Busy Weekend for Pets

Wow! Lots of activities this weekend promoted pet adoptions! First, the League's third annual Barks 'n Beer Festival brought out League friends and their dogs on Saturday. They enjoyed free hotdogs and root beer, contests, prizes, reduced price retail items, and doggie baths and nail trims. Despite the wet weather, lots of people and dogs enjoyed the afternoon. And whether related to the event or not, nine cats found new adoptive homes!


Then on Sunday, Oct. 25, we joined some other rescue groups at the Caring Hands Animal Hospital Open House. Link, a Brittany Spaniel, was one of our shelter dogs that visited with people at the open house. We hope he made an impression on someone who will decide to adopt him.

Bungalow in Shirlington Helps Animals

Today Peter Mirguet of The Bungalow in Shirlington delivered a check to the League for almost $5,000. This donation represents the proceeds from Bungalow's Cause for Paws on July 25. The popular Shirlington spot hosted this special event to spotlight the League's mission of promoting animal welfare and finding loving homes for companion animals.

League volunteers and staff handed out information and showed off pets for adoption. Bungalow held a raffle and silent auction for great prizes and donated all tips received during the event. Speaking for all the homeless animals that enter the League's doors, we thank Peter and all the staff at Bungalow for their generosity.

North Carolina Puppies Get New Homes

This past May Dr. Laura Chadwick, a veterinarian with the Asheville (North Carolina) Humane Society, contacted us to see if we could take some of the many dogs (primarily puppies) currently at her shelter. We agreed and Dr. Chadwick has transported 15 dogs to us since then. Fourteen of them have already been adopted, including "Butter" pictured above. The fifteenth, a beagle named Bugler, is currently available for adoption.

To read more about our transfer program with shelter partners, read the latest issue of Pawpourri.

Dr. Chadwick recently sent the following note to our adoptions manager:

I can't thank you and your staff enough for helping place some of our Asheville dogs. I know you have plenty of animals to help already, so your willingness to go out of your way for a few more means so much to us (and of course to the doggies!). I hope one day our community will be able to find homes for most of the pets that need our help. Until then, we are so grateful to you and the AWLA.

Sincerely,
Laura Chadwick, DVM

Sick Kittens Improve

Our assistant animal care manager just sent the staff an update on some of our shelter animals:

Just a quick note and picture of four of the "20 kittens" that all came in sick just a few weeks ago. The kittens were found in a colony of feral cats in another county and brought to the League. Almost all of them had severe upper respiratory infection with discharge from eyes and nose and severe congestion. Four of the kittens turned out to be too sick to save and had to be euthanized. One is still being treated at a local veterinary hospital.

All the remaining ones except for these are in foster homes! These four were not well enough to go to a foster home so they are here at the shelter. We're hoping that all of them will be well enough to be available for adoption later this summer. They are getting healthier and more adventurous by the minute...the only problem is they don't understand the concept of sleeping INSIDE their beds instead of on top of them. Thank you to all that helped with the oftentimes insurmountable task of caring for such a large group of "sickies"- because of you these kittens will have a chance at a happy, healthy life!!!!

Bunnies Have Their Day

On May 31, the Animal Welfare League of Arlington’s education room was transformed into a spa, and 21 rabbits enjoyed an afternoon of luxurious pampering at "Bunny Spa Day" sponsored by Friends of Rabbits. Expert rabbit groomers volunteered their services to brush, comb, primp, and trim nails. Then it was on to the ultimate in rabbit relaxation with head-to-toe treatment by bunny massage therapist, Aileen Hudspeth. In her hands even the biggest, friskiest rabbits were quickly entranced in total bunny bliss. Some of the shelter residents were treated to a grooming session as well.

To finish a perfect day, rabbit guardians were able to pick out some special toys and treats for their long-eared friends to enjoy at home. A good time was had by all, and at the end of the day Friends of Rabbits presented the League with a check for $578 to help pay for spay and neuter of shelter rabbits. If you are thinking of adopting a bunny of your own to love and spoil, the shelter always has many looking for wonderful homes.

Free Cat Adoptions

Saturday, June 20, we are staying open until 8:00 pm to try to get some of our 56 available cats adopted. It's almost summer and like most other animal shelters, we are inundated with cats and kittens. So anyone who wants to adopt a cat should come in on Saturday. We have kittens and adults. All cats that are at least five years old can be adopted for free on Saturday only. It's not that we don't value our mature cats, we just want to do whatever it takes to find them loving homes.

With a Little Help from Our Friends

Yesterday I was reminded that there are so many people in our community that want to help homeless animals. Robin Burkett of Pawprints Photography has sponsored many of the League's events, but she wanted to do something more for the animals. She volunteered to come to the shelter and take photos of our dogs available for adoption. Although we try to take good photos, we're certainly not going to turn down the chance to have a professional put our animals in their best light.

We are also lucky to have another photographer, Allison DeSilva, who comes in weekly to photograph our cats and sometimes other animals. When people lend their expertise to help animals that need homes, everyone wins.

Robin arrived at 8:30 and we took dogs outside in our backyard one at a time for their photo shoot. I learned that making really weird noises is a good way to get a dog to look at the camera. We even had a bonded pair to work with. It's really hard to get a good photo of two dogs together! But Robin did it!

After working her magic on the photos at her office, Robin e-mailed them to me and I got them up on the Web site. They are fabulous! Thank you so much, Robin. She even posted the photos on her own blog.

With help from friends like these, we can do a better job of letting people know about the animals here at the shelter that are just waiting for them to come in and adopt.