Pet Talk

by Cathy Davis
www.houltonanimalshelter.com
    On Jan. 24, Hill’s Pet Nutrition sponsored a “Change a Pet’s Life Day”, offering to pay the adoption fee for the first 10 animals adopted from shelters across the country. Shelters were invited to apply for inclusion in this program and the Houlton Animal Shelter was selected in this area.
    On that day 19 cats and one dog were adopted from the Houlton Animal Shelter. It was a most exciting day with qualified adopters lining up to fill out pre-adoption applications, visiting with the pets, and taking home some very beautiful animals. We were so thrilled to see these animals go to their new homes.
    A local business had donated enough money to pay for the rest of the adoptions that day so every adoption fee was waived. Many grateful owners left donations to help take care of the remaining 135 cats and dogs.
    I can’t remember a more exciting day; people came from long distances after hearing about the event on the Channel 2 news, on WHOU radio and reading about it in The Pioneer Times. The Humane Society board members put together some snacks for the crowd, so those who wished could enjoy some hot chocolate, cheese, crackers, sandwiches and chips.
    This was so successful that we are hoping to do it again. We have already signed up for May 2 and 3 to do an Adopt-a-Thon along with the North Shore Animal League. If we can find enough sponsors for this event, we may be able to waive or reduce the adoption fee once again.
    In the meantime, there are still 135 animals in total at the shelter that need new homes. We encourage you to stop by and let one of them choose you.
    If you have as many pets as you can comfortably accommodate right now, but want to be involved with helping the shelter, we are currently attempting to raise $4,700 for a new bank of cages that we need for the community cat room. One local business has pledged $500 toward this project. If you would like to contribute, even $10 would help, just put “new cages” on your donation check and send it to the Houlton Humane Society, P.O. Box 548, Houlton, Me 04730.
    There are several fund-raisers in the planning stages right now. The St. Patrick’s Day box lunch will be coming up in the very near future,
our annual membership drive should be under way in just another couple of weeks, our walk-a-thon and adopt-a-thon in May, Dine out for the Animals in June and Strawberry shortcake at Midnight Madness, but in the meantime, your continued support is imperative to keep the shelter going.
    Remember, the bottom line is, it’s all about the animals, nothing else. We do the very best we know how to every single day to find good homes for these animals and to take excellent care of them until we do. We have a tremendous staff of loving, caring individuals who give 100 percent for these animals. We have a Board who has worked tirelessly to set up policies and procedures to protect the animals and raise the funds to keep the shelter going. And we have you — you are our backbone, you have been there for us, supported us, donated to us, visited us, volunteered for us, adopted from us, and given us your blessing, letting us know that you believe in our mission, our goal. Thank you so much for being there for us, you have no idea how much you are appreciated.