Never too old to be loved.

What a great morning in the woods!  With that good brisk breeze and the cooler temperatures there wasn't a horsefly in sight!  Being able to do this is always one of the best bits about being retired ... but even more so when we get a break from the bugs.
Casual acquaintances are sometimes surprised to find out that Andy has no trouble keeping up with the big dogs.   Why?  Because he's a senior?  Because he's not much bigger than a cat? 
How many times do small dogs come into rescue because people don't realize they need all the same things that their bigger counterparts do?  Exercise, training and boundaries are really the only way to make love of any size last forever, eh? 
I wish I could hand out booby prizes .. so far this year it would go to the woman who surrendered her lovely little poodle because her new boyfriend wanted a big dog.  Sheesh.  Before he became ill, McG could tire out any big dog!
How many times are seniors surrendered or abandoned because they are thought to be past their expiry date?  ( the topic of how many seniors are abandoned by backyard breeders who feel they are 'no good for anything' is a separate rant needing a separate post on another day. As is the topic of how many of them make a side trip to an unsuspecting home via Kjijii before they come into rescue )
How many times are seniors passed over by adopters?  Some worry about vet bills.  Some are afraid to adopt a pet who might not have fifteen years of love left to offer.  And some just believe the old saw that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
To be perfectly honest, one of the nicest things about adopting a senior pet is that they don't always need to be taught new tricks.  Being older and wiser, even the ones that aren't housetrained are so eager to please that they catch on quickly.
Years ago, I adopted a senior terrier named Scamp and had the pleasure of living with him for over six years.  Readers who followed the old blog likely remember reading about Ben - who was a beautiful five year old Golden that I adopted.  Ben was only with us for a few months before we suddenly and very unexpectedly lost him :( 
In other words .. living breathing sentient beings do not come with a warranty for mileage.   The only thing that pets can guarantee us is that they will love us unconditionally for the time they have to offer. 
We can boost the odds a bit by taking the best possible care that we can.   Buttercup was a senior when my friend Joan adopted her and they have been regaling the dog loving world with stories and pictures for years, eh?
With only two teeth, its hard to pin down Andy's age reliably ... our best guess is that he was 13 last fall when he was adopted.   Which in his case turned out to be a lucky number as he clearly hadn't been accustomed to a lot of life's comforts.  From wearing coats on cold days to being allowed on the couch, it took the little man a while to understand that these things were ok in this house.
Andy has gone from trying to hide in the closets to sleep at his foster mom's to looking for a lift up on the bed every night.
If providing an adopted pet with a better new life brings special satisfactions, that experience is multiplied with senior pets.  They are old enough and wise enough to really appreciate things, eh?  I know that I say it all the time... but if everyone knew how wonderful senior pets were, there wouldn't be enough to adopt.
Which of course is why I do The NS Senior Pet Project .  I know I tend to see the world through rose colored glasses, but I truly do believe that one kind heart at a time, senior pet adoption is starting to catch on.
This spring, I was telling anyone who would listen about being awarded a Golden Paw award from the society for my work with the homeless pet sites.  But I could pass out my own awards, it would be to the way they have embraced change and now pull out all the stops for the senior pets in their care.
What time is it?  Its always time to remember that pets are never too old to be loved.

Time to come out of the cocoon

What a great morning to go to the woods!   The horseflies didn't like that lovely light misting rain so we were able to go hiking down some of the trails we haven't dared to go down for a while.  It is so beautiful up on the ridge that its just frosting on the cake when we are treated to the sight of an eagle fishing in the river below us.
Last month, I was speculating about why more shelters and rescues in Nova Scotia weren't taking advantage of the free publicity available for those who signed up for the IAMS Home for the Holidays program.   At that time, the only ones onboard were SHAID and the Colchester SPCA ( who have mysteriously dropped off the list since then sadly.)
Its been a while since I popped into the Home for the Holidays site, so I was happy to see several SPCA Branches have signed on  .... Metro, Kings,
Cape Breton and Yarmouth .
The advertising campaign for this starts in the media on the first of October.  Each participating shelter or rescue gets a package that includes information on contacting the media along with media materials such as fill in the blank press releases.   Its almost frosting on the cake that their local radio and TV stations will be able to download IH4TH Public Service Announcements recorded by official IH4TH celebrity spokesperson and Academy Award winning actress Diane Keaton.
And while the program has become so wildly popular that there aren't always enough for everyone, IAMs also provides starter kits of goodies to offer holiday adopters.
There are still a lot of misconceptions about Holiday adoptions.   I really like what Nathan Winograd had to say about it  

“A kitten or puppy under the tree in December would end up in the shelter in January” was the dogma of the times and many shelters across the country actually refused to adopt out animals during this time of year. Taken to its logical conclusion, the argument is nothing more than “shelters should not do holiday adoptions because the animals may end up back at the shelter.” This, the thinking goes, is bad because shelters are bad places where animals are killed. The problem should be immediately obvious: the animals are already in the shelter! Stopping adoptions which would get them out of the shelter because they might end up back in it was bad enough. But not adopting them out ensures that the harm they claim to fear is all but assured—the animals will be killed, exacerbating shelter death rates

Holiday adoptions do not put pets at risk.  Why?  Because the adoption procedure puts the brakes on impulse.  One has to apply and have references checked.  If an adopter would meet all the criteria today, why shouldn't they be able to adopt in December?
At the end of the day, rescues and shelters are 'competing for the market share' when it comes to good pet homes.  To make matters worse, when they close their doors for the holiday season, the only thing they are really doing is encouraging potential adopters to turn to other sources for pets... sources that have a proven track record of creating all those problems for rescue later.
Why not LET folks adopt instead of scolding them? 
What time is it?   Until there are no more homeless pets in this province ... until there are no waiting lists ... until there are no more Unhappy Tails for the unwanted ... it is way past time for shelters and rescues to rethink their holiday adoption policy.
"If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies"  Author unknown.

Taking it to the streets

Within the last twenty four hours, there have been two articles in the media about the record numbers of cats being surrendered to shelters and abandoned.  

from last nights CBC News website

Pet giveaways a problem: SPCA

Online offers lead to more strays
Last Updated: Sunday, July 18, 2010
3:29 PM AT .
The Nova Scotia SPCA says this has been one of the worst years on record for stray and unwanted cats, and the internet must share the blame for the problem.
Executive director Kristin Williams says the number of animals arriving at shelters in Halifax is up 20 per cent over last year. She says the rising popularity of selling and giving away pets online is increasing the demand for shelter space.
'There's no such thing as a free pet.'—Holly Stevens, Bide Awhile Animal Shelter
For example, the online classifieds site Kijiji had more than 400 listings under "cats, kittens for sale" in the Halifax area Sunday. Most of those are ads for free cats.
Holly Stevens, who works at the Bide Awhile Animal Shelter in Dartmouth, said people turn to the Internet because they don't want to pay the $125 needed to get animals vaccinated, checked for worms, and spayed or neutered.
Stevens said many pet owners who get their cats online don't bother with those procedures. That leads to future health problems for the cats and increases the likelihood they'll be abandoned at shelters.
"It's countless the number of times we get phone calls even on a daily basis saying, 'I got this animal off Kijiji and it turned out not to be what I wanted … and I don't want it anymore. Can you help me?'"
Like most shelters in Nova Scotia, Bide Awhile is full and often can't take the animal. So the pet goes without medical attention or is abandoned without being spayed or neutered, increasing the number of unwanted animals.
"They're not thinking it through," Stevens said. "They're thinking, 'Oh, those cute little kittens. They're free. Let's get one. They're free.' It's an illusion. There's no such thing as a free pet."
The SPCA says people looking to adopt a pet should go to a reputable shelter where medical examinations are already done.

---

from this morning's Herald

Cat influx strains shelter’s limit

Facility extends hours to ease adoptions

By BEVERLEY WARE South Shore Bureau

Mon. Jul 19 - 4:52 AM
Shari Rafuse holds Gonzo, left, and Flash, two of the seven cats dropped off on the front step of the SHAID Tree Animal Shelter just outside Bridgewater last week. (Beverley Ware / Staff
WHYNOTTS SETTLEMENT — The animal shelter just outside Bridgewater is going to extend its hours of operation in hopes of finding new homes for an influx of animals.
"There have been a lot dropped off lately," said Kelly Campbell, manager of the SHAID Tree Animal Shelter.
"Seven cats were dropped off just last week, which is a huge number that we weren’t expecting," she said Sunday.
Campbell said an employee came to work one morning and found the cats in a dog crate at the shelter’s gate, "and we had nowhere to put them. If it wasn’t for several of our staff and volunteers who took them home we’d have been in a really tough situation."
Campbell said the shelter opened in 1985 to accommodate 65 cats, but it had 90 until a few recent adoptions saw that number drop by about 10.
"This time of year there are always a lot of kittens being born so our numbers do go up for a couple of weeks," Campbell said, but the recent influx is unusual.
Seven of the 10 dog kennels are also full.
SHAID, which stands for Sheltering Helpless Animals in Distress, is a "no kill" shelter.
"We keep them until we find them a home. We only ever euthanize if the animal is extremely aggressive and we can’t bring it around, or it’s extremely ill," said Campbell.
The shelter has decided to stay open late every second Thursday, beginning this week, to make it easier for working and vacationing families to get there. The shelter’s usual hours are noon until 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturdays.
It will now open from noon until 7 p.m. this Thursday, Aug. 5 and 19 and Sept. 2.
The shelter is run by eight staff and 20 volunteers who do everything from cleaning out the cat cages in the morning to walking the dogs and playing with the animals. Campbell said the shelter is in need of more volunteers but those under the age of 14 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
For more information, visit http://www.shaid.ca/.
( bware@herald.ca)
Well then.  While its great to see animal rescue getting media attention ... two articles in 24 hours does pose the bigger question of WHY are there more cats being surrendered or abandoned?
Is it the number of jobs that have been lost this year?  The resulting loses of homes? That some have had to move out west to find work? 
Admitedly, Kijiji can claim a lions share of the blame for the ready availability of pets.  Its easy.  Its convenient and there are no forms to fill out.  There are no worries about whether one will pass the screening.
Just answer the ad ... put on a good face and Bob's your uncle.
Do we need legislation to ban the traffic of living sentient beings in the free online ads?  You bet.  Would that solve everything?  Not even close.
Getting articles in the media is a great first step.  Why not take it one step further and get the kitties out where the public can meet their sweet selves.
Why do I keep going on and on about this?  If you look at the comments under either article, one underlying current is that people choose to use Kijiji to source pets because its easy and convenient.
In many cases, they know they'll wind up spending more money.   But we live in a world where people happily spend more at the grocery store for prepared food items that yield quicker results at suppertime. 
Why do rescues need to compete with that?  I would think it would be obvious:

• every pet adopted from reputable rescue is already altered and so will be part of the solution, not the problem
• adoptables are the best ambassadors rescue has ... each one spreading the good word to family, friends, neighbours and coworkers
• adopters often become volunteers or suppporters
• and of course every pet that is adopted is one more 'chink out of the market' for unscrupulous and / or misguided puppy brokers and backyard breeders

At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, the very best way for rescue to 'compete' for the market share of the kitties is to hold cat only off site adoption events.   In a world where everyone is looking for the easy road, its the best way to promote the kitties. 
Offsite adoptions are a proven way to boost adoptions and promote animal rescue.   Why?  They make it simple for potential adopters to meet the pets and provide an environment where it is easier to fill out the form and have references checked.  Best of all, rescues that use offsite adoptions have found them more successful than reducing fees.
What time is it?  Its time to understand that 'taking it to the streets' is the very best way to overcome the negative urban legends about the difficulties surrounding pet adoption.

What a great idea!

More Day tripping for the animals

It looks like its going to be a great weekend!  One of the nicest things about Nova Scotia is that there are so many lovely opportunities for lovely little day trips.   What could be better than that?   Day trips that do double duty by helping the animals of course!
On Saturday, the 17th:

• in Shelbourne, the PET Projects Dog Jog is finally here ... see poster below
• in the Valley, CAPS will be at the Middleton Heart of the Valley Days this weekend .. but owing to the heat will not be walking in the parade with their adoptables and happy tails
• CAPS will also be at the Annavale Co-op 4 H Fun Day on Saturday from 10 until 2
• if you're in or around the HRM area, the booth for the  Metro Shelter  at the Harbourview Weekend Market is an ongoing thing.( 42 Canal Street Dartmouth, every Saturday & Sunday from 9 am - 4 pm. )
• GPAC is having a Yard Sale at its Halifax Kennel from nine until three

Last, but definitely not least ..... on Sunday, the 18th... ARC's Bark B Que was postponed because of last Sunday's monsoon and is rescheduled for Sunday .. see poster below
As always, if I've missed anyone's events for this weekend, please shoot me an email and I'll add them right in.

The Stray Cat Strut

I love doing carpentry.  Admittedly, I'm an amateur .. but the permanence of working with wood has always appealed to me.   After all, no matter how well it turns out, food is such a fleeting thing to work with, eh?
Like my father before me, I learned my skills from my Dad.  To be perfectly honest, at that time it was considered a radical thing to do, but then my parents always marched us to a different drummer.   Ours was an equal opportunity home where all life skills were taught to both genders.   My brother is as skilled with the 'domestic arts' as he is with the inner workings of his Harley.
I've been wanting to make a little cattery for a while now ... and now its turn has come up on the to do list.   Its my favourite kind of project ...  most of the materials are already squirrelled away in my workshop ... I'll be working outside .. and best of all, when its finished I'll have a safe place for the kitties to sun themselves and nibble on grass.
I had thought that I would use the gazebo fittings kit for it, but now that we have the play yard I think that next year I'll put it in the middle of the play yard.  The dogs love chasing each other around anything and it would give us a shady spot to hang out in the heat of the day
See what I mean ... the To Do list is a fluid thing that never seems to get any shorter after each project is finished!   Unless one has 'staff' or deeper pockets than mine, it takes years to really settle a yard the way that we want.
Its definitely like that for the animals too.  Whenever I get too impatient, I try to remember just how much has been done in the last two and a half years.  Back then, it was even more of a crapshoot to be a homeless pet than it is now. 
If a pet came into the care of one of the private rescue groups like ARC or the breed rescue groups like East Coast German Shepherd Rescue or a private shelter like SHAID , then odds were pretty good that he or she would live to tell the tail.
But if they were brought to one of the society branches ... it was quite a different story.  Some groups weren't in a position to accept any at all.  The Cape Breton Branch was accepting everything that came in the door and gassing a sickening of number of them.  Metro was being so dragged down by internal troubles that the energy that should have been spent saving animals was wasted ... while unnecessary deaths just kept piling up.
And just look at the society now ... step by careful administrative step, the society has established the framework and the strategic plan that will take it to No Kill.  Are they there yet?  No .. but they are rolling merrily along the path and picking up steam and enthusiasm along the way, instead of alienating branches and revoking their status.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks to reaching No Kill Nova Scotia is the staggering numbers of cats that keep filling up every available rescue space around the province.
Are cat adoption fees a good buy?  You bet!  Are most people aware of that?  Not even close.  To make matters worse, there is a never ending supply of 'free to a good homes' that undermine the cat adoption market.
And that's exactly what rescues need to do ... understand that they are competing for a share of the market.   How can they do that?
By making it as convenient and easy as possible for people to adopt a cat.  The fee isn't the obstacle so much as the convenience.
Like it or not, even good people will generally take the easy road.   If the pets are in foster, or the shelter is in an out of the way spot, most folks will opt for the neighbours' kitten or the free to a good homes that are only a mouse click away.
And before the keyboards catch on fire, no I am NOT saying that there should not be a screening process for the kitties.  I am simply saying that it needs to be easier for the public to MEET the cats.
Changing shelter hours is a good step,   the Yarmouth SPCA, Metro , the LA Shelter  and SHAID understand the value of this.
At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, the thing that would Really Help is cat only off site adoption events.   In order to adopt the cats, people need  a chance to meet their sweet and appealing selves.  
At the end of the day, the cats are their own best promoters, if they are only given have a chance to strut their stuff.
What time is it?  Its always time to recognize the truth of the old saw, that getting the same results for doing the same thing is the very best reason to try something new.

When compassion doesn't lead the way

Gosh is it ever raining!  After stacking wood in yesterday's heat, it offers a welcome excuse to pick something a little less strenuous from the to do list for today.
Rain or shine, we still go for our morning hike.  Admittedly, two years ago when Henry first came here he wanted to be a fair weather friend for any outdoor activity.  It took a little time, but he now understands that in this house, wet dogs can always look forward to being towel dried and that if it is really chilly there is always the bonus of a cozy fire.
Henry's old life is a mystery.  We know by his behavior that he had been a hobo for a while, but where he came from before that is anyone's guess.  He was more than just a pretty face .. in true pitty style he is such an approval junkie that even an amateur like myself has been able to help him become his best self.
Right now he's laying on his favourite window seat - my grandfathers old sea chest.  Henry loves watching the birds in the bushes out front ... even more so because he is comfy and dry.  Warm and safe.  Loved and cherished.
Think I'm being sentimental?  Not the slightest.   In my books, everything we do in life is connected.   One cannot cherry pick compassion ... its either there or its not.  Compassion is a core value that is not subject to perception.
Just as the body knows when we cheat on a diet, deep down our hearts and minds know when we give short measures of kindness.   As the Dalai Lama says, "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion"
We cannot say we are being kind to our children and then take the family pet into be killed because we are going on vacation / moving / having a new baby/ etc.   Society expects us to be kind to children and there are both social and legal penalties to be paid when that line is crossed.    
Are we teaching children to be compassionate to animals this way?  No .. we are teaching them that they only need to be kind when there are consequences. 
Compassion without commitment is meaningless.   Just as children cannot pick their parents, pets cannot pick their humans.   Its such a lottery to be a pet ... and not all of them get to win.  
Why?  Doesn't everybody understand the need to be kind to animals?  You bet .. right up until it:

• is inconvenient,
• costs too much,
• goes against what their parents always did,
• clashes with what they are willing to do to please the new partner
• or is just too darned inconvenient

As with so many other things in life ... education is the key to changing perceptions.  In the long term, getting humane education in the public school system will be part of the solution.  But right here, right now, how to effect meaningful change? 
This morning there were 88 dogs listed on Petfinder for our province.  Its important to remember that, outside of CAPS ... who proudly list all 140 cats in their care, those numbers only represent the tip of the iceberg.  Why?  For some groups, 80 percent of their adoptables are already 'spoken for' by waiting lists of preapproved adopters.  
To be perfectly honest, it would be sheer speculation on my part to try to tally up the actual number of pets who are in care at this moment.  Nor would that number include the countless other pets who are either on rescue waiting lists or meet a wide variety of Unhappy Tails when the infatuation is over.   I call it infatuation because love means never having to say you're sorry, eh?
The good news is that the message doesn't have to reach everybody.  This is a province with 350,000 households, of which at least half are estimated to pet owners.
Of those, many are already wonderful "Love our pets for life" homes.   By my best guestimates of the numbers I've seen coming through the homeless pet site, along with the understanding that these only represent the tip of the iceberg, if ten percent of the pet owning households could be inspired to make love last forever it would be a much better world for the animals.
What is the most effective way to send any message?  Legislation.  People are generally kind to children because of compassion.  But when that's not enough, the legal repercussions do act as a deterrent.  It doesn't stop everyone, but its definitely made the world a safer place for children.
Legislation clearly states what is and is not acceptable.  It is then, and only then, that the social values catch up.  Its the only meaningful way to effect any change.  Its the best education tool around for those already finished with school.
What time is it?  Its always time to understand that legislation is the only effective deterrent when compassion doesn't lead the way.