How do we get everyone to spay or neuter their pets?

We could make a huge impact in our county if we could just get more people to spay or neuter their pets. Our shelter already requires this to be done for all adopted pets. Paw Pals tries every year to offer coupons or reduced rates to convince people to get it done. Still, the litters of puppies and kittens keep coming. You see ads in the classified section every day. Others are brought to the shelter. This places a great burden on our shelter and volunteers to care for and try to find homes for them. What is the answer?

I know a lot of people don't think they can afford to spay or neuter their pets, even at a reduced rate. I've often thought that we should set up a fund to cover the full cost for anyone we thought needed it. For some people, this may be the only way they will ever get it done. I would be willing to contribute to such a fund. Would any of you? If you have any ideas of how to convince people to spay and neuter their pets, please pass them along to us. We welcome your input and support. Thank you!

Skate for the Animals

Katie Rhoda, Emily Grace Kirkpatrick, Annie Giebel and Miles the dog at the skating rink last Sunday to benefit the Humane Society.

Youth Supply Helpful Hands

Lizzie Rhoda, Emily Grace Kirkpatrick, Katie Rhoda, and Ty Kirkpatrick support the Clinton County Humane Society by volunteering in the cat room. Socializing kittens is a very important role in helping them find homes. Don't we all need a little love?

Jeb's New Home

Jeb sharing a cozy spot with his new friend.

Thank you for your message. Hope you and Denny are doing well too.
I should have written to you before, to let you know how well things are going. Jeb is wonderful; he is all I hoped for and more!
He fits in perfectly with the other animals, and our big dog is now very accepting of him. Jeb is very comfortable around the cats. Initially he was not too sure about sharing his dog bed with them, but now I often find him sleeping side by side with one of them, as you can see from one of the pictures.
Every day we take three or four long walks. We live in the village in Zionsville, and our last walk late at night takes us through town. During the day however, we go to Lions park, which is just a block away. There he is off leash, and as you mentioned in his description on petfinder, he stays with me all the time. One of the cats often accompanies us on the walk, and he and Jeb have fun together. We also roam the fields next to the park, and walk along the creek, where Jeb likes to check if any deer or coyotes came through the night before. Sometimes we take the neighbor's dog along, and like with all other dogs, Jeb gets along wonderfully with her. He also enjoys meeting all the neighbors and people walking through town. He is such a sociable and friendly guy!
Jeb has now found his voice. He barks when the cats are acting up. And when he wants to go for a walk, and I take too long to get ready, he will stand next to me, paw at my leg, and bark softly. It's like he wants to say: You can drink that tea later, now let's go and enjoy the outdoors.
Attached are some pictures of Jeb. Hopefully you will enjoy them.

Tell others about our blog and Paw Pals!

Please tell others about our blog and Paw Pals! We need to expand our volunteer base so we can better care for the pets at our shelter. If there is anyone you know that lives in this area that loves animals, or anyone that you think would be a good volunteer, please let them know about us. Ask them to tell someone they know about us too. Word of mouth can be a powerful tool! Sometime in the next few days, I will try to make a couple of lists of ways to volunteer or donate to benefit our shelter and the pets we care for. Check back from time to time. We may not make new posts every day, but we will try to keep you informed. Let us know if you have any questions or comments. Thank you!

Dog walkers needed!

Come join us any Sunday afternoon from 1-3 to help walk dogs. It's great exercise! We walk each dog around a 1/2 mile. The dogs are very happy to get some extra attention that they can rarely get during the week. Spending this quality time with each dog goes a long way toward making them more adoptable. Some of them have never been on a leash and need to be shown that it can be enjoyable. When we have plenty of help, there is also time to brush them if needed, or to just sit and pet them. We do this every Sunday, regardless of rain, snow, cold, or heat, so dress accordingly. We would greatly appreciate your help, and the dogs will love you for it! By the way, if you're more of a cat person, they would love some attention too!

A Valentine's Day Wish

Tommy and Charlotte would like to wish you all a happy Valentine's Day tomorrow! Both of them were adopted from our shelter. Don't you love a happy ending?!

Bozeman Finally Finds his Forever Home!

Hi Cindy,
We wanted to let you know so that you wouldn't worry for him that Bozeman is doing well. He went to Dr. Fernung at Town & Country on Tuesday afternoon for his health check & rabies vac, and this coming Monday is the big date for the neuter.
He's such a good dog, and we're becoming deeply attached to him. This was quite a coincidence, but when in the waiting room at the vet's office Tuesday, a lady waiting for her appointment asked me if my dog was adopted. When I said yes, she asked me if his name was Bozeman. Fancy that! Apparently this lady had taken Bozeman for a walk but had decided for whatever the reason that he wasn't a match. She was thrilled to see Bozeman had been adopted, and was relieved that she could go tell her fiance' that Bozeman found a home. I guess, like us, they hadn't forgotten him either. I believe that there is a home for just about every dog, and sometimes it just takes an adjustment, if the willingness and ability is there, to make it work. And Bozeman has his home with us!
Kendra

Mojo, blue-eyed Wonder Dog, Goes to Wisconsin

Hi Cindy .... just a happy update on Mojo who we adopted from you late last summer. While one of the scariest dogs in appearance most people have ever seen, he has turned out to be one of the most loving....a guard dog in appearance only. He has worked out very well with our dominant bull mastiff cross female, as well as his love of the cats (who he playfully envelops in his mouth), and stoic interest in the chickens. Despite our continued surprise in ourselves of driving 22 hours round trip to pick him up, it has turned out to be a great decision.Photo attached .... Kelly & Ruth-- Kelly D. Cain, Ph.D.Director, St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community DevelopmentProfessor, Environmental Science & Management

Lou Ann, Paw Pals volunteer, shows Herschel some affection.

Sunday at the shelter

Bill and Jennifer spending time with Peekaboo.

Snowy, the cat, adopted in January 2009

Hi Lisa,
I just wanted to update you on Snowy...She has become quite the queen of our house! She has gotten more comfortable with her surroundings, and takes pleasure in searching every inch of our house! Her new favorite place is my bedroom windowsil in the afternoon. She will lay there and nap most of the day while the sun in shining in! She is still scared of everything, including her own shadow, but she recovers more quickly now! She will run away but then come right back instead of hiding under my bed for the rest of the day, now she just hides there when we have company. She is usually sleeping on the top of the couch or on her bed when we get home in the evening. The kids are usually wound up so she will go lay on my bed for a while until they calm down, and then she will make her nightly appearance. She is eating very well now, and her hair is slowly coming back in that bare spot by her tail. We have tried to get her a few toys but she doesn't seem too interested in them. She loves to be brushed though, it is so cute, she will start meowing and walking towards my bedroom, and then jumps on my bed and lays down (like in the picture I have included). I usually know that's when she wants me to brush her.
She has been a gread addition to our house, we love her dearly!!
Take care and have a nice weekend!
Brooke, Bailey and Dalton (and Snowy!!)

Attempt at a blog

This is just an attempt to set up a blog for Paw Pals. We will try to post occasionally to let you know what is going on with Paw Pals and the shelter. Please bear with us. There may be mistakes and we may change the way the blog looks from time to time. Please let us know what you would like to see here.