Pet Talk

    Wasn’t May 1st the most glorious day?   We were so fortunate to have been invited by Mike Carpenter to hold our annual Morgan Renee Cowett walk-a-thon at his farm, the day was bright and clear, the farm is gorgeous, the horses so majestic in the fields, watching as the walkers strolled along  just outside their fence.  At one point all the horses ran down along the field, following the progress of the walkers, ears alert, eyes wide, wondering what was going on at their farm!  
    We had a small petting zoo with some kittens and rabbits and of course an opportunity to visit with and just enjoy the horses.  Mike hitched up the carriage and many people took advantage of the carriages rides.
    Prizes were given out for all varieties of classes from smallest dog to dog with the prettiest “earrings” and of course prizes for the top three in sponsorships.  The Cowett family took first place and we want to thank them and everybody who attended for their support and participation.  Many thanks to all the volunteers and board members who came out to help put up signs, play music, bring critters, blow up balloons and everything else you all did to make this a very successful day.  It was so much fun there has been some talk of doing another walk in the fall!
    The next event is not exactly a fund raiser but – funds will be raised to support the shelter at this event and you won’t want to miss it.  Sunday, May 16th from 1 to 3 PM there will be a party at Northern Musical Supply to celebrate the release of a new CD by our own local and talented Travis James Humphrey.   If you’ve never heard Travis’s music, you must buy this CD, he has the most amazing voice, the instrumentals are impeccable, and it’s just a fun, bright, bouncy enjoyable style of music that you can’t stop singing even when the CD is over.   Travis will donate the first $500 of CD sales to the Houlton Humane Society and the party from 1 to 3 will include some time to network with the star as well as a hot dog feed and just a good old fashioned back yard good time.
    After that fund raiser we’ll be scheduling a huge yard sale so if you have items that you would like to donate, please contact Heather at the Shelter at 532-2862 and she’ll let you know where to drop them off.  We would ask once again that clothing be donated elsewhere as we have no place to store or display clothing, but all other clean items in working order would be greatly appreciated!   We already have boxes and boxes of “good stuff” and we’re looking forward to this sale – date and time to follow shortly.   
    We continue to raise money because even under quarantine, the bills keep mounting.  As you know, we had a diagnosis of ringworm in the shelter and we had closed to allow us to empty the building and bleach it down, treat the animals, and get everybody healthy before adopting them out.  We receive regular bills from UMO for reading the test cultures at about $300 a week, not to mention the cost of purchasing the test kits.  It’s been a long hard process and once again I just want to thank the shelter management and staff for their hard work during this difficult time.  These animals do not like to be dipped, but dipping has to be done twice a week.  The sulfur is making our staff sick, they are being bitten and scratched and they are working their fingers to the bone to make sure that every animal has a chance at a healthy future and a new home.
    During this process we have been closed to the public, but we are still taking in strays from our contract towns.  Most of the animals coming in go straight to foster homes.  Every board member has foster animals at home now and we hope to schedule an off-premises adopt-a-thon shortly so we can place these animals quickly.  We have many litters of kittens, some of the most gorgeous little fellas you’ve ever seen.   I have a momma and four babies at my house, they will be ready to go in just a week.  There is a little black kitty with white toes so I call him SOX and his mother, who we also have I have named Mommasox.   Can you tell I’m an American Idol fan?   
    These are the cutest most loveable kittens, one is already spoken for but we need homes for the other three and momma really fast.  These kitties were just dropped off in a carrier in front of the building, they have never been in the building or exposed to anything at the shelter, they are extremely healthy, very social, and right full of get up and go.  At the end of a stressful day I just go sit on the floor and play with the kittens and all the stress just washes away.
    It’s sad that the owners could not keep Mommasox and her babies but they did the right thing to bring them to the shelter and not abandon them somewhere.  
    If you have a store or an empty building with really good public exposure and would allow us to camp out for a half day for an adopt-a-thon, would you give me a call at 532-2345.   We really would like to be able to find homes for these beautiful healthy animals just as quickly as possible.   Even under quarantine we have managed to place many of our foster cats this past month but we have many more needing homes, and we need more foster homes if you would like the short term pleasure of kitten play but not the long term responsibility of owning another cat.   Just call the Shelter at 532-2862 and let Heather or Courtney know you’re available.
    Thanks for all you have done to support the shelter, cards and letters of love and support continue to pour in and we are forever grateful to know you’re with us.  Have a wonderful week.