The Animal Lover’s Alternatives to Owning Pets

Even though the Humane Society’s official Be Kind to Animals week has ended, around here on the Pets blog the theme’s always Be Kind to Animals. In that spirit, I want to carry on a thread I started in my last article: what if you want pets, but aren’t able to have them? Let’s say you or a family member is allergic, or you don’t have the space, money, or time at the moment. If you’re an animal lover who doesn’t have any animals to love, I have one word for you: volunteer. Look up your local shelter or rescue. … Continue reading →

Holiday Help for Animal Shelters

Let’s face it: most animal shelters need help throughout the year in the form of volunteers, monetary donations, and donations of food and other items for the residents. But the holidays are a great time to offer a little extra help to your favorite shelter! If you’re the sort of person who buys holiday gifts for your furry, feathered, and scaly family members, you might want to think about picking up an extra something and bringing it to your local shelter. Food, treats, and toys are always welcome. Your local shelter may also keep a list of specifics they need … Continue reading →

TNR Programs Gaining Popularity

What is TNR, you ask? TNR stands for Trap-Neuter-Return… and is a policy for dealing with feral cat populations that is gaining popularity. There are currently more than two hundred TNR organizations operating across the United States, including the ASPCA and the Humane Society of the United States. One big question raised with Trap-Neuter-Return programs is: why not try to find homes for the cats, if you’ve gone to all that trouble? The answer is not so easy. Some feral cats are adoptable, and most TNR programs do try to find homes for friendly strays. However, a lot of feral … Continue reading →

What Does Your Local Humane Society or Shelter Need?

Do you know what kind of things your local humane society or shelter could use? I know shelters can always use food, money, and volunteers but on a recent trip to the Nashville Humane Society I was impressed to find flyers listing the things they needed. The Nashville Humane Society’s “Things We Need” List Small, medium and large Milk Bones Towels 13 gallon and 55 gallon trash bags Paper towels All sizes of collars 6 foot dog leashes Small, medium and large binder clips Rubber or plastic dog and cat toys Non-scoopable cat litter Purina or Meow Mix Kitten Chow … Continue reading →

Adopt a Shelter Dog Month: Getting Ready

October is Adopt a Shelter Dog month! If you’ve decided that this is the right time to add a four-legged family member, congratulations. Shelter pets are awesome… and yes, I’m biased because all of my pets have been rescues. Pet adoption isn’t an easy thing these days. A lot of shelters and rescues want to check vet references, meet the entire family, and may even want to visit your home! Dogster.com (one of my favorite pet sites) polled nearly 200 shelters and came up with a great list of things to think about before you adopt a dog or cat. … Continue reading →

Adopt a Shelter Dog Month: Share Your Story!

October is Adopt a Shelter Dog month! If you’ve been thinking about rescuing a pet from a local shelter, this is a good time to do it. (Okay, there isn’t really a BAD time to save a pet from a shelter, is there?) There are so many wonderful pets sitting in shelters for various reasons. Maybe their owners had an unexpected health issue and had to surrender them. Maybe a soldier was deployed and couldn’t find a new home for a beloved pet. Maybe an abandoned dog or cat had a litter in the wild and was picked up by … Continue reading →

Helping Animal Shelters During a Recession

Some say the worsening economy is not quite a recession yet, others are convinced we’re already there. Whether we are or not, one thing is clear: with gas and food going up like they are, people have less to spend. Not only less discretionary income, but also less charitable giving monies to distribute. Some charities are going to feel the pinch more than others. Especially because historically this time of year (from now until fall) is when people tend not to give. (Come the holidays, from Thanksgiving through New Year, people tend to be more generous.) That’s why I say … Continue reading →

Are Adoption Rules too Strict?

If you decide to adopt a pet from a shelter (and I hope you do — there are plenty of great dogs, cats, and other pets out there that need loving homes), you may find yourself faced with a laundry list of criteria you have to meet. When my family adopted Becca back in the summer of 1997, we went to a local shelter called Jersey Shore Animal Center. Once we decided on which dog we wanted, we filled out an application. The shelter asked for contact information for our former family veterinarian (it had been more than ten years … Continue reading →

Shelter Discrimination

A blog I wrote about adopting black cats (and dogs) has gotten some attention from shelters. I’ve had several people contact me, looking for permission to adapt the list for their black shelter residents. You might be surprised to learn that black dogs and cats tend to linger the longest in shelters — longer than older animals, abused animals, or even injured animals. The problem is common enough (especially in large black dogs) that it has a name: black dog syndrome. What makes animals with black coats harder to adopt out? Perhaps the dark color of their coat makes them … Continue reading →

Shelters are Bad Enough, Deplorable in Tennessee

Not all Tennessee animal shelters are horrendous, but it seems there’s been way more bad than good lately. Case in point. (Three, actually.) Bad Shelter #1 The first time I heard a stir was last year. I forget which county the shelter was in, but wherever it was it had to be shut down for unsanitary conditions and poor treatment of the animals. I think lack of funding was a major contributor in that case. Bad Shelter #2 Then back in December the Sumner County Animal Shelter found itself in trouble. One of the local news stations, WSMV, conducted an … Continue reading →