We are going to assume you have done your breed research, and know you can afford a pet, and that your home is more or less ready for a pet (have a fenced yard or dog run).

Are you settled?  If you are going to be moving soon it may be better to wait until you have moved.  If you are about to go on a vacation, you should wait until you get home before getting a pet.

What are your days off?  If getting a puppy, or even a dog, it can be good to get one when you have time off so you can house train it and get it settled in.

Now let us look at some of the factors about the shelter where you are going to get your new pet from.

Every animal shelter is different, although they may get pets in on a daily basis they do not go up for adoption right away.  Some shelters put new pets up for adoption on a specific day of the week, adding them to the pets already up for adoption. If you have been to the shelter and not found a pet you were interested in, knowing what day this is, and going on that day, will give you a look at the newest pets.

Some shelters are no-kill they keep all the pets as long as they can, but others do not have this luxury and must euthanize some of the pets that have been there “too long”.  You can ask when this happens and may want to go 2 or three days prior to this and specifically ask to see the pets that have been there the longest, thus you are assured of “saving a life“. 

For some shelters there is one day of the week when all euthanasias are done (so going 2-3 days earlier is possible), but at some of the biggest shelters euthanasias happen every day of the week, weekends too. You may find that going during the week is best as the shelters may be less crowded.

Image via Wikipedia

The Adoption Process

You should get there as early as possible, plan on spending 30 minutes, or more, picking the right pet.  If you are selecting a dog, you should ask if you can take it for a walk. 

Once you have made up your mind the adoption process can take another 30 minutes or even 24 hours if they want to do a “home check” or check references.  You can find out more about this by calling ahead or checking their website.

Note:  When looking for a pet it is best to go to the shelter rather than looking on their website.  Most animal shelters do not have the time to keep their website up to date with pets for adoption.  The Petfinder.com website is fun and interesting to visit, but not all shelters have pets featured on this site.

Some shelters have caged pets for adoption, rabbits, guinea pigs, and birds, others even have farm animals for adoption.

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Last Wednesday, a bitterly cold, miserable day here in Norfolk, I went through my usual initial weekday routine – alarm goes off, drag myself out of bed, go through the usual ablutions, get dressed and head for the kitchen to have breakfast, feed the cats and then feed the wild birds.  The ground was solid, the grass was white with the sharp frost and, needless to say, I wasn’t feeling particularly joyous,  particularly as I had to work.

I climbed the stairs to my office to check my emails and see if any work had come in overnight and saw that I had an email from Hillside.  I instantly thought it was going to be horrible news – that they had some more poor animals that they wished to take in due to torture, abuse or abandonment, but was gladdened by the news that the dogs mentioned in my previous article http://socyberty.com/society/romanian-dog-rescue along with some others were now on their way to a new, more friendly home at the Sanctuary.

The dogs, at the time of the email, were just passing through Austria and Hillside understood that about 10 had been considered strong enough for the very long journey to foreign shores.  Among them were Sanni

Brick

and Petronel

These three little refugees were to arrive with a couple of new found buddies;

Lord

and Yura.

Hillside had sent a representative across to Romania the previous week to assess the situation out there and they had reported that, due to the extraordinary sub-zero temperatures currently affecting Eastern Europe, the rescuers who had been working hard to set up temporary shelters to house the dogs, were trying to compete with the ice and snow which had reached the top of the dogs 6 ft pens. 

On Friday morning I received another email from Hillside.  Apparently 14 dogs had arrived safely at the sanctuary the previous night.  I’ve attached some photographs of the dogs, looking a little bemused and wary, as they were “unloaded” and settled down in for the night.  Ten of them were to remain at Hillside for the time being but the other four were collected by local  foster carers.

Here’s a picture of the dogs as they arrived.

and a picture of a couple of the dogs as they were about to spend their first night on Norfolk soil in safe, warm and cosy beds!

Petronel has now been adopted and the adopters had waited for hours in the icy cold at the sanctuary to collect their little waif and stray and take him to a new safe, stable, non abusive life.  Here’s a picture of the now fit and healthy Petronel with his adopter.

A couple of the sanctuary workers are still out in Romania and are hoping to be able to organise another “shipment of refugees” to UK soil in the not too distant future.

It appears that Romania have been under the ever watchful eye of Hillside for some considerable time and have seen first hand the sort of abuse these dogs have to endure but, up until now, other than a touch of human kindness and some limited veterinary care they’ve been powerless to get them back to the UK

Wendy Valentine and her team of volunteers are looking to bring in as many of these dogs back as t hey can save but it’s going to cost them about £200 just to get each of them back to the sanctuary without all the vets fees, food and shelter that they’ll need to recover.  So basically, she’s looking for people to donate a small sum – it doesn’t matter how small! – or to sponsor an animal.  As part of her email to me, Wendy has sent through some photos and a bit of info about a few of the dogs she’s now going to help.  Some of the dialogue she’s received from her workers out there are heart breaking.

So if you’re looking for a last minute present for an animal lover, why not consider going to the Hillside Animal Sanctuary website, contacting them and see if you can help – www.hillside,org.uk – every little bit will help to save a dog.

If you really don’t want to see these distressed animals then please don’t look beyond the first picture below!  The first story is a relatively happy one.

Sanni was found as a small pup on the streets of Giurgiu. She is still under a year old and is a happy normal pup. It’s thought there must have been some trauma to her eye and she will not regain her sight.

I found Petronel caught in a wire trap which had been set by the villagers. ‘ Caught ‘ is probably an inappropriate word as the trap in addition to choking him to dead had cut deeply into his body. It was a race as to whether he would have choked to death or whether he would be cut in half. I took him home and nursed him but he was having obvious vision problems so yesterday I managed to get a lift and took him to the vet. The verdict was that he had been blinded, caused by a blow to the head. I sat on the clinic steps and wept. Many passed by simply taking a glancing look at me. Through the tears I was a was aware of someone touching my leg. Someone supportive ? Someone understanding ? Compassionate ? When I dried my tears I saw that my comforter was a blind, gentle, abused little creature who through all his misery and pain, reached out to comfort me. The sages of old taught us another way. A way of compassion and love . Have we lost this? Have we lost our way ? Petronel needs YOUR compassion and love to give him the home where he can show his love.

Brick, so called because there is a Romanian expression about being one brick away from death and he certainly was when he was found. Rescued in Giurgiu, Romania, Brick was abandoned after living his whole life on a chain.  The collar was embedded in his neck.  He was so ill and blind in both eyes. After medical treatment and attention, sight in one of his eyes has been saved.

Sometimes animal shelters have fewer volunteers over the Christmas holidays, and generally reduce their staff as well, as such the pets in the shelter often get less attention.  As such some animal shelters are allowing people to foster pets over the holidays provided the people are having quiet (stress free) celebrations.

Petfinder.com has launched its “Foster a Lonely Pet for the Holidays” program, and encourages people to approach their local animal shelter to see how they can help. Note this is not a way to get a cheap or free pet, and is only a temporary arrangement to help shelters at this time of year.

In order to get involved you must be over 18, own your own home or have landlord permission to keep pets.  You must have a fenced yard or dog run if you are considering fostering a dog.  You must be willing to keep a cat indoors only if you are fostering a feline.  There may also be foster options for fostering small caged pets.

If you have any pets of your own, they must be vaccinated.

You can also discuss fostering pets on a more permanent basis if that is something you would want to consider.

Sometimes your foster role will be to foster an animal that is actually already living in a foster home but in a situation where that foster parent cannot care for it through the holidays. 

Please visit the petfinder.com site to learn more, or visit your local animal shelter and ask if foster care opportunities are available to you.

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A seeing eye dog leading a blind man in a mall. (Wikipedia image)

Heather Maloney of Taunton, Massachusetts, is legally blind due to retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive disease of the retina. She and her guide dog were refused entry at an Eyebrow Threading & Henna Tattoo shop because the owner has harbored a fear of dogs since childhood. Maloney is a regular customer at the shop, but when she showed up there one day with her 2-year-old female German Shepherd, the shopkeeper said she would be allowed in only if she left her dog outside.

The shopkeeper says her fear of dogs stems from her having witnessed a relative in her native country undergo painful treatment for rabies after the relative was attacked by a dog.

A policeman who was called to investigate the incident informed the shop owner that she was liable for breaking the laws governing guide dogs and their masters, and that she may face civil action.

Maloney refused to leave her dog outside the shop, and to ease her frustration went to another store, a pastry shop, at Hart’s Four Corners. According to her, the store employees did not seem to mind, but when she paid for her order, the cashier told her to leave her dog outside next time.

The tattoo shop owner, as well as the Dunkin’ Donuts staff, apparently could not see the guide dog in the same light as even the legally blind Maloney could, and so the dog’s trainer, Mary Chapell, filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) in New Bedford against the tattoo shop owner.

Dunkin’ Donuts corporate officials issued a statement that customers with guide dogs are always welcome at all their branches which are independently owned and operated franchises, and that their franchisees are expected to comply with all applicable state and federal laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Chapell, a guide dog trainer for the non-profit Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, had spent two weeks in Taunton with Maloney teaching her to handle her dog. Chapell says that regardless of how businesses feel towards guide dogs, their refusal to allow them on their premises goes directly against state and federal law.

The law is on her side, so Maloney can reasonably expect to find justice in her case. If legal knowledge is lacking, business owners would benefit themselves as well as their customers by studying about the laws that pertain, to avoid similar problems in the future. It is one thing to be legally blind, and it is another to be blind to the legalities. 

Post courtesy of Atty. Monica Risam Nicklin

At Ashkelon, the ancient Phoenicians established a dog cemetery; in ancient China, Emperor Ling was so taken by the pug that he made it a crime punishable by death for anyone other than the Emperor to have one and granted the female pugs status equal to that of his wives; ancient Egyptians decorated their tombs with their images and mummified them.  And today, our fascination with dogs continues.  Even during these troubled times, pet owners are willing to pay ever more to care for their pets.  And there are a lot more pet owners.  Thirty nine percent (more than a third) of all US households count among their members at least one dog.  All of which is prompting bloggers and mainstream news to question whether we love our dogs too much.  Is there something about American culture that makes us unusually willing to treat our furry friends like humans?  Or is this willingness a natural human instinct?  A recent discovery in Siberia suggests the latter.

There, archaeologists discovered a 7,000 year old grave of a Husky-like dog.  The dog was buried in the same way humans in the area were buried.  Like the humans, he took his favorite possessions with him into the afterlife.  (He was apparently quite fond of a long spoon made of antler, for example.)  Further examination revealed that in life too, the Husky was treated just like a child at the settlement would be: he ate what everyone else ate, he carried loads that children would have carried, and he was part of the hunt.  His life was not an easy one but it was the same hard life that everyone in the settlement lived.  And when he died, the people who lived with him and who loved him did everything they could to make sure that his soul was properly cared for.  And for the people of that village, such a burial must have been at least as expensive as the medical procedures that today are prompting news organizations to ask if we love our pets too much.

Do we love our dogs too much?  No more than people always had.  

You have been living in your apartment building for five years now and like it there just fine, but your new neighbor don’t seem to understand apartment life very well.  After one week in the building she had already received 10 noise complaints for her music and the dogs barking while she was away at work.

After one month your neighbor left a note taped to your front door telling you to mind your own business.  Your friends across the hall think it may be because the landlord said she will have to move out or get rid of the dogs if they won’t stop barking.  The neighbor is probably convinced that you called and complained (which you didn’t).

Your neighbor who lives on the other side of you, an older man who is hard of hearing, thinks that you bought new dogs and that all the racket has been coming from your apartment!  Not one to say anything directly he has taken to picking up the piles of dog scat left on the front lawn and leaving them in a little baggie on your welcome mat.

Who is involved in the conflict?

What is the reason for the conflict?

Who needs to be a part of the solution?

Answer

Who is involved in the conflict?

There are potentially multiple conflicts here:

1)  Other tenants in the building and the tenant who owns the dogs

2)  You and the tenant with the dogs who is your neighbor

3)  You and the neighbor who is leaving dog scat on your welcome mat

What is the reason for the conflict?

1)  The noise levels and dog scat being left on the lawn

2)  You may or may not have a problem with the noise and the dog scat outside

3)  Your neighbor is leaving feces on your front mat, and while you may understand the point they are trying to make, they are making it to the wrong person since you don’t own the dogs causing the problem!

Who needs to be a part of the solution?

1)  Any tenant who has a problem with the noise or scat and the tenant who has the dogs.

Reason:  Anyone with a problem with their neighbor needs to speak with them directly to inform them of the problem.  Many people who crank their music or who have barking dogs are unaware of how much the noise carries.  By having a polite conversation with them one-on-one informing them of your concern you give them the opportunity to fix it and earn their respect because you were respectful to them.  Many people will take immediate action when it is pointed out to them that their music is keeping others awake or that their dog’s scat is making it unpleasant for young children playing in the grass.

2)  You and your neighbor with the dogs. 

Reason:  If you have a problem with the noise or scat you have the responsibility to speak with the neighbor directly and give them the opportunity to fix the problem.  Many people make the mistake of immediately involving the landlord, but in doing this they cause strained relationships with the tenant they’ve complained about and if the person now feels defensive this often leads to further problems.  A common human reaction is to want to irritate a person further if they couldn’t be bothered to talk to them directly.  It’s not right, but it is common and you can avoid this reaction by speaking with them first before speaking with the landlord.  The landlord should only be involved if your initial conversations with the tenant one-on-one are unsuccessful and the problems persist.

3)  You and your neighbor leaving dog feces on your front mat.

Reason:  Not only is this unacceptable behavior, but it is directed at the wrong person.  Speaking with the neighbor directly will inform them of their mistake and point them in the direction of the people they really need to be speaking with.

Note:  Unless the landlord lives onsite and is being directly affected by noise and feces, they are not involved in this conflict.  The landlord is a conflict resolution resource when tenants are unable to solve the conflict on their own.  Many people make the mistake of involving the landlord right away without respectfully speaking with the person they have a problem with.  Unless you have reason to beleive that you would be in danger by doing so, always speak to a person one-on-one before involving any kind of authority.

Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region
The mission of the Humane Society is to “prevent animal cruelty and neglect, and promote a responsible community where animals are inherently valued and owners are committed to their pets.” The adoption process is easy. Once you have made the decision to adopt, you can choose a pet by visiting the shelter or looking online. Adoption fees cover sterilization, vaccinations, a microchip, a free health exam, deworming, a one-year license for dogs and pet information. As an added bonus, if you choose to adopt a pet during the month of October from the Humane Society, you’ll receive a dog toy from the Republic of Paws. Adoptions are seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Where: 610 Abbott Lane, Colorado Springs, CO 80905

Colorado Springs All Breed Rescue, Inc.
This no-kill rescue organization’s purpose is to educate the community in the areas of dog behavior, breed-specific legislation, dog bite prevention, animal care and spay/neuter education. The mission is “to foster and place adoptable companion dogs into permanent homes.” They also hope to increase adoptions of shelter dogs by promoting awareness of and cooperation with area shelter. If you’re not ready to adopt a pet, consider becoming a foster parent. As a foster parent, you would foster homeless dogs until a permanent adoption is arranged.
Where: 20 Mount View Lane, Colorado Springs, CO 80907

Dreampower Animal Rescue
A strong volunteer foster network is the main reason for the success of Dreampower Animal Rescue. Adoptions from Dreampower take place at an individual home or at an adoption fair. Each animal is cared for by the volunteer staff at Dreampower, as well as the volunteer veterinarians. The vets take time to provide medical assistance for the animals. If you’re interested in adopting a pet from Dreamweaver, view their website or visit one of their upcoming adoption fairs. If you’re not ready to adopt a pet, consider volunteering as a foster parent for one of these animals. Another option is to donate supplies such as collars, leashes, dog beds, bowls, etc.
Where: http://www.dreampower.org

SPCA Cincinnati
With the mission to improve the welfare of animals by fostering humane care and treatment to all animals, the SPCA of Cincinnati provides service to Hamilton County and the city of Cincinnati. This is a place for homeless animals to get a second chance and receive medical care and nourishment. The typical cost to adopt a dog from SPCA is $20, which is the cost of a license. If you can’t find a dog while visiting one of the two SPCA Cincinnati locations, you can view their website to see available pets in the area.
Location: 3949 Colerain Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45223 or 11900 Conrey Road, Cincinnati, OH 45249

Animal Friends Humane Society
This is the largest and oldest nonprofit animal shelter in the area, and it houses between 200 and 300 dogs and cats in the facility on a typical day. The mission at AFHS is to promote humane principles to protect lost, homeless, abandoned and mistreated animals. Their mission is also to act as advocates for animals in the community. You can visit the shelter from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, or Wednesday and Thursday from 1 to 7 p.m. You can also check out the adoptable animals on their website.
Location: 1820 Princeton Road, Hamilton, OH 45011

Save the Animals Foundation
This foundation was founded in 1988 and is dedicated to providing a loving and safe home for its residents for as long as they live or until they are adopted into a home. There are currently more than 600 dogs and cats, and each animal is provided with love and care by the volunteers. Adoptions occur twice a week – on Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. and on Saturdays from 1 to 4 p.m.  If you can’t take in a pet from the Save the Animals Foundation, you can sponsor a pet, which will help cover the expenses for the pets.
Location: 4011 Red Bank Road, Cincinnati, OH 45227

Sheltered Paws Dog Rescue
This is a nonprofit, volunteer-based organization. They are dedicated to helping save shelter dogs by placing them in temporary, loving foster homes. They save shelter dogs that require a temporary foster home and place them in good permanent homes. Additionally, Sheltered Paws partners with the SPACA of Cincinnati to promote the placement of their special needs dogs. They offer adoption goodie bags, which include a collar, leash, ID tag, training DVD and training booklet, treats and other items to get you started with your new dog. If you’re interested in adopting a dog or learning more about the adoption process, view the available dogs on their website.