The big day

I call it the big day because today is what the staff has been preparing for the past couple of weeks. It was finally time for the grand opening of the new cattery. Even though it has been in operation for some time now this was to be the ceremonial day for everyone to attend that played key roles in having the state of the art new addition built. The attendees included donors, builders, and even some local government officials. It was nice to see who was involved in the large scale project and it was even nicer to hear a donor pledge money every year and even begin a trust so when they pass on the shelter will continue to receive money.

With all of the cleaning and organizing done it seemed like we were pretty bored during the opening because there were so many volunteers helping out with the busy day. The did everything from meet and greets at the front to help take animals down to their runs to make our jobs easier. I just have to say thanks to all of the people that helped make this opening such a smooth success, especially the staff members that put so much effort into making it perfect. Another thing I have to add is earlier in the week while we were preparing for an additional ten cats the local newspaper came in to cover the grand opening story. Of course, me being me, I was at the wrong place at the wrong time and added a few quotes and picture to the story. I'll do my best to post it here in a few days.

After all of the formalities it was time to get to business. After last week I was looking forward to getting some adoptions in the book. I say this because just about everything set me off last week and I am having a very difficult time working here right now. Whether it's the money or the feelings I have for these animals I need a pick me up day because the more and more I think about everything the worse it gets. Luckily today was the kind of day I needed. First I learned that two animals that had been in the shelter for quite some time had found new homes. Apparently one of the volunteers took the dog's information and picture and made flyers up that she then posted all over her neighborhood. A family that had recently lost their pet felt that this dog had come to them. They came into the shelter the next day and adopted a sweet overweight mutt that has been in the shelter now for about three months. This is the kind of story I need. It just makes you smile when you think about it.

On to my showings, it started with a little Corgi/Sheppard mix that had already been returned to the shelter once and also just got out of isolation due to a bad case of kennel cough. The woman that wanted to meet him had the same mix but about three times larger. There were a few issues that immediately arose, one was our guys aggression towards some dogs, the other was the fact that the adopter's dog was really overweight. I was tactful enough to get it out of the owner that her dog was on a diet and was working with the obesity which is what I was looking for. Once she fell in love with our little guy it was time to intro them to each other. After some sniffs and a little ignoring it seemed that the two personalities were a perfect fit. I told the woman that it will take time and a lot of patience, as well as some resolve carpet cleaner, to get everything perfect but when that time comes it will be worth the wait. She agreed and decided to adopt. I'm glad this little guy not only gets to go home but he has a new girlfriend that will keep him company as well.

Fast forwarding, there were about five or six more showings that all went very well. We ended up adopting several cats and a whole lot of dogs. We even almost adopted our boxer sharpei mix that has been in the shelter forever but there was still a little more paperwork that we needed from the adopters. So cross your fingers and hope that tomorrow is his big day.

Today was a great day, of course there is always the drama, like having to switch all of the dogs food and adding seven new puppies to south side. That might not seem like much but when you switch a dog's food usually their stomachs do not react well. That is why this had to be the most dog poo and diarrhea I have ever seen in my life. When your day starts by someone saying "are you gagging?, if you're gagging I'm going to start gagging", then of course all you do at that point is try not to throw up. It's funny after starting your day like this that you can still call it a great day. No matter how much poo, how bad your eyes are watering, or how under appreciated you are sometimes it all pays off when you can send an animal home to the perfect family. Thank goodness for that or I don't think I could handle this place.