Volunteer & Community News

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1 Volunteer & Community News Event Success! April Showers: 10 dogs and 2 cats adopted! Greenbriar Petsmart April 30/May 1: 7 dogs adopted! K9 Karnival May 14 th : 4 dogs adopted! Contact Us 2665 Leroy Rd Virginia Beach, VA Local Story Inside! Mon, Wed, Fri: 11am 6pm Tues: 11am 3pm (reclaims only) Thurs: 12pm 7pm Sat & Sun: 10am 3pm

2 Recent Event Success!! On Saturday, May 22 nd, the pups and kitties at the shelter pulled an all-nighter! Everyone settled in with some tasty treats and settled in for a long, fun night! Dr. Attia and her staff from Pungo Veterinary Clinic came out to join us for a low-cost rabies clinic and sent eight pets home safe and sound for another year. Staff and volunteers cuddled up to some cozy pooches and got to spend quality time with their favorite shelter residents all in the hopes of finding them their very own furrever home. And it worked! Three dogs and two cats found a furr-ever home of their very own! They ve promised to write and send pictures and to never forget us but we re sure that once they hit their new couch the shelter will be a distant memory. VBAC & VBACAC Upcoming Events Every 1 st Saturday of the month this summer (July, August and September) The Friends of VBACAC sponsor off-site adoption events from 10am to 4pm Every 3 rd Saturday of the month we have an adoption event here at VBACAC shelter June 18 th SUMMER KICKOFF Adoption Event July 16 th Independence Month Adoption Event August 20 th Dog (and Cat) Days of Summer Volunteer Recognition Ginny Bourdon is one of our wonderful adult volunteers who comes in weekend mornings to help us out in the front office and spend some time with the cats. She s truly wonderful. These past few weeks we have been very short handed in the front office and has been generous enough to volunteer her time on weekdays as well. She s very kind and is always a joy to have around. Jenny is a very hard worker and has never said no to a request for help.

3 Pet Fact(s) of the Month! Adoption story! I just wanted to let you all know we adopted Socks, the Lab black and white, mix, about 3 weeks ago. I wanted to send you some pictures of him and let you know he is doing great! He is eating non stop, starting the day he came here. You all said he was depressed and wasn't eating much. We can't see his ribs anymore now! He gets along well with our other dog, that we had gotten free off Craigs List a couple months ago, except when they have a bone, but we are working on that. They both run like the wind in the yard and are becoming best friends! And Socks also loves to sleep on the bed with us at night-he is our foot warmer! Please see attached pictures-socks doing his favorite things-eating and chewing a soup bone! - Beth Astoundingly, for most of our history America s nickname for Pit Bulls was The Nanny Dog. For generations if you had children and wanted to keep them safe you wanted a pit bull, the dog that was the most reliable of any breed with children or adults. The Nanny Dog is now vilified by a media that always wants a demon dog breed to frighten people and LHASA- APSO BITES MAN just doesn t sell papers. Before pit bulls it was Rottweilers, before Rottweilers it was Dobermans, and before them German Shepherds. Each breed in it s order were deemed too vicious and unpredictable to be around people. Each time people wanted laws to ban them. It is breathtakingly ironic that the spotlight has turned on the breed once the symbol of our country and our national babysitter. In temperance tests (the equivalent of how many times your kid can poke your dog in the eye before he bites him) of all breeds the most tolerant was the Golden Retriever. The second most tolerant was the pit bull. Pit Bull s jaws do not lock, they do not have the most powerful bite among dogs (German Shepherds have that honor) they are naturally neither human or animal aggressive (in fact pit bull puppies prefer human company to their mother s two weeks before all other dogs), and they feel as much pain as any other breed (accidentally step on one s toe and you ll see). The most tolerant, patient, gentle breed of dogs is now embarrassingly portrayed as the most dangerous. It would be funny if the new reputation did not mean 6,000 are put to death every day, by far the highest number of any other breed euthanized. That s a lot of babysitters.

4 An amazing local story! Being part of the Animal Control Unit is so unique and fulfilling. In what other profession do you get to be around others who share the same compassion for animals that you do, but also get to be part of some of the most rewarding experiences? There are so many heart-warming stories and I would like to share a recent one where we really made a difference. On January 03 rd, 2011 there was a bloodhound that was missing in the Great Neck area of Virginia Beach. He had disappeared from his home in the very early part of the morning. In an effort to find him, his owners put up posters, sent out s and, of course, called Virginia Beach Animal Care and Adoption Center. Almost one week later on January 09 th, 2011 I was dispatched a case for a stray dog, a bloodhound. When I found him, he was lying on the ground and appeared to be very sick. I was very concerned for his health and brought him straight to the Emergency Vet to be seen to make sure that he was okay. The Veterinarian looked him over and they stated that they couldn t find anything medically wrong with him. They said he was older but other than age he appeared to be very healthy. So I brought him to our Animal Care and Adoption Center to be sheltered and cared for there in hopes his owners would find him. Once arriving at the shelter I checked the lost and found bulletin board just in case. A posted flier for a missing bloodhound named Wally caught my eye. It stated he had been missing and his owners were really hoping to find him and bring him back home where he belonged. I called their home at 10 p.m. to inform them that Wally had been found and was safe and sound at our shelter. Even though it was late, they immediately came to pick up their loving wayward dog, Wally. During this wait I sat there with him and tried to get him to cheer up because he just seemed so depressed and I couldn t get him to eat or even take a dog treat. I was still very concerned because he just didn t seem to be acting quite right. He paced back and forth the entire time and just couldn t sit still or get comfortable. Once his owners arrived and came inside his behavior immediately changed! What had seemed to be a health concern turned out to be him missing his family. Wally had become excited the moment his owners walked inside. His owners cried because they were so grateful to have him back and in their arms. Wally barked, jumped and gave lots of kisses. It was at that time I learned that dogs miss their owners just as much as their owners miss them. That day was a moment that will remain with me forever. It is a moment that reminds me of why I do my job. Being a part of Animal Control you have to have the mindset that at times there are moments that pull at your heartstrings and bother you for days. But the moments that mean the most, the ones that keep you coming back and have you strive to do the best at what you do, are the ones that allow you to be the voice for animals that they do not have. Author VB Animal Control Officer K. Bradfield

5 Volunteer Information Volunteer Opportunity: We are working to identify persons willing and able to assist with the set-up and maintenance of an off-site animal shelter for the community during times of disaster. We are in the beginning stages of the planning. Imagine a human shelter established by the City for persons to evacuate, but exclusively for pets. Human shelters do not allow pets and many owners will not evacuate without them so this will fill the gap and provide additional safety opportunities to the community. Persons who may be interested in helping in this capacity are encouraged to Shelter Manager Juleen Ballance at jballanc@vbgov.com. Responses of interest will be accepted via by through Thanks so much! Pictures of the new VBACAC building! Virginia Beach Animal Care and Adoption Center Created by Domonique Owens