The Luck of the Arlington Shelter

This St Patty's Day weekend, the residents of the Arlington Animal Shelter are reminded of how lucky they are to have such great supporters! On Friday night, the brewers of Shirlington's Capitol City Brewing Company will be collecting donations for the shelter in lieu of tips! And if that's not generous enough, at the end of the night, all donations will be matched by the Capitol City Brewing Company! 

70 Animals Neutered for $25 Each

Staff wears their Spay Day t-shirts to welcome pet owners on Friday morning.

We have had a fantastic response to our Spay Day offer of spaying/neutering cats and dogs for $25 plus getting a free microchip. Low-income owners of 70 pets in our community have taken advantage of this opportunity to protect their pets' health and prevent unwanted litters!

The League is subsidizing the cost of the surgeries and we are providing the microchips for free. We are lucky to have the National Capital Spay Neuter Center and Fairfax Animal Hospital as our partners in this vital community service. The funds for subsidizing the surgeries comes from our Hantke Memorial Spay Neuter Fund.

Last Friday at 6:30am we loaded up 30 animals in our van and drove them to the Spay Neuter Center. By 9:00pm that night all of the pets had been returned to their owners newly neutered and microchipped. We're doing it again this Friday! We had so much interest in the program that several other pets will be getting the same services at Fairfax Animal Hospital.

While we offer low-cost neutering all year round, this special applies only to our participation in Spay Day. It's great to see so many loved companions getting such a needed service.

Giving Thanks for "Patience"

Every animal that comes in to our shelter has lost its home, but sometimes the story is particularly sad. On October 27, 2008, an Arlington County employee found a cat in a carrier under a pile of household goods in front of an empty house. The worker brought the cat to the Animal Welfare League of Arlington. We guessed that the cat’s owner may have been evicted. The cat’s front left paw was tightly wrapped with a cloth bandage. When we unwrapped the bandage we saw that the paw was swollen badly and showed signs of infection. We sent the cat to Caring Hands Animal Hospital where doctors found ulcerations, infection, and dead tissue. They prescribed pain medication and an antibiotic. They thought that they might need to amputate the paw.

After about a week of soaking the paw twice a day and changing the bandage, kennel staff named the cat Patience because of her amazing tolerance of all the uncomfortable treatment that she needed. Then we sent the female orange tabby to Fairfax Animal Hospital where doctors sedated her, removed dead skin and soaked her foot. An X-ray of the paw showed fractures of the bones that run between the fingers and the wrist. Under sedation her left premolars were removed because the roots were exposed.

On November 18 Patience was rechecked at Fairfax Animal Hospital and sent back to us with the following treatment protocol: every 2-3 days, remove bandage and soak paw in dilute Chlorhexidine solution for 10 minutes. With gauze pad, gently scrub off any remaining dead tissue and wipe paw dry. Allow paw to air dry completely, then apply antibiotic ointment, cover with Tefla pad, wrap with cast padding (make wrap supportive/thick to give more support to broken toes), then apply kling gauze, and finally vetwrap. Repeat and change dressing every 2-3 days. Our kennel staff performed all her needed care while also caring for more than 100 other animals every day.

On December 1, Patience went back to the hospital for follow-up x-rays. They showed that the wound was healing. She no longer needed bandages, but still needed her medications and cage rest. During all her time here Patience has resided in our Adoption Manager’s office with a comfy cat bed. Kennel staff brought her medications and treated her there.

Patience’s paw still looks scarred and fragile, but she walks with only a slight limp. Because of the dedication of our staff, the expertise of local veterinarians, and money provided by the Woody and Mickey Healthy Pet Fund, what began as a very sad story has turned into a story of triumph. Patience survived, her paw is healing, and she has remained the most gentle and friendly cat throughout her entire ordeal. Since no owner has come forward to claim her, she is now available for adoption.

Marley and Us

Five Animal Welfare League of Arlington dogs got to meet a Hollywood star today, Brownie, the yellow Labrador starring in Marley and Me. The movie is an adaptation of the bestselling book of the same name by John Grogan. It’s the story of a very badly behaved dog and the people who love him anyway. Of course, Brownie, the acting dog, is very well behaved.

Our dogs got their brush with stardom on the Ellipse in front of the White House at a publicity event for the new movie being released in December. The American Humane Association and the movie’s producers are promoting pet adoptions in 15 cities after being inspired by president-elect Obama’s stated desire to adopt a dog for his daughters. The event showcased four area shelters and some of the hundreds of dogs in the metro area that need homes.

We hope that publicity about this event will encourage more people to consider adopting dogs, cats, rabbit, birds, ferrets, and other companion animals from shelters rather than buying pets.

"Howl-oween" Helps Homeless Animals

a.k.a. spot The Pet's Shop and photographer Brian McGahren held a holiday fundraiser for the League on Saturday, October 25. Customers brought their best animal friends (in costume) and had their photos made for a contribution of $5.00. a.k.a. spot then matched the amount raised from photos to give a $400 donation to the League.

We send a big thank you to Lucy McCausland of a.k.a. spot for sponsoring this great event and for donating to help homeless animals in our community.

Friends for Life

We recently received two stories from adopters about the "friends for life" that they found at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington. These stories illustrate ideal outcomes of our work: animals that found loving, permanent homes for their entire lives. We salute these and all of our adopters who make a loving commitment for their companions' lifetime.

I wanted to take a moment to write the Animal Welfare League of Arlington and thank you for your hard work. In 1995, I adopted a young dog from your shelter. Yesterday, at the age of 14, we put our shep-chow-mix, Shelby to sleep.

About Shelby: I named her after (red-head) Julia Roberts character in Steel Magnolia's. She was a great dog: incredibly obedient (a Canine Good Citizen), smart, athletic, and protective. She taught me a lot about patience. As a mixed-breed, she had few health problems. When I was a teacher for students with special needs, she came to school with me every Friday and was loved by students and staff -- she even made the yearbook.

I wasn't always a good owner but she was always a good dog.

Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for letting a wet-behind-the-ears 23 year old adopt a pet. Below is a pic of Shelby with my husband.

Lauren

Butch Carpenter-Peters, beloved companion of Ernest Carpenter, died October 9, 2008, by injection at All Creatures Animal Hospital in Naples, Fla. He had been ill for several weeks and treated unsuccessfully for several maladies.

Butch, a mix of poodle and cocker spaniel, was born April 11, 1997, in Fredericksburg, Va. His first “owners” named him Nickelodeon, or Nikki, but gave him up to the Animal Welfare League of Arlington after a few months because of inability to train him. It was at that point in his life, on Sept. 11, 1997, at exactly age five months, that he was adopted by partners Ernest Carpenter and William Peters, who renamed him “Butch,” to better suit his more active, Type A personality.

For many years, Butch resided in the Lake Barcroft area of Falls Church, Va., with the Carpenter-Peters household, making many neighborhood friends there and officiating as greeter at the household’s frequent pool parties and other gatherings. In 2000, he was joined in the household by Brittany, a Tibetan terrier, with whom he became life-long friends. Brittany, too, was adopted from the Animal Welfare League of Arlington.

In 2005, with breakup of the Carpenter-Peters household, Butch moved to Florida with Mr. Carpenter, who retired in Naples. Brittany remained in northern Virginia with Mr. Peters. In early 2008, Brittany visited Butch for three months in Naples, and in late May and early June Butch visited Brittany in Virginia. That was the last time they saw each other.

In early September, Butch became mildly ill but his condition worsened throughout the month. After frequent visits to the veterinarian and a number of medications, Butch lost his vitality but never his appetite. His last food was a small bowl of vanilla ice cream, his favorite but rare treat. Butch will be sorely missed by his many friends in Naples and the Washington, D.C., area.

Ernie

After 14 Months, Karen Finds a Home

If you've visited our cat room in the past 14 months, you probably saw Karen, a black and white cat in one of our kitty "apartments." We tried to keep her separate from other cats because she really didn't like them. She could be affectionate, but on her own terms. She didn't particularly like to be picked up. Over those 14 months hundreds of other cats were adopted, but Karen remained with us. Our kids' camp children had even written "Adopt Karen" in chalk on our sidewalk. We were beginning to think there was no one out there for her.

But last weekend a miracle occurred. A woman came in looking for an independent, adult cat. One of our tireless cat room volunteers, CarolAnne, showed her Karen. She explained Karen's temperament and behavior, and the woman was not put off. After Karen settled down in the visiting room, she jumped up on the bench where the woman was sitting. Then she climbed in her lap and licked her face! CarolAnne was amazed. The woman loved Karen's independent nature and decided to adopt her.

The next day CarolAnne couldn't wait to find out how Karen was doing in her new home so she called the adopter. She reported that Karen had made herself completely comfortable in her new surroundings and was at that moment sitting in her lap. Everyone at the shelter is overjoyed. We knew Karen would be a great companion for the right person. We are so thankful for our adopters who open their hearts and their homes to animals that need them so much.