Good News

Remember the year Y2K?  We were so alarmed that there would be a total meltdown due to the year change.  It seems like such a long time ago.  But I am having my very own Y2K.  I've had some technology snafus but I think I'm back on track.



 Can you believe that the dog on the right is the same dog on the left?  Trust me, it is Chewbacca with her new owner.  Chewey is doing wonderful in her new home with Mom, Dad, and two 2-legged little humans.  The family loves Chewey and she loves them.  She was at the shelter for a visit and it was obvious that she is very happy and healthy.


We want all of our animals to find happy and healthy homes.  And I believe that last year was an exceptional year.  We only received 3,920 animals!  That might sound like a lot to you but 2012 is the first year that we had less than 4,000 animals in our shelter in over a decade.  As we push for more and more spaying and neutering we begin to see some results! 

Who's Your Favorite

Help vote to make the Lycoming County SPCA your favorite:

Visit http://www.theanimalrescuesite.comand click to give food (no cost to you), then click the button for the Shelter+ Challenge to vote. (found on the right hand column).   Then vote for the Lycoming County SPCA.  We are in Williamsport, PA, USA. 

 

Spread the word through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more and help us win cash prizes. 

This voting round began on January 7, 2013 and ends at midnight (PT) on April 28, 2013.

Visit http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com and click to give food, then click the button for the Shelter+ Challenge to vote. 

Then vote for "Sparks relaxes with a glass of wine" by Victoria Stryker.  Thanks!

Longtimer of the Month

This is Sincere.  She has been at the SPCA since June 15, 2012 for a total to date of 195 days.  When she arrived at the shelter she weighed just 35.8 pounds (Left).  Today she weighs 51 pounds.  This is her story:

She had a litter of puppies on May 16, 2012.  Her owner was not feeding her enough, and the food she was getting was of low quality.  To add to her woes, she was full of fleas and internal parasites.  Her five puppies were also thin.  Her puppies were so hungry that, at four weeks of age, they hungrily ate moist puppy food.  It took many weeks for Sincere to recover from her starved state.  Despite the fact that her puppies were pit bulls, they were quickly adopted.  Not so for Sincere.  Her breed and activity level have kept her from being adopted.

She holds a special place in my heart because I am the person who picked her up from her neglectful situation.  I am hoping that someone will read her story and know that this dog needs a second chance at a good home.

Home for the Holidays

Many people have the week between Christmas and New Year off from work. What a great time to introduce a new pet to the family!  There are so many homeless pets awaiting new homes.  Please check them out at www.lycomingspca.org. 

Christmas Wishes



Christmas wishes do come true.

 

We requested a new stainless steel portable intake pen for our cats.  This is a temporary holding cage where the cats await an examination after they arrive at our shelter.  The cages on the left are made of laminate.  Dirt was collecting in crevices and the shelves were beginning to warp.  We wanted an easy to clean surface that would stand up to repeated use.

 

Luckily for us, a donor saw our request in our newsletter and agreed to purchase the new stainless steel cages!

 

From the large to the small we are blessed with generous donors who bring us items from our wish list to help care for the animals.  I am so grateful to so many who make it possible to give the best possible care to homeless animals. 

Free Range Chickens

One hot summer evening I passed by a field that had 2 foot high fenced areas, approximately 10 feet square, covered with aluminum sheets.  Under the aluminum 'roofs' were many chickens. There were a dozen or so of these types of pens.

It occurred to me that those chickens probably get very hot during the heat of the summer day and questioned our investigator about it.  He agreed to check on the birds.  What he discovered surprised me.

The chickens were being bred as 'free range' chickens.  They had plenty of water and feed and supposedly, the pens were moved frequently.

Up until I went to training and saw how the food animals were housed and butchered, I was a meat eater.  My favorite meat was chicken.  Since then I have been avoiding all meat.  I know of other people who avoid meat but will, on occasion, will eat 'free range' chicken. 

When I think 'free range', I'm thinking a Texas sized ranch where the chickens run where they want and have fun finding yummy things to eat.  So imagine my disappointment when I saw a 'free range' farm locally.

I've adjusted pretty well to eating veggies and fish and hardly miss eating meat.  And since I've seen how 'free range' and farm raised chickens are housed, I'm even happier that I've adjusted. 

Would You Take This Animal?

I frequently hear people say, "I couldn't do your job." 

Trust me, there are days I don't want to do my job.  Most often it's a Monday morning.   That is when we will get phone calls from a distraught pet owner who has to find a new home for their cat because it is peeing outside of the litter box.  I'm not sure I can find a new home for a cat that is not using its litter box.

Or how about the dog that bites so badly that the person bitten has to get stitches.  Would you take that animal into your home?

There are some things that are just training issues, and then there are things that create too much of a liability for us to place an animal in a home.  What I don't understand is why a pet owner will believe it is an SPCA problem and we need to find the animal another home.  I disagree.  

If an individual adopts, purchases or receives an animal as a gift; it becomes the pet owner's responsibility to care for that animal.  So how is it possible that someone can tell me I'm not doing my job if I can't find a home for a pet that has issues?

So maybe it's just one of those days that I don't want to do my job, but it is not because of the animal.  It is because someone else just does not understand. 

Can't wait til Tuesday!