Had to make sure I got there first

The day after a large group of dogs arrive it is always smart if you are cleaning dogs to get there early. Reason being, you typically don't want to have the job of cleaning up after them. Today was no exception. Luckily I was able to sign up for the south side dogs first because when I actually had a look, and a smell, at the new dogs it literally made my stomach turn. It has been a while since I have seen five kennels all "painted" by the dogs that inhabit them. The scary part is, all of these dogs are tiny and I am amazed at how much they could put out in one night. I think we might need to check for giardia after seeing this.

Once my stomach had settled down I headed over to south to get all of the dogs out. Too bad I can't handle those sick ones, don't want to cross contaminate you know. Amazingly the area I was cleaning was in pretty good shape and I was able to get everything done in a respectable amount of time. I was even able to help out in the rabbitat when I was done as well as collect the garbage from the cattery. I hadn't really noticed but a large group of the staff was focusing on the cattery since its biggest donor was coming in for a tour. Not sure if you know but the cattery was completely rebuilt through private donations and the state of the art building with separate air control systems was not cheap from what I hear. Needless to say there were a few of the kennel attendants making sure the building was presentable.

On with the day. With so many staff members, since we actually have a new one that shows up, I have found more and more time to spend with the animals. In addition to that I have found the time to make sure that everything in the shelter is in order. Typically when you are short handed you let things go that don't necessarily need your immediate attention. But now that we have the time we can focus on the details.

Later I got called to a showing with our girl Beatrice. Right now she is the one that we would like to see get out of here the most so we were all eager to read the adoption profile. Everything looked good until I saw that the potential adopted already has a three year old female cattle dog at home. The problem with this is we typically don't send home a female to a female home. The issues that can arise are numerous but the main one is if there is physical altercation it typically will snow ball and end up very bad. The adopter was understanding and we decided to go back to the kennels to see if there might be a better fit. He absolutely fell in love with the puppy Spencer who will be available this Thursday. Hopefully he comes back because we always like to see our animals go home as quickly as possible.

I finally got to go to lunch and that was when I heard the new that our Mississippi friend Tater who was adopted a few months back was being returned. It was completely bitter sweet because the stress that this animal is going through coming back to the shelter has to be unimaginable. The good part is I get to spend some more time with him. My fiance and I had actually planned on fostering the little guy and when I went to pick him up he was actually getting adopted right at that moment. Once you see him you will understand though that no matter what happens, he will not be here long. His temperament is amazing and you rarely find as happy of a dog as Tater.

No adoptions today but there were some potentials that could pan out later in the week. There was however a new relinquishment of a four day old kitten that was found in bushes at a person house. I really don't think I have seen a cat this young but man was she cute. Hopefully we can keep her health up and put some weight on her because it is very tough to raise such a young kitten on their own. I'll keep you all posted on the situation.

One more thing, I had mentioned that there was to be a showing with our foster coon hound Liza. Well it turns out that the potential adopters weren't that perfect fit so there ended up not even being a showing. I understand finding the perfect home for animals and the perfect animals for homes is part of our mission, but I think that all options need to be looked at in our girl's situation. Hopefully soon we can figure out how to get her in her forever home, even though I know she is one happy dog at her foster mom's house. Thanks Anne for all your help!