By Mallorey Roe, Customer Service Assistant, 1st Avenue Shelter The worst has happened. You came home and your beloved pet was not there to greet you. You look all over the house in a panic and no sign of them! What do you do? What can possibly be done? They re out there somewhere, alone, scared, at the mercy of vehicles and strangers and wild predators. Do you know the best places to post missing ads, and what information to include? Can you describe your pet s markings and breed and distinctive traits accurately? Is your pet micro-chipped? Spayed or neutered? Are they licensed? Are they wearing ID? Do you have clear pictures of your pet to show people? Do you know where people might report pets they found? Do you know the animal control agency for your jurisdiction? Do you know what animal shelters in your area your pet may be taken to? Have they wandered before to a specific area? Did you move recently from somewhere they might try to return to? These are questions you will hopefully be able to answer quickly, but it can be difficult to remember such important information, as you worry your best friend may be gone for good. Everyone thinks it can t happen to their pet, that they re responsible owners, they always keep a leash on, always close the doors, that their pet loves them too much to ever go far. But then it happens. One out of three pets will go missing in their lifetime. Are you prepared? Have you done everything you can to increase your chances of getting your loved one back home? As an animal shelter office employee, I take numerous lost pet reports in person and over the phone every day. Sadly, owners who are prepared for finding a lost pet are the exception rather than the rule. My coworkers and I have an arsenal of strategies we share to help owners recover their lost pets, but these strategies can actually be implemented before a pet even goes missing. I want to share this to save you, dear reader, from the heartache and loss experienced by so many people and their pets. (Continued on page 5)
Paw Print Personals! Pepper! I m the cutest Chinchilla around! I m soft and I want to be your loving sidekick for many years! I m at Greenhill! Come say hi! Meet Christine, our volunteer of the month for June! Christine started volunteering at First Avenue in March 2017 and has contributed over 235 hours of service to the shelter. We always know we can count on Christine to give our First Avenue cats lots of love each week, and our staff and kitties alike are so grateful for all her support! As a cattery companion at First Avenue, Christine has spent endless hours providing love and enrichment to every cat she encounters. In summary: "Basically I get to cuddle and play with cats for two hours. I highly recommend the gig." While she loves just about everything about her volunteer work, Christine especially likes helping to socialize kitties who are shyer at first so that they can meet more potential adopters. Christine moved to Eugene about 18 months ago and currently works at ShelterCare as a peer support specialist. She works with young adults who have persistent mental illness and are at risk of becoming homeless. In addition, she is currently working toward a post-baccalaureate degree in psychology and counseling, with plans of later applying to grad school. On top of everything else she is doing, Christine also volunteers with the National Alliance on Mental Illness, facilitating groups for people living with mental illness. Work, school, and volunteering keep her busy, but in her moments of spare time, she loves to take long walks and describes herself as a science fiction nerd. She also runs a vintage jewelry store on ebay! When she isn't getting her cat fix at First Avenue, she has a two-year-old Siamese mix named Loki at home who keeps her entertained. In Christine's own words, "Volunteering with Greenhill has shown me what an incredible community Eugene is. The number of people who volunteer in all the various capacities is a testament to the people who live here. It has also reinforced my belief that people who love animals are my kind of people." Jethro! Sweet and shy guy in search of someone who will help me become more confident around people! Come meet me at First Avenue! Meet our June Foster of the Month, Addi! Addi and her family have only been fostering for a couple of months so far, but have really enjoyed it I wanted to get my kids involved in helping the community and I figured this would be a good way to do that and teach responsibility at the same time. Plus, I figure maybe we will meet THE ONE to forever join our family. Addi says. That week when I was dropping off another one of our foster a woman who works there started talking to me. She asked if I had Zaida a few weeks ago, and proceeded to tell me it was ( she had heard but wasn't positive) because of a picture I had posted of my daughter helping me walk her that she had gotten adopted! It's such a good feeling knowing doing something so normal in our life can help a dog get a home. Felix! Friendly and playful kitty looking for people who will give me lots of attention and listen to me talk all day! Come say hi at Greenhill! We ask Addi to share her most memorable foster experience and this is what she said, Our first foster was a pit mix names Zaida. She was very sweet and mellow and the girls really enjoyed having her. A few weeks after we brought her back, I noticed she wasn't on the website anymore. Addi is a stay at home mom and has two adorable girls that are in preschool! We don't have a very active life, and really enjoy having a couch potato pooch to help us enjoy our house. We are not a typical family; I am currently a gestational surrogate, so I figure having a rotating door of dogs to love will add to our uniqueness. It's been pretty cool to teach my girls about differences- how everyone is different and has different lifestyles and likes different things.
I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to adopt Sasha. She s amazing. She adapted instantly and I kept her name Sasha because it suits her. She meows constantly for attention and is very spoiled. She s the perfect fit. We renamed Delaney Danny, and she is doing very well! We got her being aware of all her medical conditions, and she has been doing a lot better. We give her baths regularly, and keep up on her skin problems. She got a haircut and her hair is all pretty much growing back. It's been work and it will continue to be work, but we are happy to keep working with her to get her health to a good state. We have her on a special low fat diet that is good for her digestive care. We wonder if she is hyper-sensitive to fleas or treatments, but we keep working with her issues. Other than the skin condition and her being very hard of hearing, she is healthy and wonderful. We had a great experience with First Avenue. Everybody was so nice and caring, and for the price I paid, I got so much out of the experience. It's a wonderful shelter, and the staff is awesome. Danny doesn't have any behavior or temperament issues, and is really social and great around other people and animals. Overall, such a great addition to the family! Maggie is doing great! She is very healthy and happy in her new home with us. She settled in and started coming out of the room we had her in 4 days after coming home with us. At 1 month she ventured outside with no problems. She loves to sit with us and sleeps with us every night. JJ is doing great. He's really calmed down and is becoming more social. We take walks morning and evening and he loves it. I take care of my mother and grandmother. My grandmother has dementia and has never wanted dogs in the house. But right now JJ is sitting on her lap. She even wants him to sleep with her. So he's been really good for her.
Nosferatu and Gremlin are doing great. They live in their cage in my bedroom. They haven't been for a free vet visit, but they're very healthy. I was a little worried about how my kids would interact with them, but the kids love feeding them fresh fruits and veggies (the rats LOVE broccoli!). Our other cat, Otis, loves to sit with the rats and occasionally rubs on them. We kept the name Zaida. She fit in perfectly. It took her a day to adjust to our home. She is spunky and playful for her age. She has another dog to play with; we adopted Jack (formerly known as Peter) from Greenhill. They are the best of friends, sleeping and eating together. We enjoy hiking and going on camping trips with them. We have taken her to the vet to get her shots and are glad about the free voucher for an exam. Our family is so happy to have adopted her from Greenhill. We know that Zaida was well taken care of and given any necessary shots. She is still Moonshine, but we just call her Moon. She's a very sweet, affectionate dog. She is eager to behave and make us happy. Moon is a really good girl has learned a lot of good behaviors since she moved in with us. She also loves to play--a LOT. :) She's been very docile with all of us, including our other dog. She gets overly excited about new people and her toys, but she's doing a good job of not jumping up on us. She is extremely affectionate with all of us and loves to cuddle. We adore them, they are full of life. When we went to Greenhill it was just to visit the kittens. We were mourning the loss of our beloved pet that passed away recently, but when we saw these two kittens we new we had to adopt them and make them a part of our family. It took 3 days for them to adjust to our household. We left them in the bathroom with food water litter box, and toys. Then by day 3 we let them out to explore and now they have taken over our house with their exploring and playing with us and each other. We have taken them to the vet for a visit and have scheduled another for shots. We want to thank Greenhill for such wonderful kittens.
How to Prepare for Finding Your Pet (Continued from page 1) Step 1: Get your pet micro-chipped, and keep the registration up to date Though the fact of having a chip can be an identifying feature, it is still important to make sure you update the registration every time contact information changes. We also strongly advise keeping a collar and tags with your contact information on your pet, but if you have a collar-eating or collar-hating pet, or the collar falls off or is removed, the microchip is there as backup. Step 2: KNOW your pet This might seem like a no-brainer, but many people really don t know how to describe their pet accurately. We often get dogs and cats into the shelter that we cannot connect to lost reports because the owner provided a less than accurate description. Know the breed and coloring: If your pet is a mutt or you re not sure of the breed for whatever reason, consult a veterinarian, trainer, shelter/rescue employee, or other person who has extensive experience identifying animal breeds. Same goes for the coloring and markings. It can help a lot to know how animal experts label specific patterns, and characteristic patterns for specific breeds. For example, brindle and merle are both labels for similar mottled markings on dogs. Calico and tortoiseshell cats also confuse people, but there are specific differences. Know your pet s sex, and whether they re fertile or altered (spayed for females, neutered for males). Know your pet s past and present medical conditions and injuries, especially if they have any visible symptoms such as hair loss or shaved patches, tumors, missing teeth, limping, or scars. Know your pet s distinctive traits. What is unusual about them and sets them apart from others? Distinctive traits for cats can include a kinked or bob tail, polydactyly (more than five toes on the front paws or more than four toes on the back, or both!), declawed, etc. Distinctive traits for dogs can include docked tails, cropped ears, intact dewclaws, different colored eyes, spots on their tongue, etc. Very distinct and unusual markings can help with identification as well. Know your pet s weight, or at least their average weight. Small, medium, and large are subjective labels and each can cover a wide range of sizes, so knowing a reasonable weight estimate for your pet, especially if excessive fur makes a pet look larger than it is, can really help in identification. Step 3: Take photos of your pet Even the most detailed description is weak sauce without a current, clear photograph. At the shelter we spend a lot of time perusing lost pet posts online, hoping to find the owners of pets currently in the shelter. The most common mistakes we see are no photo at all, overly dark or unfocused photos, photos from just one angle or with only a small part of the pet showing, multiple pets where the missing pet is not specified, or photos of puppies and kittens when the missing pet is an adult.
How to Prepare for Finding Your Pet (Continued from page 5) Step 4: Create a pet emergency kit, and get any potential pet sitters and helpers on the same page Do you anticipate any events or vacations where a relative, significant other, pet sitter, or boarding facility would care for your pet? A pet can get away from even the most trustworthy and responsible pet sitter. In fact, because your pet may not be as bonded with your petsitter as they are with you, and because your pet sitter is not as familiar with your pet s shenanigans as you are, a pet is more likely to go missing while being watched by someone else. I d estimate at least an eighth of lost reports we receive are from pet-sitters, and they often don t know important details such as whether the pet is micro-chipped, altered, their age, or their weight. You can set your pet sitter up for success in finding your pet by writing down all the important descriptors from Step 1, and providing the list before you leave. Include emergency contact numbers for your main vet and an alternate vet in case of a medical emergency, local animal control and stray shelter numbers in case they go missing, phone numbers of friends and relatives who can help with the search, websites and local businesses where lost reports can be posted, and so on. Including multiple copies of photos or a flash drive containing photos of your pet can also be a great help. Step 5: Educate yourself on the services available for stray animals in your area Find out what police department or animal control agency might pick up your pet and where stray pets from your area are housed. Save all contact information, and hours, on your phone or on paper so you can access it quickly. Also find out what requirements, fees, and procedures these facilities have for reclaiming pets. Making sure to keep your dog s license and vaccines up to date can make it easier and cheaper to reclaim your pet if they are taken in to a shelter. Additionally, keeping ID on your pet such as tags or a microchip can extend the stray hold period, the period which a shelter has to wait before making the pet available for adoption, giving you a longer time to find your pet! Step 6: Educate yourself on other resources available for finding a lost pet Local print or copy shops may have special offers for creating lost pet fliers to hang up around your neighborhood. Make the most of fliers by including all the information from Step 2 and clear photographs! These days the internet is also a great resource for expanding your posts reach to potential finders. There are Craigslist sites for most cities, and both the Lost and Found section and the Pets section are utilized for lost and found pets. Facebook users often create groups and pages for people in specific areas to share about missing or found pets. A similarly useful resource is Nextdoor.com, and a simple Google search can bring up numerous other online communities designed to reunite people and pets.
Sadie H. (kennel) got caught" pitching in to do laundry and help clean up the kennel even though that wasn't a part of her shift. Thank you for always being willing to fill in as needed to help the dogs and staff! Jodi J. (cattery) "got caught" providing a ton of support for new volunteers and the cattery! From helping to train new volunteers to stepping up to take on an additional cleaning shift, you made such a difference. Thank you Jodi! SAVE THE DATE! My favorite thing about fostering is the cuddling and watching these precious babies grow and mature... Dixie M.. - Foster Parent
Not only do you get your needs met, but the animals do, too. Nika Seydel - Volunteer *achieved a milestone for life hours since April 2018 Nan W. 274 hours Rachel B. 270 hours Julie A. 267 hours Rosie O. 262 hours Samantha C. 251 hours Monica F. 250 hours Kate M. 250 hours Club Awards Brian K. 514 hours Dawn B. 907 hours Pete R. 785 hours Michael D. 754 hours Ginny C. 1,008 hours
Thank you to everyone who helped make our 25th Annual Bark in the Park a success! With your help, we raised over $90,000 for the animals. We couldn t have done it without you! (More event photos on next page!)