Pet Talk

by Cathy Davis
    This past week my husband and I joined our family on a wonderful vacation. My dad stayed home and babysat the dog. Scruffy and Dad are great friends, but I saw a true shift in their friendship this weekend. I called home the first day and Dad said “your dog misses you.” By day two Scruffy was sleeping in Dad’s bed and by day three all the animals were in there. “Your cats are a pain,” Dad tells me over the phone, “they want to sleep right by your face.” Yes, this I know.
    Dogs and cats do this to you, they worm their way onto your laps, into your beds, and into your hearts and before you know it you’re hooked. While my dad seemed to “rush” to chase the animals out of his room when we returned home, I know he will secretly miss the cuddle time.
    We love our pets, we talk to them about our troubles and we cuddle them when we’re sad. We mourn their loss terribly when they are gone. I still miss Elizabeth and Shannon and no other pet will ever take their place.
    If you have a pet you have loved and would like to honor her memory, or if you have a pet right now who makes your life whole, perhaps you would like to join us on Saturday, May 19, for the Houlton Humane Society’s annual walk-a-thon. This is a really fun event and a way for you to make a statement that you love animals and believe that someone out there should care for those who don’t have homes and that you believe you can be a part of the effort and movement to make life just a little better for them until they do.
    The way a walk-a-thon works is that you get a pledge sheet right now – you can get them at the Varney Agency, the animal shelter or Northern Musical Supply on the Calais Road. If you want, call 532-2862 and give Heather your fax number and we’ll fax you one.
    Then you approach your friends and ask if they would be interesting in supporting your walk with a financial pledge. Some folks will give you a dollar, some will donate $5 and many will donate $20.
    Bring that completed pledge form with you to the walk. We will register walkers at 10:30 a.m. and walk at 11 a.m. We will be gathering at the River Front Park and walking down along the river, up the stairs to Highland Avenue, over to Water Street, around Market Square and back down across the bridge.
    When the walk is finished, there will be a free lunch for all walkers, prizes for those who bring in the must pledges, and prizes for your pooches. Yes, we want you to bring your dogs. Make sure your dog is on a leash and has some experience in public with other dogs. 
    These couple of hours aren’t just for raising funds but for coming together as a community to show support for animal welfare, an opportunity to network with other animal lovers, a chance to ask shelter staff questions about animal behavior or other animal related issues. We will have shelter dogs in the walk so if you are looking to adopt, this would be a good time to meet and greet some shelter pets.
    This has always been a lot of fun, and yes, we walk rain or shine. Let’s hope it doesn’t snow, the way the weather has been this year you never know, but if it does, we walk anyway.
    Melanie Greaves has coordinated this event for us now for I can’t remember how many years, maybe 15 years or more.  We love Melanie’s enthusiasm and energy and she is a great group leader. She will be there with her own pet and will walk with you to make sure everybody understands the parade route.
    Maybe you don’t have a dog? Well you can walk anyway. The funds raised through this event help all the animals at the shelter, cats included, and last year we had cats entered in the walk so if you think you want to do that, just be aware that an arm load of cat at a dog walk will result in some interesting attention from the dogs. Even though your cat may love dogs, not all dogs at the walk may love cats, so enter your kitty cautiously.
    My Scruffy will be there, I wouldn’t miss this for the world, and we invite you to join us.  Hope to see you there!