The Humane Society of Genesee County Happy Tails Newsletter www.geneseehumane.org Dog Days of Summer is a great time for Pets! Here s how HSGC is participating! Summer 2014 Calendar of Upcoming Events Ties & Tails Dine with your Canine Saturday, October 4, 2014 6:00-9:30pm Tricks for Treats at KeyLore Woof Woods Dog Park Saturday, October 25, 2014 12:30-3:00 pm It s the time of year we ve all waited for...summer! This summer, The Humane Society of Genesee County is celebrating with a recognition of Pet Car Safety during the month of July. To recognize people that go above and beyond when it comes to kindness to animals, we challenged our Facebook community to submit businesses that were part of helping an animal in distress while on their property. This included dogs left in hot cars, saving an animal from being hit by an automobile, or finding a lost animal their home. The response was amazing! We strongly feel that the more knowledge is available, the more empowered the public becomes as animal advocates. Thank you to all of our Facebook friends for submitting your favorite story about these awesome businesses! Cruelty Investigation Update from HSGC Cat and kitten season is in full swing again and The Humane Society of Genesee County is taking every opportunity to educate the public on the importance of spaying and neutering your animal. We are proud to say that all of our cats and dogs have been spayed/neute red, microchipped, vaccinated, treated with Revolution, and heartworm or feline leukemia tested before going to their forever home. This ensures that animals adopted from HSGC will never contribute to the o v e r - p o p u l a t i o n problem! Did you know The Humane Society of Genesee County receives no state or governmental funding to operate. So far, summer has kept our Cruelty Investigator, Walt Rodabaugh, very busy. Some of the common complaints include inappropriate shelter, no food or water. Walt has been wonderful in following up on each and every complaint. Also, summer is a time where many children are outside playing, and it s important to keep yourself safe as well. Loose dogs may be unsafe to children. Walt would like to remind everyone to be mindful of loose dogs, and don t approach them...tell an adult. Think safety first!
PAGE 2 HAPPY TAILS NEWSLETT ER WWW.GENESEEHUMANE.ORG Events Update Bring a Flat to Plant Day On Saturday, June 7th, The Humane Society of Genesee County had its 8th Annual Garden Day. Volunteers from around Genesee County came with a flat of flowers and their own hand tools & green thumbs to beautify all 8 of our gardens. Purple petunias, red salvia and yellow marigolds abound at the entrance of our facility, and make a lovely walking path throughout our grounds to view. Special thanks goes to our Master Gardeners led by Maggie Gregg for the upkeep of these beautiful gardens. Volunteer Recognition Banquet We ve combined our 2 most valued volunteer events together and made them one spectacular event! What better way to celebrate our volunteers after a full morning of planting flowers than to feed them a sumptuous buffet lunch and thank them for being such a valued member to HSGC? We ll...that s exactly what we did! We d like to congratulate all of our awesome award winners, and thank everyone who donated flowers & planted. Way to go! Car, Truck and Bike Show Saturday, July 12th was our 9th Annual Car, Truck and Bike Show sponsored by our great friends from Team Corvette. This year, we had a record number of vehicles with a total of 76! 40 awards were presented and over $3,000 was raised to support the animals at HSGC. Thank you Team Corvette for an awesome day! Jada, right, was our Corvette Queen at the show! 160 Adoptions in the Month of June! It s been an awesome summer so far for adoptions! In the month of June, we had 160 adoptions of cats, kittens, puppies, dogs and various other critters! We d really like to keep that momentum going, says HSGC Front Desk Team Leader Lin Holmes. We ve had great special pricing on our cats, which really helped. great. It has been really The Humane Society offers programs also for seniors, who can adopt a pet for free, and cats as low as $15. To view all of our animals up for adoption, please go to our website. It is updated daily so you get the most current information on new critters needing a forever home! We d like to welcome Deb Loader as our new Board Chair! Deb has a vast knowledge of marketing and strategic planning, and will be a valued asset to our organization.
WWW.GENESEEHUMANE.ORG HAPPY TAILS NEWSLETT ER PAGE 3 Volunteer Happenings We d like to recognize these awesome volunteers who received an award at our Volunteer Recognition Banquet on Saturday, June 17th: Customer Service: Pat Cooper Junior Volunteer: Arezu Tavakoli Dog Walking Award: Marta Wyngaard-Tavakoli Cat Care: Arlene Adams Valuable Business Partner: Marathon Oil Pet fostering: Loretta Stowers, Mike & Jen Fader Pet Therapy: Randy Benyo, Helen Mitru Events: Deb Cummings, Sue Tolbert Dedication Award: Dana Wigton, JoAnn DeKatch, Opal Clontz, Jerry Gutek Outstanding Board Member: Sally Shaink Volunteer of the Year: Maggie & David Gregg Volunteer Meeting Schedule (all meetings are held in the Conference Room at HSGC and are from 10:00-11:00 am): Saturday, July 26 Saturday, October 18 Volunteer Opportunities! Garden Clean-Up We have an on going need for volunteers to help keep our gardens neat and tidy! If you can help with this, we meet every Thursday from 9:00-11:00 am to weed and deadhead. Bring your sunscreen, hand tools and a water bottle. You ll be greeted by Maggie Gregg, our lead gardener! Dog Walkers Do you like walking dogs and getting exercise? We are always in need of volunteers to walk our dogs each and every day. To be a volunteer dog walker, you ll need to attend our orientation to learn our safety policies, mission statement and animal handling skills. Please visit our website at geneseehumane.org and click on Get Involved, then Volunteering to find out more! Tricks for Treats at Key-Lore Woof Woods Dog Park Vendors Needed! Do you have a great product that you would like to sell? We re looking for vendors who would like to show and sell their gifts and goodies at this year s Tricks for Treats. The event is scheduled for Saturday, October 25th from 12:30-3:00 pm. 10 x 10 booth space is $20. This event last year had over 1,000 people in attendance, and 150 dogs. It will be publicized on TV, radio and print. All proceeds go to The Humane Society of Genesee County. For more information on these and other events, contact Terry Ashley at terry.ashley@geneseehumane.org
PAGE 4 Volunteer of the Quarter HAPPY TAILS NEWSLETT ER Meet Pam Leist! WWW.GENESEEHUMANE.ORG Pam has been chosen as the Volunteer of the Quarter because of her dedication to The Humane Society of Genesee County, and for her love of walking our dogs every week. We thank you, Pam, from the bottom of our hearts for all of the many hours of service you provide to us! A Conversation with Pam. How many pets do you have? I have two dogs-mia, a seven year old shepherd mix, Maggie, a seven year old shepherd mix and 2 cats-peanut, 2 ½ years and DaVinci, 3 years. Peanut was adopted from HSGC 2 months after I started volunteering. Maggie from another Humane Society, Mia from another rescue and DaVinci was discovered in my friend s garage as a small kitten Describe yourself I am happily married to my husband Mike for almost 15 years. I have been an elementary special education teacher for Holly Areas Schools for 18 years. I love to read, go kayaking and camping. How long have you been a volunteer for The Humane Society of Genesee County? I have been with HSGC for a little over 2 years. What is your favorite part of volunteering? I love the joy the dogs get just by being outside with you, even if it is only for a little while. I love coming in and noticing that a dog or cat that has been here a long time is adopted. I love to see their pictures and how happy they are with their new families when they post their stories on Facebook. How as volunteering changed or improved you? It has given me something meaningful and enjoyable to do when I get out of school at the end of the day. There is nothing like a dog kiss or a happy to see you wag to make you forget your stress from the day. I also did not have any experience with the pit bull breed before. I was a little intimidated by them at first and have found they are some of the funniest and loving dogs around.
WWW.GENESEEHUMANE.ORG HAPPY TAILS NEWSLETT ER PAGE 5 Our 10th Annual Ties and Tails Dine with your Canine featuring Cruisin on The Love Boat Saturday, October 4, 2014 6:00~9:30 pm The Riverfront Banquet Center Flint, MI. Come experience this fabulous event where you can Dine with your Canine with this year s theme of Cruisin on The Love Boat! You ll be greeted by a live marimba band as you sip cocktails on the deck, and then will enjoy a chef prepared four-course dinner as your pooches are pampered by handlers. Cruise Director Leslie Toldo will kick off the evening with a live auction with first mate Steve Cole, with the evening concluding with a pooch parade! For more information on this much anticipated fundraiser benefitting The Humane Society of Genesee County, please contact Terry Ashley at 810.744.0511 or by email at terry.ashley@geneseehumane.org Here are Just a Few of the Live Auction Items! 4 Day/3 Night Cruise Including Airfare for 2 1 Week Stay at Hilton Head Island at a Marriott Resort Including Airfare for 2 An All-Inclusive Wedding Package with Celebrity Officiant Leslie Toldo 1 Week Stay in Orlando, Florida at a Marriott Resort Including Airfare for 2.and many more!
A Day in The Life of The Humane Society of Genesee County! T HE HU M A NE SOCI ETY O F GE NE SEE C OU N T Y G-3225 S. Dort Hwy. P.O. Box 190138 Burton, MI 48519 Phone 810.744.0511 Fax 810.744.3370 www.geneseehumane.org Special Thanks to our Premium Platinum Sponsor