By Jane Weatherford
Saturday, August 26, lucky participants were dogs: Franklin, Snyder, Chaps, Pogo and Malcolm and cats: Millie, Shadow, Wire, Stephanie, Miller and Clinton. These privileged humane society pets got out of the shelter to go visit with admirers and potential adopters. They were showcased at the Nashville IGA by volunteers Cathi Eagan, Marge Cook, Jim Hahn, Julie Coykendall, Lanie Hines and Jane Weatherford.
The goal of these off-site adoption events is to socialize the pets and to give people who would normally not have a chance to meet shelter pets an opportunity to spend some time with them. Sometimes we get lucky and a shelter pet finds his perfectly matched forever family.
It appeared that everyone involved on this day (pets, volunteers and visitors) had a grand time. Max, the humane society mascot, made an appearance and kept everyone laughing. Pointer-mix Franklin, who was featured in the Democrat on August 2, showed off his athleticism by trying to engage all the other dogs in a game of chase, even with a bum leg. Chaps, a gorgeous black and tan coonhound, displayed his easygoing personality by snoozing most of the afternoon away (after munching on an apple pastry). Snyder
won everyone’s heart with his happy-go-lucky, everyone-loves- me personality. Malcolm charmed the crowd with his silly antics, and Pogo, the little Bernese Mountain Dog puppy, snuggled up to all visitors and showed them what a wonderfully calm puppy he is. The kittens had lots of visitors and were out of their crates more than in. They had children chasing after them most of the day. The adult cats, Stephanie and Miller calmly took in all the commotion and enjoyed being admired.
These events are always rewarding for the humane society volunteers. People, and especially children, love to visit with the pets. It is heartwarming to see how much the pets enjoy interacting with the people and vice versa. The joy these pets exhibit for a chance to leave the shelter for a few hours is evident. They are always exhausted at the end of the day.
Outings like this really help the shelter get a good understanding of each pet’s personality and what family it would fit best with. It also lets the general public see what absolutely terrific pets are available at the shelter.
All in all it was a terrific day. Franklin generated lots of interest, although no home was found. Pogo was adopted to a terrific family and will be living with kids, cats and dogs to play with and best of all a work at home dad. Snyder found the perfect home with a local family and will be living the life of a king.
The Brown County Humane Society would like to do more events like this and are looking for a few more volunteers to help. If you can spare some time on the weekends and would enjoy interacting with the pets and people, call the shelter at 988-7362 or e-mail jane@bchumane.org and let us know of your interest in helping with off-site adoption events.
Our next off-site adoption event will be in held at the Brown County Art Gallery on September 9 and 10 and many more are planned after that.