Even moments
spent simply petting or brushing them count. Join the group of
dog-walking volunteers at CHHS every Friday from 10 a.m. till noon, or
bring a friend or co-worker to the shelter on your lunch break any other
weekday for a meaningful dog walk instead of dessert.
Spay/Neuter: Coupons for free
or discounted spay/neuter surgeries from your veterinarian are available
to the public at the CHHS shelter in Cashiers, at Cool Cats and Hot Dogs
in Highlands (526-9990), at Signature Properties of Highlands
(526-4218), and in Sylva at Cope Creek Animal Clinic (586-3584). Call
the shelter for more information.
Lost & Found Pets: If
you lose your pet or find one, immediately alert the local radio station
(WHLC FM 104.5 FM) which broadcasts lost and found pet information as a
public service. Inform the shelter and place a notice with the pet's
photo on the bulletin boards at Ingles in Cashiers and the Hudson
Library in Highlands. Both the
Crossroads Chronicle and
The Highlander will publish
one free lost or found pet ad.
Now is the time to make
sure your pet has correct identification. Engraved tags are available
at our shelter.
Free pet food is
available at the shelter for pets of needy families or individuals.
Donations, memorials, and
memberships are deeply appreciated and can be mailed to the CHHS, PO Box
638, Cashiers, NC 28717. We accept donations online (see below) and by
credit card. All donations are tax deductible and go a long way toward
supporting the CHHS animals.
Location: Visit our
shelter in Cashiers on Highway 64, 2.3 miles east of the crossroads
behind Reid Real Estate, and meet our wonderful animals. Our hours are
10–4 Monday through Saturday, closed on Sunday. Visit us online at
www.chhumanesociety.org
All our animals have been
spayed or neutered and micro-chipped and have received necessary
inoculations, veterinary care, and preventative treatment for fleas,
ticks, and heartworms. For more information about animals available for
adoption or to learn about opportunities to volunteer or foster, please
phone the shelter at 743-5752. |
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