Richmond SPCA Blog

New Puppy, New Year, New Class

You may have welcomed a puppy into your home this holiday season – a roly poly ball of fluff who snuggles in your lap and entertains you with his antics. Your new puppy will go through some important developmental stages these next few weeks and months. Some of those stages may seem overwhelming like the “teething stage” or the “fear period.” You will be the person responsible for helping him navigate these phases successfully. And we are here to help.

Richmond SPCA now offers a few new classes specifically designed to help puppies and their people. Each class includes a little time for supervised puppy interactions so your puppy can experience some positive interactions with other dogs. We take lots of time to teach and practice basic skills like sit, down, stay and leave-it. Yes, even 8 week old puppies can learn these skills and the earlier you start, the better they retain them. We also talk about topics like handling, grooming and housetraining.

Start your puppy and your year off right. Classes are open now for registration. You can read more about our Good Start Puppy class, our Rock and Roll Puppy class, and our individual skills classes for puppies at www.richmondspca.org/classes. Let us know if you have any questions by e-mailing classes@richmondspca.org or calling (804) 521-1324.

Volunteer to Help a Pet in the New Year

Here at the Richmond SPCA we have so many wonderful dogs that need a home. We would like them all to leave here with some basic training, and some require special training to help improve their behavior. Since our training department is pretty small we rely on a special group of volunteers to help the trainers with the dogs here in the shelter. We call these volunteers our Green Team (aka “Greenies”). Any active Richmond SPCA volunteer can become a Greenie after completing our Volunteer Dog Handling class and our Pet University classes. Once you are a Greenie we offer special classes for you to take the shelter animals through, this way the dogs are learning as well as the Greenies.

If you are an animal lover and would like to devote some time to help an animal in the coming year, you can read more about this rewarding and educational volunteer program at http://www.richmondspca.org/Page.aspx?pid=379. Or you can contact our Green Team coordinator Wheadon Dance with questions by phone (804-521-1326) or e-mail (wdance@richmondspca.org).

New Year's Eve Games for Pet Lovers

…for those of us who prefer to spend December 31st at home with our best friend ever!

Grab a handful of hot dog pieces or tuna treats. Show them to your pet and run down the hall. When your pet gets to you, “Hooray!” drop a piece on the floor and run to another room. Repeat until you’re out of breath.

Start howling. If your dog joins you, see who can howl louder. Don’t worry. It’s New Year’s Eve. Your neighbors won’t mind. ; )

Get about 10 wadded sticky notes for your cat, or 10 tennis balls for your dog. Throw them all up in the air and bat them around the room until your both exhausted.

Say “Ready, Set, Go!!” Toss a piece of hot dog or a tuna treat down the hall and race your pet to see who gets there first.

Hold a hula hoop upright on the ground in front of your pet. Toss a treat on the side opposite your pet and let her walk through the hoop to get it. Repeat, raising the hoop an inch every 3rd time she passes through. Note: This also works with a broom stick on a stack of books. Start with one book on each side.

Lay down on the sofa together and see who can sleep the longest.

At midnight make sure to thank your pet for the joy she’s brought you all year long.  It’s way safer than driving drunk.

Pet Spotlight - Mona

 Mona is an absolutely beautiful 4 ½-year-old brown tabby cat. She has Bengal-like markings and gorgeous sleepy green eyes. We don't know much about Mona's life before she entered the Richmond SPCA, but we do know a lot now about her personality since she is one of our longest-term residents at the center. More than anything, Mona wants to go to a forever home for Christmas. It has been difficult for her since she longs to be the only pet in her household. She spent some time in foster care where we learned that Ms. Mona has a very playful side. Please read more about her, through the words of her foster mom, below:

“I was looking forward to fostering Mona because whenever her name would come up, adoption counselors and other staff member’s faces would light up and they would say what a great cat she was.  I thought I was taking home a reserved cat who just liked to watch the world go by. Very soon after getting to my house she claimed the kitchen window, and I would often find her sitting on the windowsill watching outside.  Within a few days she started to come out of her shell, and the reserved cat I thought I was getting turned out to be very playful.  I would come home and various toys on the floor would be rearranged.  Her favorites were a furry mouse and anything with feathers.  Mona was also pleased to discover catnip.  She was perfectly happy to just roll around on the floor for a while.  When she wasn’t playing or looking out the window, Mona liked to snuggle up in her cat bed. She wasn’t a very vocal cat, but she would run up and greet me every morning with several small “meows”.  I had a lot of fun with Mona while I was fostering her.  She is an awesome cat and would make a great holiday addition to someone’s home.”

If you are looking to change your life and the life of a deserving, homeless pet this holiday season, please consider welcoming Mona into your heart and home. In addition to Mona, we have many other lovely cats who would love to curl up in a sunny spot in your home! Please visit us at the Robins-Starr Humane Center today, Dec. 23, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and tomorrow, Christmas Eve, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Adult cat adoption fees are discounted by 50% through Christmas Eve!

Click the thumbnails below to see the full-size images: 

  

 
  
  

The Best Holiday Gift for a Homeless Pet

All this month we have been running a series of heartwarming adoption stories on our website titled “A Home for the Holidays.”  Just as we wish for our two-legged friends to be surrounded by their families this holiday season, we wish the same for the four-legged friends in our care.

 

Rather than purchasing another gift that will be forgotten by the time the last present is unwrapped, why not welcome a new family member into your home? The holidays could not be a more appropriate time to do so! The kids are out of school, and mom and dad often take time off from work. It is the perfect scenario for integrating a new pet into your lives with ease. Without the hustle and bustle of the normal routine – kids off to school, and parents off to work – you have the unique opportunity for the whole family to bond with the new pet. Furthermore, everyone can take part in establishing his routine and getting him settled.

 

We have so many loving, deserving, homeless pets who want nothing more than a permanent place to call home. So, please come visit with them and fall in love.  The Robins-Starr Humane Center will be open this week for adoptions Tuesday and Wednesday from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm and Thursday (Christmas Eve) from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. We also have a well-stocked gift shop full of all the items your new pet will want and need. In addition, consider purchasing a gift card, good for adoptions, for that special someone in your life who might be looking for a new best friend, too!

Response to No Kill Q&A: Making progress in a community that "is not there yet"

I recently was interviewed by Wayne Pacelle with regard to the no-kill movement in this country and the Richmond SPCA's groundbreaking role in that movement. Wayne carried our interview in three installments on his blog. The interview and the information it provided struck a very positive chord with many people who let both Wayne and me know how much they appreciated it. Someone wrote me with two questions to ask me that I thought were of general interest, and so I will answer one here and the other in a few days.

The first question was: "Currently my shelter takes in all animals in our jurisdiction. One step to become a no-kill would be to take only what we could handle (as you did), but then I ask, 'What about the many animals that need a place to go that we would have to turn down?' I realized this can be solved with education, a helpline for pet training, etc. so that every citizen starts stepping up to the plate to help out whether it's to keep their pet until we can take it or house a stray for a few weeks, etc. However, our community is not there yet, so what about the pets that will be dumped or stays that will simply be ignored?"

If your shelter is the only one in the jurisdiction, then I must assume that you are doing the local government's animal control function by contract which we are not doing, and never have, at the Richmond SPCA. If my assumption is correct, then it may be required that you remain an open admission shelter. Whether you are required to remain open admission or not, it is crucial that your organization provides your community with the programs and services that it must have to stop depending on euthanasia as its method of managing its homeless animals. (The nature of these programs and services are detailed in my interview with Wayne Pacelle.) When you say that your community "is not there yet", I am not sure if you mean that these programs and services are not in place yet or that the community is not willing to use them. If they are not in place, then getting them in place should be the top priority for your organization. You must do it and you must do it now.

If it is an issue of the community's willingness to use them, then you are going to have to summon the courage to both help them and push them to do so. You must provide them with the means of shouldering their responsibility to their pets (education, training, TNR, foster care, etc.) and then you must stop facilitating their failure to do so by making it easy for them to engage in the old behaviors that lead to lethal approaches.

With regard to pets being dumped or left on the streets, it is important to separate fact from fiction on this issue. This is a frequently used argument in order to promote the perpetuation of the status quo and there is often no actual empirical evidence that this is happening with any real frequency. The year that the Richmond SPCA limited its admissions for the first time, the naysayers' prophesies that this would cause great numbers of animals to be "dumped" on our local government shelter were not fulfilled and their admissions actually declined that year as ours did. Similarly, there was absolutely no evidence of a greater number of strays being found on the streets after our change in policy.

At the Richmond SPCA, we make it clear to our admissions staff that, if they have real concerns that a pet will either be abused or abandoned if we do not accept that animal, then they have the authority to admit the pet. But, it is crucial that this not just be the assumed approach because it is comfortable (that is comfortable for the people, not so much for the pet) . The assumption must always be that the person on the other side of the counter will live up to his responsibilities once we make it clear to him or her what the alternatives are and what will be the best choice for the well being of the pet. Often, the most crucial change required is that the staff and volunteers of the shelter must stop assuming the worst of people and start giving them credit for being responsible and caring and then giving them the tools and chance to be so. Remember that nothing will ever change if you do not have the courage to break with the past which, let's be honest, resulted in millions of animals losing their lives. That is not a tradition that I find worth perpetuating.

Used our services? Tell a friend!

It’s an understatement to say I’m a big fan of the Richmond SPCA. Each day I’m immersed in the programs and services we provide to the Greater Richmond community, yet at times I also realize that I’ve come to take some of these services for granted. 

Because I’m such a fan of the work we do, I often mention it in conversation or on personal social networking sites, and occasionally friends back home in Mississippi or in other parts of the country have asked my advice about their own pets or strays they have found. This is when I realize how lucky Richmond is to have the resources it does. In seeking out local resources for far-flung friends and acquaintances, it becomes clear that access to free and low-cost spay/neuter, a free behavior helpline, a place to train a dog in agility, or even an outlet to socialize with other animal lovers are all things that may be scarce or non-existent in their own communities. It saddens me to tell someone that I know of just what they are looking for... if only they lived here in Richmond. 

I’ve also had conversations locally that are equally confounding. When I encounter lifelong Richmonders who are unaware of the services available to them and their pets, I’m stunned for a moment, then eager to share what this organization has to offer. Now I have something to ask of you. Have you had a good experience with one of our programs or services? Was your pet neutered here? Did you receive behavior advice? Have you taken a class? Did you adopt your best friend?  Have you attended an event at the Richmond SPCA? In the next week, please make it a priority to tell one friend. Even better, tell many friends by blogging, tweeting or updating your Facebook status!

Pets find homes On Demand

Every other week I get to play my own special version of Santa. Ten dogs take their turns sitting on my lap, but instead of telling me what they want for Christmas, I tell the camera what we all know they want most – a home of their own for the holidays. For more than two years, Comcast Pet Adoptions on Demand has been showcasing dogs and cats at the Richmond SPCA. 

If you subscribe to Comcast Digital Cable, our pets are just a remote click away. By selecting On Demand > Get Local > Pet Adoptions, you can view the most recent profiles recorded for 10 dogs and 5 cats who are in search of their forever homes. It gives you the chance to see our pets in action, and they get the chance to show off their fanciest tricks and most endearing looks. It’s not hard to see why Pet Adoptions remains in the top 10 of Comcast’s Get Local content. Viewers connect with homeless pets and their stories. Whether it’s a dog who greets new friends by offering his paw at the cue “say hello” or a cat whose favorite perch is his human’s shoulder, these details come across best in video. 

We often have special needs pets in our care who need extra help to find a good home, and Comcast gives us the perfect medium to showcase their stories. Recently an adopter came to visit with Ernest, a 9 year old Dalmatian whose gait is slowed by arthritis. While watching Pet Adoptions On Demand, she heard that Ernest was looking for a person with a relaxed lifestyle to match his laid back personality. They were a match, and Ernest has been in his new home for nearly a month!

Have you connected with a pet you’ve seen on Pet Adoptions on Demand? We’d love to hear your story! 

Holiday adoptions make lasting adoptions

 
For many years, holiday adoptions of pets were discouraged.  The old story went that holiday adoptions were somehow less committed adoptions (the product of “whims”) and the pets would be returned in large numbers after the holidays were over.  In fact, there is no data to support that notion.  Actually, the percentage of returns we get from our holiday adoptions are no different from any other time of the year. 

Nonetheless, we still are regularly confronted with people who cling to the old idea and think that we should be discouraging people from getting a new pet at the holidays.  Old habits are hard to break but it is very important to break them.  There are so many wonderful animals who need good homes and it is not in their best interests to discourage people from giving them loving homes who might be inclined to do so.  If they want to do so at the holidays, that is great.  In fact, they may have more time to be at home and help make the adjustment smoothly during the holidays.  Really what could be a more meaningful thing for a person or a family to do than to commit to giving a lifetime of love to a homeless pet at the holidays?  That loving commitment and beautiful holiday memory will be a part of that pet’s special place in the family forevermore.

That does not mean that we think it is a good idea to pick a pet out as a gift for someone else.  Our pets must have a very special personal connection with us and that is not something that someone else can decide.  So, if what you want to do is make sure that someone you care about gets a new best friend, give that person a certificate, available in our Lora Robins Gift Shop, for an adoption from the Richmond SPCA and give them the great experience of getting to pick out their perfect soul mate themselves.

If you have a pet you love, you can always help others who do not yet have their loving human by giving to the Richmond SPCA.  Happy holidays!

Four months may be a lifetime to shelter dogs awaiting heartworm treatment

It became apparent to me once again last week how the odds can be so unfairly stacked against shelter animals. I am grateful every day at the Richmond SPCA that we are able to deliver lifesaving medical treatment and rehabilitation to pets with conditions we diagnose prior to adoption and to pets with known conditions when they enter our care.

On December 1, I learned that there was a shortage of Immiticide, the only licensed drug in the United States to treat adult heartworms in dogs, by our Merial Animal Health distributor. A quick internet search that I conducted didn’t identify any issues or additional information. Then on Dec. 3, I received a form letter from Merial that indicated there was a technical difficulty with a manufacturing site transfer and there would be a shortage through the first quarter of 2010. According to the letter, the company is working hard to manage the situation by asking you to call it directly and only order what product you need for individual cases. When still no additional information appeared on the Internet, I made a post to a veterinary message board. It appeared as though I was one of only a handful of veterinarians aware of the situation.

The magnitude of this dilemma hit home when I called about a dog we just transferred into our care named “Fred.” Fred is a 2-year-old shepherd mix who is positive for heartworms. While the condition is serious, we treat all dogs we admit with heartworms prior to uniting them with loving new families. In Fred’s case, he fortunately shows no clinical signs yet, which makes him a wonderful candidate for successful treatment without complications. We treat dogs like Fred and get them adopted in a very timely manner.

When I called Merial to see what I needed to do in order to purchase the amount of Immiticide that Fred would need, I was asked to give his age, the test we used to determine that he was positive for heartworms, whether he had previously been on preventative medication, and the signs he was showing. After providing these details, I was told that he was not a candidate for the current supply. In other words, Fred was not a critical enough case to warrant selling the Richmond SPCA the drug for his treatment.

Now in private practice, Fred and his guardians would just wait until the supply lines opened up and be treated in the spring – when the drug is expected to be widely available again. But in a shelter environment, this poses unique challenges. How does a shelter hold onto this fella for a minimum of four months? In many shelters, the options would be 1) don’t treat Fred and hope that someone who can afford his treatment at his or her regular veterinarian when the drug is available adopts him (this will run several hundred dollars at best) or 2) place Fred in foster care outside the shelter until the drug is available and Fred can be treated and adopted post-treatment or 3) the worst-case scenario, euthanize Fred rather than utilize either of the first two options.

Fortunately, Fred is at the Richmond SPCA, and we will either find him a home prior to treatment with a family willing to assume that responsibility when the drug is available again, or we will place Fred in foster care until we can treat his condition and get him well. But what about all of the other heartworm-positive dogs at other shelters throughout the country? Sadly, they might not have the same outcome as Fred.

How can you help? Can you foster an adult dog with heartworms for a couple of months? Can you adopt a heartworm-positive dog and treat him after he joins your family? Are you sure your pets and your friends’ pets are getting their heartworm prevention year round? Are you getting your dog tested yearly to be sure he remains negative? If you get a positive diagnosis, can you please keep him rather than surrendering him to a shelter that cannot possibly treat him for heartworms?

Together we need to protect our companion animals in order to ensure none dies needlessly for the lack of this important drug.