Four Paws Press Fall, 2015 www.kokomohumane.org Sponsors Big Dogs David & Diane Turner William & Sandra Knarr Heather & Milo Sekulich Dick & Angela Zeltner Bill & Karen Peelle Cat s Meow Dawn Sabau, M.D. Mick & Marydee Daily Wendy s of Kokomo Melissa Ellis Residential Appraisals Pat & Chuck Hinders Judge Lynn Murray Stew & Ruth Worthley and Molly Dave & Linda Kitchell Cartwright Ellis Auctioneers Dr. Pratap & Nirmala Gohil Burger King Janice Hinkle Adam & Debra Whitfield Dechert Law Office Paws N Behave Randy & Karol Jaenicke Krystal Coombs First Farmers Bank & Trust Paw Prints Barktober Fest! As summer begins to wind down, we are happy to be gearing up for our ninth annual Barktober Fest on October 3 rd from 9am to noon. The Fest will be moved to Foster Park this year, and we are excited about the park s beautiful pavilion and the paved loop around the park that will make a great walking path for the dog walk. Barktober Fest is an opportunity to raise funds for the shelter and our New Digs building fund. We request that walkers help by asking friends, family and coworkers to sponsor their walk in support of KHS. You can choose to walk as an individual or in a team. A team can consist of any group you can come up with such as school groups, church groups, social clubs, businesses, your whole family or group of friends. Be creative and wear similar clothes or even make your own team t-shirts. The team that raises the most funds for the event will win a pizza party donated by Jim s Pizza for their group. You can download a pledge form straight from our website KokomoHumane.org to start collecting donations. You can choose to have people sponsor based on how far you plan to walk or simply a specific amount. Continue to check the website for the most current information. We now have a new fundraising tool called crowdfunding. Instructions for how to use it is on our website. Still need to get your pet microchipped? We will be offering certificates at the event that will allow you to get your pet microchipped for a reduced cost of $10 (normally $25) for a limited time. Along with this cost saver for pets, we have a special one for our human attendees. Visit the Walgreens booth at Barktober Fest and receive a free flu shot on site. This year we are expecting even more participating vendors as well as more walkers attending. Bob Abresch with Simply Music will be back with us again to serenade us, this was a real treat last year. Along with the walk and vendors there will also be some fun contests for your dog and a great variety of raffle items that you can purchase tickets for. As always we will have the best costume contest so make sure your pet is dressed for that and looking their best for the fall photo opportunity. Don t miss Barktober Fest, this year in Foster Park! Hope to see you there!
BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Dave Kitchell Vice President Brent Dechert Secretary Karen Peelle Treasurer Dr. William Humphrey Directors Melissa Ellis Ann Harrigan Dr. Corey Swart Mark McCann Dr. Adam Vernengo Monica Harp, Terri King Larry Rolland STAFF Karen Wolfe Executive Director Jackie Koontz Shelter Administrator Jeana Watson, C.E.T Shelter Manager Jackie Vore, C.E.T Adoption Manager Rafaela Wright Volunteer Coordinator Eddie Dietzen, C.E.T. Outreach Coordinator Billy Bryant Animal Cruelty Investigator Bryar Schroeter C.E.T Animal Control Officer Randy McKinney Animal Control Officer Candi Rork, C.E.T. Rachel Sitts C.E.T Breanna Larrick C.E.T Diana Coleman Marissa Shoffner Ashley Hill Bill Reel Maintenance Technician A little more about our Mission Improving the lives of animals A much-needed grooming was the least of Georgie's problems. It didn't take much investigation to see that she had a mouthful of bad teeth that caused so much pain she would snap if her face was touched. We grappled with investing in a costly dental, as she is a senior dog. Lucky for Georgie, her sweet personality overshadowed everything else and we knew that if we could fix the problem giving her pain she would be a wonderful companion for someone. The removal of five teeth and a good BEFORE cleaning made a huge difference, and Georgie s sweet, loving nature has begun to shine through. The picture of Georgie with her new best friend exemplifies why we do what we do. Thank you to Jefferson Road Animal Hospital for helping us to fulfill our mission. Preventing cruelty through education Education comes in many forms, and it doesn't always involve sitting in a classroom. Part of the KHS mission is to prevent cruelty through education, and we have been lucky to not only practice this ourselves but to see others doing so as well for the benefit of the shelter. This year we have seen so many children come to us with donations that they have collected. Generous children have requested gifts for the shelter in lieu of birthday presents for themselves. We are also the beneficiaries of numerous fundraisers through schools, community organizations and businesses that bring both material and monetary gifts. The lessons taught and learned are those of generosity, compassion and selflessness. These kind acts not only benefit our shelter animals but teach lifelong lessons that will serve animals and people alike. Thank you!
The holidays will be here before we know it! With the fun and excitement of the holiday season comes added responsibility to keep your pet Safe. These days often bring unusual decorations, special foods and new company to your home. Many things that are fun for us can be dangerous or stressful to your pet. Check online for information on how to make the holidays a happy and safe time for you and your pets. A little more about our Mission Uniting Pets with Families Sweet Dee won hearts from the moment she was picked up by our animal control officer after being struck by a car. She was taken to the emergency vet at Pet Care Clinic of Kokomo and given care to stabilize her while we waited to see if her owner would come to claim her. Unfortunately, no one did. X-rays revealed a serious break in her front leg that was too involved for our local vet to mend; a second opinion from another veterinary hospital revealed a surgical option that would be very expensive with no guarantee of success. The only other option was to remove the entire leg, which was not a great choice but appeared to be the only reasonable option. The surgery was scheduled and set to go at Greentown Animal Hospital when we received a call from Dr. Mohr with a proposal. He explained that Sweet Dee was doing so well and not showing signs of much pain while continually trying to use her injured leg. How would we feel about waiting ten days on the surgery to see if the break would heal well enough for her to use it? If it didn t work we would proceed with the amputation. We decided to wait and see. Remarkably, Sweet Dee continued to improve and another x-ray showed that enough scar tissue had formed to support her leg. Now named Laney, this great dog has been adopted and is in her new home, where she is happily walking, running and playing on all four paws. A big thank you to Greentown Animal Hospital and Pet Care of Clinic of Kokomo for helping us to get Sweet Dee into her forever home. Uniting pets with forever homes There are few things in life more heartwarming than to be welcomed by a cat. Derek's Bruce
New Faces Randy McKinney Animal Control Officer Marissa Shoffner Thoughts from the Director What an exciting eight months it has been since starting as the Executive Director of the Kokomo Humane Society. Since January we have welcomed new personnel, updated policies, had lots of fun adoption events as well as an incredibly successful Ales for Tails. I greatly appreciate all the support from both the staff and board of directors, and I am continually touched by their devotion to our animals and our mission. The work they do here is both physical and emotional, and I admire their ability to fall in love over and over again with the lost and homeless pets that come through our doors. A Lifesaving Grant from the Petco Foundation has enabled us to offer name your own price cat and kitten adoptions. This has greatly increased our feline adoptions and more off-site events have had a large impact on dog adoptions. We have already hosted the first of three major adoption events at Petco that are tied to the grant and will have one in October and another in December. We continue to work diligently to raise the funds needed to build our new humane society. Now that we have reached the halfway point of one million dollars in our campaign we are gearing up to tackle the second half. We are enthusiastic and confident that we will reach our goal to provide our community with a facility that will better care for the animals that come through our doors and the citizens of Kokomo and Howard County that we serve. The new facility will have current shelter technology offering much improved air circulation and filtration that will combat disease transmission, keeping the animals healthier during their stay with us. We will also have increased space for animals, as well as more adequate office space, visitation rooms and space for community activities. Our vision of our new Humane Society is one that will be a better environment to care for the animals and a more welcoming place for the people that come to adopt or volunteer. If you are interested in helping us get to our New Digs there are many ways to help or donate. If interested, call me for more information at (765) 452-6224 ext. 23 Ashley Hill Thorns may hurt you, men desert you, sunlight turn to fog; but you re never friendless ever, if you have a dog.
Volunteer Spotlight The range of volunteer opportunities at KHS is so wide that we are able to incorporate just about anyone interested in helping shelter animals. We are always in need of volunteers; we depend on them to help us to make a difference. Barbara Alexander started volunteering in the spring by fostering kittens and helping with off-sites events like the Farmers' Market and adoption events. Her help and the help of other volunteers that do off-site events enables us to be at multiple venues at the same time. Foster families extend the number of animals we are able to house. Underage kittens and puppies in foster homes often have healthier outcomes than they might in the shelter at such a young age. Foster animals also have the opportunity to receive more socialization from their friendly foster families, and in turn the foster families are able to share information about the personalities of the animals they are caring for with potential adopters. Tessa McCormack and Lea Logan are two volunteers that come regularly to the shelter to bathe dogs. Giving dogs a good scrub increases a dog's potential to get adopted. Lea also walks dogs at the shelter. This simple act provides not only much needed exercise, it also helps calm the animal and allow them to be more social when other people come to visit. Tessa also cares for our cats that are housed at PETCO. This important task allows us to continue bringing more visibility to our available cats and also enables our on-site staff at KHS to continue their work at the shelter instead of spending time commuting to and from PETCO. Kenny and Marcia Gordon are loyal volunteers who have also been helping us care for many amazing cats who have spent time at PETCO. They clean the habitats the cats stay in as well as giving fresh food and water. Equally important is the time they spend interacting with them, giving them attention, affection and learning about their personalities. KHS could not run without all of our volunteers that take time out of their lives to help us the animals. With all our volunteers do, we are happy to put the spotlight on individuals to express our thanks. COME SEE US AT... September 12th Farmer s Market 17th Kick Off Event 19th Pets-a-palooza 26th Farmer s Market 26th PETCO October 3rd Barktober Fest 3 & 4th PETCO 10th Farmer s Market 25th Holwoweenie Pet Adoption November 14 & 15th Indy Pet Expo 28th PETCO December 5th Paws for Christmas Open House 12 & 13 PETCO Next Volunteer Orientations September 29th October 27th November 17th For more information visit our www.kokomohumane.org For more info visit kokomohumane.org
Happy Retirement Most Wanted Items Small blankets Small rugs Bleach High efficiency laundry detergent Dawn dish detergent Liquid hand soap Sponges & Spray bottles Paper towels Dog treats (like Milk Bone) Cat treats Creamy peanut butter Kitten Milk Replacement Small pet food (for rabbits, rodents, birds, also timothy hay, alfalfa) Litter Boxes Trash bags/drum liners (55 gallon) Pre-paid Gas Cards for Travel Gift Cards (Staples, Wal-Mart, Target, Kinko s and pet stores) If the weathered scars on Billy Bryant s arms could talk, they d have an unbelievable story to tell. Luckily, Bryant has plenty of stories of his own. Like the time he removed a pair of 4-foot-long alligators from a house that had pit bulls chained to the front and back doors. Or the time the fire department called him to extricate an injured badger the size of a household trashcan from the scene. He s just about seen it all in his 36-plus years as a Howard County animal control officer. His message throughout that time, even now that he s a little more than a month away from retirement, has remained the same: It s all about the animals. It s never really been like a job to me, making sure people are taking care of their animals, Bryant said. It s a daily thing of educating them instead of prosecuting them. That s what I ve always loved about it. I wouldn t have traded this job for nothing, he said. It was a low-paying job with long hours. But, I ve really enjoyed it. The story on how Bryant became an animal control officer is an interesting one. It happened by chance. Bryant answered an ad about a truck for sale. The man selling the truck, Beryl Geer, happened to be a director with the Kokomo Humane Society, and asked Bryant if he was looking for a job. At the time I was a maintenance man for Holiday Inn, Bryant said. I told him, Sure I d like to have a different kind of a job, especially one where I could work with animals. He pitched me the keys and said, It s yours. I ve been here ever since. The year was 1979. Bryant has spent the last three and a half decades cultivating relationships with the people and animals of Howard County. He s like the cornerstone of this organization, Kokomo Humane Society Executive Director Karen Wolfe said. Bryar [Schroeter] and Randy [McKinney], when they go out with Billy, they are taken aback with how well he deals with people, no matter if they re angry or happy. That s his experience working to diffuse situations. He s helped a lot of people. The big thing is you have to love what you do, and he does, she added. That shows in the way he takes care of the animals. The job hasn t changed much over Bryant s time, but the nature of the animals has. In the beginning, the majority of dogs he would pick up were mild-mannered breeds like Dalmatians, cocker spaniels and poodles. Then Doberman pinchers and other large breeds began to become popular. But today, he says it seems like the animal control officers deal mainly with breeds like pit bulls and Rottweilers. It s a daily thing, Bryant said. You can see our building in the back is completely full of pit bulls. I m sure that will fade out to a different breed at some point, but right now it s pits and rots, and it can be physical handling a pit bull that don t want to be handled. We re going to miss Billy, but things change, Wolfe said. We ll send [Schroeter and McKinney] to school. Billy had lots and lots of years of experience, and without him here, we need to have these guys feel comfortable as soon as possible.
Happy Retirement There is some sadness that Bryant won t be around as an employee to enjoy the new Kokomo Humane Society building once it s operating. Bryant won t be going far, however. He ll continue to own and operate Bryant s Outdoor Store on North Apperson Way. I ll be there; I only live a spitting distance away, he said. The most important thing is we are building a new building. The Humane Society is a great thing for this country. Without organizations like the Humane Society, it would be terrifying in the streets. You d have packs of animals delivering vicious attacks and even killings. And, you d have so many suffering animals and overpopulation. And it ain t about the people. It s about the animals, he added. That s it in a nutshell. It s about the animals. Period. End of story. That s why we re here. By Josh Sigler, Kokomo Tribune Ales for Tails was a HUGE Success! It was truly a night for celebration at the Kokomo Humane Society's 10th Anniversary of Ales for Tails. Over 450 guests filled the fundraiser hosted at PASTArrific's elegant Bel Air Events. Chef Cynthia's food and cupcakes by Indulgence Bakery were delicious and the craft beer selection from Mid America beverage and Home Brewers Association definitely put the "Ale" in Ales for Tails. From the initial planning of the event which started in January, until the doors opened on June 17th we were overwhelmed by the outpouring of community support. We had a record breaking 93 individuals and businesses stepping up as sponsors. The support continued as an incredible amount of fantastic items were donated to the silent and live auctions. The winning bids on auction items contributed to this being our most successful fundraiser to date: just under $79,000 were raised for the New Digs building fund. We are astounded by the generosity of the community and thrilled that the dream of a new Humane Society is indeed an achievable goal. This support helps us achieve our mission of improving the lives of animals. If you would like to be a part of this exciting endeavor, please contact Karen Wolfe (765) 452-6224 ext. 23 at the Kokomo Humane Society to discuss how you can help. Getting ready for Fall! Pet Expo September 19th and Barktober Fest October 3rd Miles Handy was the highest bidder at Ales for Tails for the featured spot on the cover of this year s Barktober Fest Brochure. His family will be the cover picture for are 2015 Brochure. Miles is the owner of Pets Supply Plus and we are in the process of finding new ways for the Humane Society and Pets Supplies Plus to work together to benefit everyone, animals and humans alike! We are starting out by participating in the upcoming Pet Expo hosted by Pet Supplies Plus. We are thrilled to be forming a new relationship with a local business and happy to see these smiling faces on the cover of our Barktober Fest Brochure.
Helping animals since 1891 713 N. Elizabeth St NON PROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NUMBER 594 KOKOMO, IN Kokomo, IN 46901 Barktober Fest Leaders of the Pack: Sycamore Financial William & Sandra Knarr Robert Mullen & Dianna Delgado Are you ready for Barktober Fest? October 3, 2015 Foster Park Make a team and raise money for our dog walk! Call the Kokomo Humane Society at 765-452-6224 www.kokomohumane.org