There's more than one way to change time

In one way, being retired is like living in Saskatchewan - the time change doesn't have the same impact that it used to when I worked. In fact time take on a whole new meaning now. I save a lot of time because I can shop/go to the library/run errands when things are quieter and the lineups are shorter. I save money because I have more time for my garden/my workshop/ my crafts and of course to can/freeze/pickle and finally cook the harvest.

Time isn't always on the side of the animals. Some wind up in shelters where there are set 'time periods' before they are killed. Some are thought to be too old or odd to be adoptable and are immediately out of time.

And then some sit in shelters, waiting and waiting. Everyone wants their adopters to be financially stable, but how many shelters in this province have user friendly hours for working people?

• Animals at the LA Animal Shelter get a good break. Their Hours of Operation are Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM and on Friday: 1:00 PM - 7:00 PM . Like all shelters, they are run by volunteers, so they don't try to be open for adoption during the slower times.


• S.H.A.I.D Shelter is open from Tuesday to Friday, 12:00 NOON to 3 PM and Saturdays 11AM to 4 PM Year Round.


• At TLC they welcome visitors at any time, although it is "best between 11.00 am and 2pm, "(7 days a week). Wow - open on Sunday - what a great break for the animals!


• The Valley Animal Shelter is located in the Wolfville Animal Hospital and so adopters have full business hours, six days a week to choose from


• At the Yarmouth SPCA the hours are 10am to noon & 1pm to 5pm Monday thru Saturday. They are closed Sundays and Holidays


• The Cape Breton SPCA hours are from Mon - Sat 10am to 4:30pm Adoptions stop at 4pm


• At the Metro Shelter , the shelter is closed on Monday, on Tuesday it is open from 1000 am until 4 pm, , Wednesday its open from 12pm - 7pm , from Thursday to Saturday it is open from 10am - 4pm and on Sundays it is open from 11 am until 3 pm ( If I'm not mistaken, these are new and improved hours )

Groups without a shelter have discovered what a wonderful blessing that http://www.petfinder.com/ is. Twenty-four/seven... 365 days a year, Petfinder is always open for intested adopters. Even groups with a shelter have learned the value of this type of accessiblity. Here in Nova Scotia, clicking on http://www.petfinder.com/awo/index.cgi?action=state will allow any adopter a birds eye view of the good pets out there.... the ones that are listed anyway.

What time is it? Its time to recognize that if shelters want working ergo financially stable people to adopt their pets, they need user friendly hours and to list all their adoptables online, whether it is with http://www.petfinder.com/ or on a site of their own. Its time to change with the times.