Richmond SPCA Blog

Reflecting on BlogPaws conference in the wake of Irene

Chloe, who belongs to Jamie Cook, greets visitors to the Petfinder.com table in the exhibit area.

Just before Irene tore through the region, I had the inspirational experience of attending BlogPaws 2011 with pet-centric bloggers from around the country (and beyond: one of the first I met was from British Columbia, and she responded to our introduction with, “Oh, I’ve retweeted items from the Richmond SPCA!”). The 3-day conference was held in Tysons Corner with more than 350 attendees. It was thanks to the generous sponsorship of Petfinder.com that I was able to attend the numerous workshops and presentations and take away lessons I hope will improve our blog and grow our audience.

Travelin' Jack is a travel dog reporter. His mom, Jill Lane, shared some of his tips in the Niche Blogging workshop.

One of my favorite things about the conference, besides the shared passion for companion animals, was the fact that it was pet friendly. What would a conference of pet bloggers be without the pets who have inspired us to create and maintain blogs? All aspects of the conference were pet friendly, from the welcoming reception to each educational session.

Pets accompanied their guardians and gave a great opening to conversation during networking and exhibit times. Even those who begged a little at mealtimes made sure to endear themselves in the process.

Many of us left the conference earlier than planned to return home to areas in Irene’s path. Jane at Petfinder.com had a great post on their blog yesterday on an aspect of pet care in disasters that many of us may not have considered – what if the disaster strikes while you’re away from home? Take a look at the thoughtful list of precautions Jane has assembled.

As recovery from Irene continues around the Richmond area, this is a good time to review your pet’s disaster kit. Was there anything missing? Do you need to revise your disaster plan for your own pets or replenish any of the supplies in your kit before the next unexpected scenario?  

Tabitha Frizzell Hanes is the director of communications at the Richmond SPCA. To read the biographies of our other regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be  used as your screen name.  

120 Years of History: Accomplishments of the early 1900's and the leadership of Ellen Glasgow

On March 25, I wrote a piece for this blog about the early history of the Richmond SPCA. I described its founding in 1891 as a result of the hard work of Nellie and Ben Palmer, Joseph Bryan, Jud Wood and others of our distinguished initial Board of Directors. I said that there would be more to come and here it is:

After its formation in 1891 at the beginning of the humane movement in this country, the Richmond SPCA struggled with inadequate funding. Then, Nellie Palmer convinced her aunt, Mrs. Louisa Nalle, to leave her estate to the Richmond SPCA. Mrs. Nalle passed away in the first decade of the 20th century and the $24,000 she left the organization really put it on its feet.

During these early years, there was no concept yet of sheltering homeless animals – that did not come along until about the 1920’s. Humane organizations such as ours were dedicated to advocacy for all animals. One of the great accomplishments of our organization in its early years was getting the Virginia General Assembly to adopt the first statute making cruelty to an animal a criminal offense.

In the early 1900’s, our organization had the benefit of a new and deeply dedicated leader. Ellen Glasgow was a Richmonder and one of the most famous and honored novelists of the 20th century. Her novel In This Our Life won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1942 and was made into a movie starring Bette Davis. She wrote with remarkable perception about the unfairness to and suffering of the downtrodden, including women, African- Americans and animals, during her lifetime.  

Ellen Glasgow cared passionately about animals and was President of the Board of the Richmond SPCA for 21 years until her death in 1945. She recruited many prominent and powerful Richmonders to our Board such as Douglas Southall Freeman and James Branch Cabell. Miss Glasgow was the driving force behind the opening of our first shelter in 1924.

Ellen Glasgow’s sudden death in 1945 left a large hole in the organization’s leadership (she actually died in bed during the night after having hosted a meeting of the Richmond SPCA Board in her dining room that evening.) However, her generosity in leaving the bulk of her estate and the all of rights to her great works of literature to the Richmond SPCA formed the nucleus of our endowment, which would impart fiscal stability for decades to come. Her bequest to our organization in her will was left in memory of her beloved Sealyham Terrier Jeremy, reflecting the great role he had played in her life. To this day, we continue to honor Ellen Glasgow and Jeremy in the names of our major giving societies.

The latter part of the 20th century was a very sad period for animal welfare both in this community and across the country. There were far more animals being born than possible homes for them and a general refusal of the public to face these facts with honesty. Humane organizations like ours all over the country took in many thousands of animals and killed the majority of them. They seemed to believe that this was their proper role and felt a need to conceal this terrible reality from the public. The result of this widespread dishonesty was that the steps that could be taken to deal compassionately and non-lethally with pet homelessness were not undertaken for far too long.

Next time, I will write about the beginnings of the no-kill movement in the 1980’s and how it has radically changed the prospects for homeless animals for the better. 

Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name. 

Frivolous Friday Felines #10

After a week off from our regular Frivolous Friday Felines posts, we return with a special twist. We're still asking for your witty captions of the photo below, and this week it's a true contest! 

Each comment submitted will be entered in a drawing for a pair of tickets to the John Prine concert on Saturday, Oct. 16 at the Charlottesville Pavilion. Special thanks to the Charlottesville Pavilion for this generous donation! Comments will remain open for one week, and we'll announce the winner in next Friday's post. 

Please remember that our comment guidelines require a first and last name to be used as your screen name on our blog. Now for your captioning consideration... 

 Our top pick from last week's submissions came from Cindy McCray:

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before submitting a comment, please review our guidelines.

Frivolous Friday Felines #9

It's Friday afternoon and right on cue, our kitties have woken from a nap to distract you with the frivolity you've come to expect. The comments will be open for one week to caption this kitty. Please remember that our comment guidelines require a first and last name to be used as your screen name on our blog. Thanks for all the great submissions! 

For your captioning consideration this week, we have Sydney, a wonderful calico who is still awaiting her forever home. For more information about Sydney, please call our adoption helpline at 804-521-1307. Update: Sydney was adopted on Sunday, Sept. 12! 

Last week's photo generated great captions, both here on the blog and on our Facebook page. Here are the highlights...

Psychedelic:  "Whoa. Bad catnip." from Sarah Babcock

Vanity: "Just another bad 'ear' day." from Rosanna Richmond

Astronomical: "Ok, if I tune my ears this way, I can make out the signals from my home planet." from Cheryl Lingerfelt, and "I iz training to bez an astrinot." from Laura Palin Clement

Current events: "HURRY! Pleaz rescue me from Hurricane Earl!" from Laura Kurek

Pugilistic: "Do it again, buster, and ya'll find ya'self in next week." from Bronwyn McIntosh

And our kitties' favorite came from Trisha Johnson... 

 

Frivolous Friday Felines #8

Our Friday caption contest took a brief hiatus for the last two weeks, but the felines here at the Richmond SPCA are still just as frivolous. A new volunteer photographer captured this moment earlier this week. Now it's up to you, our readers, to give this kitten a caption. We'll leave the comments open until next week and will let our kitties pick their favorite one next Friday. 

As an aside, the kitten pictured is Arnold, and he and his brother Walton were adopted this week after being featured on Wet Nose Wednesday with Kat Simons on Lite 98. Their adopter took advantage of our 2-for-1 kitten adoption special! Due to popular demand, we are continuing this special through the end of September. 

 Photo courtesy of Jez Beasley. 

For the week #7 photo, we have Cindy McCray to thank for capturing this kitten's bravado. 

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before submitting a comment, please review our guidelines.

Frivolous Friday Felines #7

It's Friday, and that means it's time for Frivolous Felines! Each week, we post a new feline photo and seek your caption suggestions. You have until next Friday to submit a comment with your caption and next week we'll feature the best of the bunch. 

We're a little late posting our favorite this week. We'll blame it on all the work it takes to herd the cats into selecting the best caption. You did know they're the ones in charge of this blog, right? Charity Rupp knows a little about the feline kind, and the kitties liked her caption best. 

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before submitting a comment, please review our guidelines.

Frivolous Friday Felines #6

It's Friday, and that means it's time for Frivolous Felines! Each week, we post a new feline photo and seek your caption suggestions. You have until next Friday to submit a comment with your caption and next week we'll feature the best of the bunch. 

 

Last week's photo must have been a challenge because we received fewer captions; however, it's the quality that counts, and here's a great caption from Cindy McCray: 

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before submitting a comment, please review our guidelines.

Frivolous Friday Felines #5

For your Friday frivolity and enjoyment, we give you this gem. Caption away! 

And the best of week #4 goes to Cindy McCray... 

 

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before submitting a comment, please review our guidelines.

Show off your compassionate side: Five ways to help homeless animals without leaving Facebook

 Slactivism – I first heard the word last week at the Social Media Club of Richmond. It elicited a chuckle from the crowd, who may have been more familiar with the term. While it’s meant as a pejorative, there are plenty of ways that you can help homeless animals with just a few clicks of your mouse. Sure it’s a feel-good move that doesn’t take much effort, but spreading the word about the lifesaving programs and services we provide as well as events that benefit the animals in our care have real impact. [Disclaimer: sometimes after the click we ask you to follow through with real-world action, but it’s usually relatively painless and often even fun.]

1. Click the Facebook like button on this post. You’re already reading it and even stuck around past the first paragraph, so maybe you really do like it. Using the Facebook “like” button is a way of sharing our blog with your friends.


2. If you’re not already a fan, go to the Richmond SPCA page on Facebook and like it too. We try not to fill your newsfeed with too many updates, unless of course it’s about adorable puppies and kittens and other wonderful animals who are so deserving of a good home. You can also be a fan of our gift shop for special offers and promotions. 


3. Now that you see our updates, when you like one, share it with your friends too. Facebook knows there’s a bit of a slacker in each of us, so they’ve made it easy. Each photo or video or link we post has a “share” link just below it. You can post it to your own news feed and even add comments to let everyone know why you support animal welfare.


4. Visit our events tab on Facebook to see upcoming events that benefit the pets in our care. If you see one that interests you, let us know you’ll attend then select more guests to invite. Facebook only allows page administrators to send event invites to the people we’re personally connected to, not to everyone who likes our page, so we rely on you to spread the word about our events.


5. Make a post of your own! Have you adopted your best friend from our Robins-Starr Humane Center? Had a pet spayed at our Smoky’s Spay/Neuter Clinic? Found your pet’s new favorite toy at our Lora Robins Gift Shop? Let others know! You can even post a photo or video to our wall on Facebook to give us an update. We love to hear how much joy our alumni bring their families, and maybe it will inspire someone else to give a home to an orphaned pet.

Tabitha Hanes is the community relations manager at the Richmond SPCA. To read her complete biography, or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before submitting a comment, please review our guidelines.

Frivolous Friday Felines #4

We're a little late with the post, but here's the fourth installment of our weekly caption contest, and it is still Friday at least. As usual, we provide the feline photo and ask you, our readers, to submit your wittiest caption suggestions in the comments before next Friday. 

Photo courtesy of Ron Leone. 

The caption submissions keep getting better. Thanks for the laughs! Several stood out, and this gem from Jaime Green is our top pick. 

 To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before submitting a comment, please review our guidelines.