Shelter & Pet Related Questions:
Second Chance Humane Society – Ridgway
970.626.2273
Shelter Manager:
Allison Dooley
970.626.2273
allison@secondchancehumanesociety.org
It isn’t the best picture of me but you get the idea right? This was taken four years ago when Benj was still in high school. I thought I looked quite dashing but I did hear owner say, “gee, until we took that photo I thought Casey was really something special. Holy Cow, she just looks so dog-like!” No kidding! What was she expecting for Pete’s sake; I am a dog. Anyway, to be honest it shocked me that those words could even come out of her mouth. I shed a few quiet tears, picked myself up, dusted myself off and carried on. She’s lucky I love her because she has a few “not so hot photos” of her own that I could post for all of you to take a look at. (David actually copied a few of her yucky pictures on Facebook and she was not very impressed! Serves her right is my opinion.)
Second Chance was supposed to come to Telluride on Wednesday to celebrate Noel Night. Their special photo-taking session, like the one above, was called Santa Paws – I like catchy titles like that. Telluride’s Noel Night is an event where every shop has discounts and grab bags to encourage everyone to shop locally – of course! Santa Paws sounded like fun to me and we planned to volunteer. As you can tell from the above photo I am very experienced with these types of events and felt I could give good guidance to all pets involved. However, Second Chance couldn’t find a venue in which to hold the programme so guess we will just have to shop instead. As much as looking for Christmas gifts is fun, it would have been nice to remind people of animals in shelters seeking new families as well as providing people with photos of their animals with Santa.
Did any of you catch that little heartbreaker movie, A Dog Named Christmas, the other night? This is a super family Christmas movie if you are looking for one. (Of course it can’t beat Prancer, my all time favourite Christmas film.) Hallmark is working with humane societies around the country to encourage people to “foster ”shelter animals over the Christmas vacation. Two things happen because of fostering programmes. The shelter workers and volunteers get a bit of a break to spend time with their own families, and the animals get a chance to remember what it is like to live with a real family. For a short time they get daily walks outside, no cage, catch up on pee-mail, a little extra holiday spirited sniffing goes on, and hopefully some time to play games with some kids, doze in a sunny spot, and so on. Sounds like a good idea to me. You never know….some of them might get adopted into forever families. Obviously everybody is on their best behaviour.
My owner shed a tear or two at the movie and curly-haired was heard to say, and I repeat…there can never be a time when we don’t have a dog around our house. It was pretty nice to hear these words because it means they really do love me and appreciate the gifts I bring to the family table.
If anyone wants to foster a pet it is pretty easy to do. You call up the humane society near you and fill in some paperwork. Then your house has to be approved as a safe and loving home for an animal. You specify what your needs are, your rules and regulations, and then they match you up as best they can with the ideal pet for your family.
As an example of the good you can do, look at Leo. He has actually found a forever family and was the reason for the title of this post! I mean Look at What you Get! He was rescued by loving people but not from the humane society. He was found in a campground just living on scraps. Of course you can tell he’s not living on scraps now, is he?! I like to say he’s a real scrapper… ha ha….but only in the nicest way. He’s quite the cool dude with his glasses and wine! I actually think that I could hang quite comfortably with Leo even if he is a cat. (I’m not sure but I think he thinks he’s a dog stuck in a cat’s body.) I’ve never heard of these trans-species animals before and as far as I know there are no operations for these mixed up pets, no hormones they can take. 
Many humans appear to go through life feeling a little empty. We, as animals, can see how they try to fill that emptiness with buying things, bigger and better toys. People who are the happiest generally appear to be those who know how to reach out to others and to share their good fortune. Although it would be nice if everyone did this all year long, the Christmas season seems to encourage more of you to reach deep inside yourselves and share. We animals can only give back in so many ways and we make that a daily practice all year long. There is so much we could teach you if you were only willing to pay attention. Just remember, people, that there are so many ways to fill that emptiness inside and one way is to give unto others. Whatever you choose to do this Christmas, do it with love. Perhaps you want to visit people who are living in old folks homes with no family nearby, perhaps you want to visit hospitals with your pet (please! call to find out how first), help an elderly neighbour get her shopping done, clothe a teenager in some of the latest fashions her family could never afford to buy, or drop off a meal for a family adjusting to life with a new baby. Of course since I’m a dog I love the next one the most. If you feel you have room in your heart to foster or, even better, adopt a pet from a local shelter,please do so. Think what it will do for the animals and think what it will do for you. I guarantee your heart will sing.
Now, go get your lights up and make some Christmas cookies. Let it snow, let is snow, let it snow. See ya later.
Second Chance Humane Society…join their Facebook group to be aware of everything they are doing in and around our communities.
Come walk a Shelter Dog and burn off that extra serving of stuffing and mashed potatoes!
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