What a day!

You know the feeling when you just know something isn't quite right? Today I had that feeling as I walked into work, saw no other cars, and had the maintenance man come up to me to say there was a loose dog in the shelter that he was unable to catch. Of course there wasn't anyone else here, all the doors were locked, and my keys were in my box. Luckily I was able to go around back to enter the kennels when I noticed Binkie, our resident bite quarantine dog running around.

When I walked in I could hear all of the dogs in the shelter barking in unison when Binkie saw me. She hesitated a minute then immediately ran up to me and waited for some pets and rubs. Thank goodness she recognized me because it would have been pretty tough to get the situation under control if she hadn't. I played with her for a minute and then simply walked back to ISO where she followed me. I got her into one of the yards and then noticed how she actually got out of her kennel. We're not sure if she saw something and got freaked out or being in ISO had its tole on her but the gate to the kennel was actually bent to the point the the gate opened. Now mind you, this is not that big of a dog so I might have to call "Unsolved Mysteries" to find out exactly what happened because I really can't figure this one out. Along with the bent gate I also noticed that the wooden gate going down to the runs was torn up as well. An entire plank of wood had been chewed up and was laying in splinters. Amazingly enough our vet staff examined Binkie and found nothing wrong with her mouth or any other part of her body. Once again, I might have to think about this one for a while to imagine what could have gone on last night.

Once I got the Binkie situation under control I noticed a few small piles of poop near our volunteer office. Definitely too small to be from Binkie so I went to check out Mr. Burns' kennel and sure enough he was no where to be found. Since I didn't close last night I was unsure of what could have happened to him so I had to wait until another staff member showed up to open up the office. To both of our surprise there he was with free range to everything. It turns out our I.T. guy had found him running around early morning and had put him in the office since he didn't have keys to the kennels. Later we found out that the little guy can actually squeeze through about a four inch gap between the gate and the wall of his kennel. Luckily we have dealt with this before and were able to zip tie some gates to Mr. Burn proof the kennel. Here is a picture of the little guy so you can know who I am talking about. His overbite is so big that if you look at him from below you can actually see the roof of his mouth while it is closed!

After all of the excitement it was on with the rest of the day. I have to be honest with you, it was kind of a blurr from the get go since we were two staff members short and all of the morning cleaning didn't get done until about noon. Luckily the staff that was here worked very well together and was able to keep everything under control. Mind you it was a little hectic at times but it makes for one quick day.

Personally I only had two showings, one of which was kind of a denial because the adopter was looking at one of our spastic kittens and had a two year old at home so we thought it wouldn't be a good fit. She was understanding and would check back to see if there would be a good fit later on. My other showing was a little sketchy from the beginning since on their profile they had three dogs and two cats and one of the dogs wasn't neutered. Since it is our policy not to adopt to those homes I was hesitant to take it. Surprise to me it turns out the dog is actually a sheriff K-9 unit animal and that is the only reason he is unaltered. Goes to show you can never go into a showing with a closed mind. If I had simply looked at the profile without asking any questions I would have surely denied the couple when in reality they are a wonderful home for any animal and they truly believe in the mission to control the pet population. Unfortunately the animal they were looking at just wasn't that perfect fit but they too will check back to see if there are any more that might be "the one".

During all of the ruckus of the kennel staff running around there was one adoption. It was a little chihuahua/Italian greyhound mix and apparently it is the perfect home. I really never got to spend to much time with the sweetie but from what I saw I am not surprised she is going home. Even with all the craziness of today the thing that I will take home with me is knowing that a great animal was able to find a home today.

Jumping subjects here, I have to mention one of our little bunnies Sam. He is probably the sweetest guy we have here but is pretty much un-adoptable because his teeth have to be trimmed about every two months. It might not seem like a big deal but in reality it runs about 500 dollars each time. We have tried everything to curtail the problem but it just isn't feasible that we could adopt him out with this problem. Luckily though there is a great bunny network out here and our rabbit guru was able to find him a sanctuary where he can live out the rest of his life. The sanctuary actually is a woman who takes them into her home and luckily for Sam she also works for the premiere rabbit doctor in the county who will be able to curtail his tooth problem. I'm sorry to see him go but at the same time glad to see he has a good home now.

On a closing note, we were able to pair up two dogs that seemed like they wouldn't get along with anyone. It's always those that you least expect that will end of becoming buddies. Both the dogs, Andy and Beatrice, have been know to be a little pushy and spastic but when we decided to try them out together it seemed it was a match made in heaven. I know that sounds pretty corny but if you could see them together you would understand. Here is a picture to give you an idea of what we saw. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments and your suggestions.