Spay Day in Arlington

Today some of our staff arrived at 6:00am to check-in low-income clients who had registered their pets for low-cost neutering surgery through our Spay Day USA program. To do our share of the national Spay Day USA program run by the Humane Society of the United States, the League offered spays and neuters for cats and dogs for only $25. We also offered a microchip and registration for free for these pets.

We are subsidizing the costs not covered by the $25 fee from our Hantke Memorial Spay-Neuter Fund. We use this fund to offer low-cost neutering all year round.



This morning people showed up with 15 cats and eight dogs for surgery. They signed permission forms, paid $25 for each pet, and loaded them into crates in our transport van. Two League staffers drove the pets to the National Capital Area Spay Neuter Center. The Washington Humane Society and their partners created the center to provide low-cost surgeries for cats and dogs in the metro area.

Another staffer will drive downtown to pick up the animals this evening. The owners will retrieve their pets from the League in Arlington tonight. We will give them post-operative instructions for the care of their pets along with pain medication needed for three days.

On Friday we will repeat the entire process for 25 more pets of low-to-moderate-income people. This effort means that almost 50 cats and dogs in our community will NOT contribute to the pet overpopulation problem. They will NOT create litters upon litters that may end up homeless. They WILL be more likely to remain in their homes because they will not have the behavior or medical problems that can occur with unneutered pets.

We think Spay Day is a win-win situation for our community: the pets and the people.

After a Year, Paula Finds a Home

Shelter staff got the following message from CarolAnne, a faithful cat-room volunteer:

I’m sure most of you have heard that Paula, the cat, FINALLY got adopted on February 16 (one week short of being at the League for one year!). I worked with her adopter, Clair, and I can tell you, it is a wonderful adoption! Clair came in to see me several times and spent time with a few cats, including Paula, but she decided Paula was the cat for her. She has a 13 year old male cat, who lost his sibling in November. We discussed personalities and introductions and Clair thought Paula would fit right in. She really “gets” Paula and thinks her personality is great. I really felt Clair was the right person for Paula, too.

Well, it is working out beautifully! She actually introduced them the first night [we don't recommend this], after confining Paula and deciding both cats wanted to meet each other. They went nose-to-nose, sniffed each other and went on their ways. Clair came in to see me on Monday and said Paula (who she calls “Wild Woman”, not because of her personality, but because she is so very playful and entertaining) is just loving her new home. She’s inspected every room and she loves all the windows and watching the birds and squirrels (which was a favorite past-time of hers at the shelter). When she left to come over to the shelter, Clair said both cats were sleeping on the same bed within three feet of each other. And this was after Paula was home less than 48 hours!! There have been no problems whatsoever. It just goes to show you, that if we wait long enough (and it was sooo long), the purr-fect person will come in.

I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to see her, not only go home, but to the RIGHT home.

Meaningful Ways to Celebrate Milestones in Your Life

Two friends of animals recently found creative ways to celebrate important occasions in their lives and benefit homeless animals by raising funds for the League.

Kevin Marsh used our personal giving page to honor his friend Nan Tucker’s retirement. You can create a page to memoriolize a beloved person or pet, or to celebrate a birthday, wedding anniversary, or any special occasion. Kevin filled out an easy form and then e-mailed notices to Nan’s co-workers and clients asking them to send her a message and make a donation to the League in her honor. To date the celebration has raised $1,100 for animal welfare!

Erin and Chris

Another person who cares for animals combined fundraising with her love of bringing people together for celebrations. Erin Mumma has a long history of volunteering and donating to worthy causes. For several years she hosted large birthday parties for herself and then realized that she could bring friends and family together to celebrate and support something more than just her birthday. So she started hosting charity fundraising parties.

Her first fundraiser benefited the American Red Cross – Arlington Chapter, and she raised $1,000! Shortly after that she met her boyfriend Chris, who, amazingly, has the exact same birthday as Erin. They hosted the next year’s party together and raised funds for Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation.

For their party in January 2008, they chose the League as their cause. Being the proud owners of a rescue dog in Arlington, they wanted to benefit all the animals in our community. They raised more than $1,200 this year for the League!

Erin says that hosting these parties is a great way to get all of your close friends and family together for a good cause. Each year she finds a venue that will rent some space for a set bar price. She works out a deal with the venue to have a drink special/deal, and everyone pays a cover charge that goes toward the charity donation. They place posters, newsletters, and brochures from the charitable cause all around the bar for people to peruse. They also raffle off door prizes: some are donated items from the honorary charity such as tee shirts, water bottles, etc. While the bulk of the donations are made at the party, they also get a number of donations by mail from those that can’t attend.

What fantastic ways to have fun, celebrate special occasions, and help animals!

Working together for animal rescue

We just had a success story of two groups working together for animal rescue. Odin is a three-year-old Doberman Pinscher whose owner brought him to us at the end of December 2007 because he was moving and could not take Odin with him. We assessed Odin medically and behaviorally, vaccinated him, and had him neutered. He was made available for adoption with the recommendation that he would be best suited to adopters who are fit and experienced, in a household with no young children or cats. He appeared on our Web site, Petfinder.com, PetHarbor.com, 1-800-Save-a-Pet.com, and on our Adopt-a-Pet program on Arlington Cable TV. In five weeks he got three adoption applications, but no one completed their application. In one case, the applicant’s apartment complex did not allow Dobermans.

During his stay at our shelter, DARE (Doberman Assistance, Rescue & Education) contacted our Adoptions Manager about Odin. DARE began looking for a foster home while we continued to accept adoption applications. By February 18, Odin still had no pending applications, so we transferred him to his new foster parent through DARE.

While the great majority of our dogs are adopted directly from the League, we actively seek rescue partners for dogs that prove difficult to place. We require rescue groups to complete a questionnaire and to sign a memorandum of understanding with us. We take our responsibility for the animals in our care very seriously and work with rescue partners that are well run and have high standards of animal care.

Odin’s story is a great example of how shelters and rescue groups can work together cooperatively for the best outcome for the animals in our care.

Ferret Bathtime

It’s ferret bathing time at the shelter. A woman brought in a pure white ferret that she found in a pile of newspapers near a dumpster. Ferrets don’t normally need bathing more than once a month, but since this one was found in a trash heap he needed a good cleaning. After bathing him our staff put him in a basket of towels. He burrowed in the towels for several minutes until he was almost dry.

This little guy, whom we named Bumper, is a young adult. We don’t know if he escaped from his home or if someone left him in the trash. So far no owner has claimed him and he’s now available for adoption. Ferrets are great pets for the right person. They are lively, curious, and funny, but like any companion animal they require your time, energy, and commitment.


In another part of the shelter, we have a visiting chicken. He was nabbed behind a community center when one of our animal control officer went out on a call about three roaming chickens. The other two were nowhere to be found, but this one was trapped in a bush. He has been enjoying fresh water, food, and a comfortable box with hay to rest in. Since no one has claimed him, we will try to find a sanctuary where he can enjoy "the simple life."

Humane Apartment Pet Policies

We received a wonderful e-mail today demonstrating that education and advocacy can effect change.

I recently e-mailed AWLA about my problems with my apartment complex requiring cats to be declawed. I am happy to inform you that this afternoon I received a call from [a decision maker]… who took my concerns to a weekly meeting where she successfully advocated for the elimination of the declawing requirement!
Thank you for your previous reply and your support.

We salute this apartment complex management for making their pet policy more humane. Most humane organizations including the ASPCA, American Humane Association, and the Humane Society of the United States oppose declawing as painful and unnecessary. We try to educate people about other ways to deal with scratching, including behavior modification. If a potential adopter is intent on having a declawed cat, we direct him or her to cats that were already declawed when they came to us.

It breaks our hearts when people bring in their pets to the shelter because of their apartment or condominium restrictions. Also, people are sometimes prevented from adopting an animal because of restrictive and often illogical pet policies. The ASPCA has a model pet policy for apartments that is both humane and responsible. Anyone who is dissatisfied with their apartment’s pet policy could use this as a tool to educate managers about reasonable rules.