House and Wilson - together forever!!

It was great week!! Grace went home on Saturday. An entire entourage came to pick her up! Grace's new dad bought out PetSmart to prepare for her homecoming! This is a wonderful way for Grace's story to end.

House and Wilson left TOGETHER on Sunday! I am sure everyone is as happy as I am about this! The two big boys were a tad difficult to load into the carriers but did great once they got home. It seems their first night home Wilson slept in bed with his new mom and House spent the night in his new cat bed. When I called today to check on them I was told that as we spoke Wilson was sitting on mom's lap and House was at her feet. It seems this is a perfect home for the guys!

Three cats arrived today - two females, Josee and Emily - and one male, Coconut. Coconut was brought into the Shelter by animal control. Someone found kittens and suspected Coconut, who had been hanging around, was the mother. Um, no, it seems Coconut was not anyone's mom OR dad - he was a neutered male! He is a beautiful, sweet, long haired all white cat. You will love him!

Emily is a brown and black tabby and is very friendly. She is a sweetheart. Josee is a little younger than Emily and is also friendly. The below pictures are a tad deceiving - the two are not difficult to tell apart. Both respond quickly to attention and should settle in easily. For now leave all three in separate cages so they can acclimate to the new surroundings with as little stress as possible.

Here they are: Coconut, Emily and Josee.

I had a special request from two devoted volunteers - put Heart and Oriella in the big cage together as sometimes this helps the shy cats come around and they show better. Please leave the two in there and lets' see how it goes. (Always have to do what my mother says! LOL!)

The dog pictured below is a chow mix that was adopted from the Shelter about two months ago. His family is soooo thankful they took him home. It seems that Buddy brought a medical emergency to the attention of the family! At the request of the family I am not going to reveal alot of details. Suffice it to say that as a result of Buddy's canine communication this story had a happy ending! See what a difference a Shelter dog can make!!! Meet Buddy the Hero....

I have a good list of volunteers helping in Avalon at the Princeton Bar with the Santa pictures and Veteran's Plaza. Looks like dogs will be at the Princeton and cats will be at the Plaza! I will e-mail all of you directly with the logistics.

There is three openings in December - all in the morning. They are Tuesday December 1, Sunday December 6 and Friday December 18. Please let me know if you are available. I will be working on the 2010 schedule right after Thanksgiving. Feel free to e-mail any requests for January.

Have a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving!!
(Leona, thank you for covering so the rest of us can stay home!)

Ralphie and Confetti Go Home

Didn't take long at all for Confetti to go home!! She arrived on a Monday and went home the following Wednesday. Her new family brought all the necessary paperwork straight to the Shelter so she was an easy application to approve!

After Confetti left Lonnie arrived. He is so cute! He has longer hair, is that pretty gray color and is so soft. Lonnie has come a long way. Initially he was very shy. Now he is just a tad skittish but loves to be held and will purr away once he feels comfortable. Although many of you have already met Lonnie I am including his picture below.

Ralphie left last night. He will be the only pet in the house and although his new mom has had a dog in the past Ralphie is her first cat. (Um...let's see if she comes back for a second! You know what they say - cats are like Lay's potato chips - ya can't have just one!)

I hope this weather does not ruin our adoption weekend. Volunteers will be at the store on Friday 2-4pm, Saturday 12-4pm and Sunday 12-4pm. Dogs and Shelter staff will be on hand both Saturday and Sunday. Please spread the word. Five cats will be brought to the store on Friday that will spend the weekend. In addition Harlequin is coming to fill the cage vacated by Ralphie. Harlequin is a beauty! Like Lonnie she has longer hair. She has a very sweet little face. Please give her time to settle in.

Here's Lonnie and Harlequin.


Below is a picture of one of our resident dogs, Rocky, who went into foster care yesterday (Wednesday). Do you think he likes it??? It did not take him long to settle into the comforts of a real home. (Thank you, Traci, for giving him this break!) Rocky is about five years old and is a mixed breed. He has been in the Shelter for many months. In his foster home he is living with five other dogs, two cats and two parrots. He just may make an appearance with his foster mom this weekend at PetSmart. If anyone is wondering how Rocky will do once he gets home just take a look at this picture...it is indeed worth a thousand words! If you know someone looking for a dog tell them about Rocky and let's arrange a meeting!

One of our Shelter volunteers, Fran, made the Press of Atlantic City this week. She and her husband are making and selling stained glass cats and dogs at a coffee shop in West Cape May and the proceeds will benefit the Shelter. Please click on the link Shelter in the News to the right to read all about it. Thank you, Fran!!

Oh, yea, that's right, the calendar.... It looks great!! There is still some open slots - both AM & PM - in December.

Stay high and dry and outta Ida's way!!

Hope It's Over!!!

OMG!! I thought this latest dry spell would NEVER end! Thankfully it has! Randall left on Saturday following a little bit of drama. An application was taken on Jana over a week ago and had been approved. The applicant was telephoned four times by the Shelter to arrange for Jana to go home. A second application came in for Jana that was subsequently approved. Not wanting to stop an adoption one last message was left for the first applicant. That message again went unanswered. So, the second applicant made arrangements for pick up. Come Saturday applicant number one came to PetSmart thinking she was still in the running for Jana. After being advised that her application was approved BUT that Jana was no longer available she chose Randall. So, off he went!

Jana went home on Sunday. Her new mom had adopted another cat from the Shelter about nine months ago.

Two new girls were brought to PetSmart today - Grace and Confetti. Confetti is a young torti with really pretty markings. She is a friendly girl and is going to love running around and playing while she waits to get adopted.

Grace is an older female who is solid gray and is also de-clawed. She was so pathetic when she arrived at the Shelter a few months back. In a driving rain storm she was found simply sitting on the side of the road. A Good Samaritan saw her and stopped. It appeared that Grace had been hit by a car and she suffered from injuries that were a few days old. Oh, she was a mess! We rushed her to the vet and she remained in our "sick bay" for a long time. Each day her breathing got better, her infection began to clear and her "road rash" healed. She had an injury to the left side of her face that gave her a concave look. We wanted to give her a chance and we are so glad we did! I loved to walk into the sick bay and have her immediately get up and come to the front of the cage with such appreciation in her eyes! She is very sweet and will be forever grateful when she gets a home!

Here's Grace and Confetti....

PetSmart has added another adoption event weekend to their calendar. (See The Shelter in the News under "Links" to the right for a copy of the press release.) This event is called the National Holiday Adoption Weekend. It is Friday - Sunday, November 13-15. Volunteers are needed to work the adoption table Friday, 2-4pm. On Saturday and Sunday additional volunteers are needed to work the adoption table from 12-4 on each day. Dogs will be brought to the store based on the numbers of volunteers available to help. On Saturday the dogs will be there from 12:30-4:00. On Sunday they will be there 12:30-3:00. In addition to the dogs we will bring more cats to the store for the weekend. Please let me know if you can help.

Unfortunately Devil Dog Training had to cancel the dog training session scheduled for Wednesday, November 4. As soon as it is rescheduled I will let the dog walkers know.

Barb A and her gang will once again represent the Shelter in the annual West Cape May Christmas Parade. This year the theme is "All Dogs Go To Heaven." The parade is on Saturday, December 5. Parade line up is at 4:00pm. I will send out more details about this as it gets closer. Please bring your dog and join Barb!!

OK...the calendar...two openings remain this month...Tuesday, November 10 in the morning and Friday, November 20 in the evening. Please look ahead to December as well. I will fill in the calendar for 2010 with the regulars by the end of the month. If you need to make any changes and have a regular recurring time slot please let me know ASAP.