Wanted: Companions and compassion By Carol Childs for CHHS

There's no shortage of black-and-white puppies and red (or orange) tabbies at Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society (CHHS) these days. If a playful pup or a comical cat will help fill your summer days and life, consider adopting Tera, Sebastian or Clemson, two puppies and a kitty that need somebody to love.

Clemson, or Clem, is a year-old orange tabby cat with an outgoing personality and shenanigans to spare. Many cat owners claim that orange (or red, flame, or ginger) cats have a different personality than typical cats, even though there is no scientific evidence that fur color and personality are connected. R-i-g-h-t. In her article, "Seven Reasons to Adopt an Orange Cat," Alison Burrows claims that an orange male cat is the best addition to your family, then lists the reasons why. Clem couldn't agree more, and Burrows' top two reasons fit Clem to a "T."

· They [orange male cats] boost your self esteem. Unlike any other cat, orange males seem to thrive on the very existence of their family. They also have a tendency to gaze at their humans lovingly.

· Goofiness is a trait that orange cats are well known for. It seems like they enjoy hearing their humans laugh. Whether it's running around crazily or just acting like a klutz, they love to make sure you are happy.If you could use more laughs and love in your life, Clem sure could use a good home and a human to call his own.

Also looking for a home this week are 10-week old Tera and her brother, Sebastian, the last two of Colette's litter of seven black-and-white pups found in a box by the roadside in March. Petite Tera is the runt of the litter, a dark-faced pretty girl that probably will be smaller than her medium-sized mom, an Australian shepherd mix. Handsome Sebastian has one black eye patch and beautiful blue-merle markings on both ears and the other eye patch. Both pups are sweet, smart and love attention. Playful is a gimme. Tera and Sebastian hope to find fun-loving forever families of their own this week and companionship for life.

MEET & GREET/MICROCHIPPING & RABIES CLINIC THIS SATURDAY: The year's first Meet & Greet sponsored by Coldwell Banker Broker Dan Allen will be held at The Village Green in Cashiers from 11 a.m. to 3 p. m. on Saturday, May 3. Come meet Dan, CHHS staffers, your neighbors, and, of course, a few four-legged friends from the shelter. Refreshments will be served to all comers! Along with an assortment of furry friends available for adoption, a veterinarian will be on hand for two hours, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m., to microchip and vaccinate your personal pets for a minimal $50 fee (microchipping alone will be available for $40, normally $75).

PROFESSIONAL PORTRAITS TO BENEFIT CHHS: Contact CHHS as soon as possible for a discount ($15) certificate for one 8x10 color portrait of you/your family and/or your pet(s) to be taken at CHHS by photographers from Superior Portrait Studios on Saturday, May 10, by appointment only. Proceeds from these special $15 portraits will be donated to CHHS, and you are under no obligation to purchase any additional photographs at full price.

Superior Portrait Studios will supply props and accessories to help make your family or pet portrait a personalized, treasured keepsake; just show up for your appointment on time with Fido on-leash, Fifi in a crate, or Trigger in a horse-trailer. You can help support the homeless animals at CHHS by calling for an appointment and your one-per-customer discount certificate now (743-5752).

JUNE 19 “RESCUE ME” GALA: Mark your calendars for two upcoming events that are critical annual fundraisers for CHHS: the Rescue Me Gala Casino Night Party & Auction on Thursday, June 19, and the pre-Gala High-Roller Patrons Party on Friday, June 13.

Individual tickets are $200 for the Gala Casino Night Party & Auction, being held at Highlands Falls Country Club. Among the silent-auction items is a beautiful hand-crafted rocking horse by artisan Bob Gregory. A High-Roller ticket is $250 and includes one ticket to the June 19 Gala and one ticket to the June 13 Patrons Party, hosted and sponsored by the Chinquapin Designer Showhouse. Contact CHHS for more information about purchasing tickets to one or the combination of annual fundraising events, or mail a check made payable to CHHS to Debbie Bennett, P. O. Box 852, Cashiers, NC 28717.

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.cashiershighlandshumane.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.

If you needing your pet Spay/Neuter
here are some locations to get the discount coupons at:

Blue Ridge School Library

Signature Properties of Highlands, 526-4218

Cashiers Village Veterinary Clinic, 743-5656

Tuckasegee Trading Company-Tuckasegee

Chamber of Commerce-Highlands, 526-5841

Chamber of Commerce-Cashiers, 743-5191

Cope Creek Animal Hosp.-Sylvia, 586-3584

Cool Cats Hot Dogs-Highlands, 526-9990

Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society, 743-5752

Please contact the vet in your area:

Highlands Cashiers Animal Clinic, Dr. Any E. Patterson
2465 Cashiers Road
Highlands, NC
526-5206

Cashiers Village Veterinary
855 US Hwy 64 West
Cashiers, NC
743-5656

Noah’s Ark Companion Animal Clinic, Dr. Jeff Todd
1239 Old Murphy Road
Franklin, NC
524-6121

Rabun Animal Clinic
220 Cathy Road
Mountain City, GA
706-746-5100

Clayton GA Veterinary Hospital
205 S Main St.
Clayton GA
706-783-4271

Letter to the Editor, the Highlander Newspaper

Community helps find lost dog

Friday, July 13, 2007 7:03 AM CDT

To the editor:

Recently we experienced the true warmth and caring that Highlands is so well known for showing. We had left our dog, Rambo, at Lindy’s with Joe and Marsha Schmalo so we could do some shopping in town.

Rambo has been long-time friends with the Schmalo girls, Suki and Jetta, and they all get along very well. For some reason, Rambo must have thought he had been deserted and at one point bolted out of the office when the office door opened up.

Rambo tore down Main Street and Joe was in hot pursuit.

A number of folks attempted to catch Rambo, but he was much too fast. He ran through the busy streets for more than five hours somehow avoiding capture and being hit by numerous cars.

The community opened its heart in helping to find and catch our rambunctious dog. The radio station made announcements, strangers tried to catch him, and our friends were searching the entire area.

At the end of an exhausting day, we were told that a small dog had been barking in the wooded area between Talley Road and the Hampton Inn.

We got there as quickly as possible and started yelling for the boy.

Finally, Rambo came out of the woods and cautiously looked to see who was calling him.

Once realizing it was his daddies, he came running to us both. After a few days of much-needed rest, he is doing quite well.

We were so grateful for finding our dog and realize the community made it possible.

Our thanks go out to everyone in Highlands for your concern, your help and your prayers — no wonder we love Highlands so much.

Robert Shores, Vic Herec and Rambo “The Runner” - Atlanta and Clayton, Ga


Black-and-white and playful all over, 10-week-old Sebastian and his little sister, Tera, are sweet, smart and affectionate pups, the last two of Colette’s litter of seven looking for loving homes .	Clem doesn’t care if you call him a red, ginger, flame or orange tabby, as long as you call him for play time and kitty kisses. For lots of laughs and love, Clem is your guy. He needs a forever family to purr for and amuse.