Pet Talk

    What a beautiful day Saturday was, bright sun, warm temperatures, and finally being able to get the Shelter back open and animals adopted out. Thank you so much for coming out, we were mobbed all day long with well wishers and adopters and we are happy to report that we adopted out nine cats and four dogs.
    We also took in a cat, an eight year old spayed female whose owner has to go away for a long time and cannot take his cat. She would make a lovely pet for an older person without other animals. After being an “only child” for most of her life, and being surrendered at such an advanced age (in cat terms), it would be much less stressful for her to go into an adult home rather than a home full of children and other animals.  Because she is already spayed, the only “adoption fee” is the cost of her shots and wormer.  She is an indoor cat and very loving but right now quite nervous as she has no idea what is going on.  We invite you to come out and take her home with you. We would very much like to find her a home quickly, to reduce the stress as much as possible.
    We can’t even begin to imagine what goes through an animal’s mind, but we see it in their eyes, the confusion, the sadness, the fear. When they come into a shelter the first day they don’t know all these people and they are handled and checked over and put in a cage that has all new smells than what they are used to. They have soft blankets to sleep on, but the food is likely different than they are used to, their litter box isn’t the one they are used to, the people handling them aren’t the loving family they remember. I would be scared to death if it was me, and most pets are. They calm down after they realize that everybody there is kind and gentle, they enjoy the soothing music and the daily treats, but all they really want is to go home. 
    That’s all we want too. This building doesn’t exist to be a warehouse for animals, this building is a temporary home until a forever home can be found. The staff works hard to put together catchy programs to encourage adoptions. Mondays are “Mommy and me” days when we encourage you to adopt a mother cat with one of her kittens and we waive the fee on one of the adoptions. Wednesday is “going gray day” where all cats over the age of five are free, and Fridays are “Black Fridays” when all black animals are free.
    Because our adoption procedures have changed, I thought it would be prudent to go over them again. It used to be that we spayed and neutered all our animals before offering them for adoption but budget constraints do not allow us to do this any more.  State law requires that we either spay and neuter prior to adoption or have a spay/neuter contract in place with the new adopters so what we do now is ask that you make an appointment with your vet for the surgery and pre-pay for this, then bring us the receipt and the surgery date and we release the pet to you under a foster agreement. Once the surgery is complete and you bring in proof, we complete the adoption procedure and release the rest of the paperwork.
    This allows you to use your own vet, take your animal home while awaiting surgery, and still gives us the confirmation that we need for our own and the state’s requirements. If you have unaltered pets at home, obviously we can’t allow you to take an unaltered pet from the shelter. The last thing we need is a little romance going on and another litter born to a world that already has too few homes for so many critters. If you take an unaltered pet home, we require that you keep it inside until it’s surgically sterilized.
    If you have a compelling reason why you can’t transport your pet, we’ll provide a volunteer to do this for you.  
    Sterilization is not an option, it is mandatory. It not only prevents unwanted pregnancies but there are a myriad of health benefits for your pet associated with spaying and neutering. 
    And remember, if you have a problem with the cost of the surgery, there are programs out there to assist you. Help Fix Me is currently taking applications. It’s a great program but will soon be out of money so apply right away to be considered for this year. We continually seek grants to help with this surgery and just in the last six months have helped pay to alter 50 pets.  If you would like to donate to our spay/neuter grant program, you may send your check to Houlton Humane Society, PO Box 548, Houlton, Me 04730.  These donations go into a dedicated fund and we always have applicants waiting to be approved.