Volunteer Orientation

Have you been meaning to come down to the shelter and volunteer but just can't get started? Need a schedule and some direction? We understand that while many people don't mind our quick tour the day they come in to help out, some people are looking for something a little more substantial. Maybe you've come in and loved on the animals once or twice but want to help out in other ways. Maybe you have some special talents and you want to know how to best share them with the shelter. Maybe you used to volunteer and want to get back in the habit.

We are having a volunteer orientation!
Saturday, February 20th at 10:00 a.m. at the Humane Society of Stillwater
Come ready to listen, learn and ask questions! Mature minors who are interested in helping out are welcome to attend with a parent or guardian over the age of 21. After the shelter tour and orientation, you will be free to talk with some of our volunteer leaders about special areas or projects you may be interested in. Take this opportunity to become part of our active group of volunteers!

Pediatric Spay/Neuter

"I may be too little for this bone, but I wasn't too little for surgery! Thanks OSU!"

Our policy at the Humane Society of Stillwater is that if an animal is old enough to be adopted, it is old enough to be spayed or neutered. OSU spays and neuters the little guys for us as soon as they weigh 2 pounds (kittens) or are 8 weeks old (puppies). We find that the youngest patients recover the most quickly from surgery and have the fewest complications with their incision sites. Plus, we don't have to ask you to bring your beloved pet back for surgery.. it is already done so you have nothing to worry about!

Reuven upon finding out he weighs just enough for surgery!

We can't stand the thought of our once unwanted babies making more unwanted babies. This way, puppies like Naoma's litter pictured below will never end up like their mom; stray, starving and struggling to feed seven tiny babies. And that lets all of us sleep a little better at night.

Four of Naoma's puppies right after they got back from their surgeries

"Surgery? What are you talking about? We feel great!"

The only downside is that it is impossible to ask them to take it easy for a couple of days!

Precious Evidence

If you have visited the Humane Society of Stillwater in the last 6 months or so, then you've seen the German Shepherd puppy sitting in a locked cage marked "Not available: Hold for court case"

Officially, this precious girl has been evidence for most of her short life. But since that late summer day when Animal Welfare made the compassionate choice to allow us to house and raise her (under very strict rules) for the duration of her hold, her name has been Anika and she has been the apple of every staff member's eye.

While Anika could not play with our volunteers or go on trips off of the property like our other dogs, staff members made extra effort to come in during hours the shelter was closed to the public to give her special attention.

The dog caretakers matched her with playmates her age and size so that she would grow up friendly and social, even though she was spending the first year of her life in a kennel.

They watched her enjoy her first snow!

They worked with her on some basic obedience

And made sure she always got some special one-on-one time inside.

This week, we received the joyful news that the case involving Anika had ended and that she was officially ours and could be placed for adoption. This news is bittersweet; we are all eager for Anika to begin her life in a real home as someone's real pet, but we will all miss this sweet little girl we have raised! One thing is for sure- whoever adopts her better promise us updates!

We would like to say a big thank you to our partners at Animal Welfare for having such a progressive outlook on the treatment of animals being held as evidence; your decision to let us house Anika has been a blessing to all of us. And now, Anika, it is time for you to move on to bigger and better things!

Happy Birthday puppies!

At the end of last week, Jane was turned into Stillwater Animal Welfare. She was 10 months old, very sweet, and very pregnant.

This sweet Boston Terrier mix puppy needed somewhere to go.. and fast! Dogs just can't have their puppies in shelters; it is too loud, too scary and there are too many germs for little puppy immune systems to handle! We grabbed our notebook of foster homes and started calling! Luckily, a brave student from the OSU vet school answered the call!
And just a few days later..

Jane (who is just a puppy herself) is now a mother to 6 puppies! She'll spend the next 8 weeks in foster care, raising these little guys with the help of her foster family.

Happy Birthday puppies! And a big thanks to your foster mom for giving you a chance at life!

Help your favorite Humane Society win some money!

Vote for us at www.theanimalrescuesite.com and

we could win $10,000 to help pets in need.

The Animal Rescue Site is hosting a special challenge for eligible Petfinder.com member shelter and rescue groups. The grand prize is a $10,000 grant, and they will be awarding many other grants to rescue groups with the most votes — a total of $100,000 in grants for animal welfare organizations.

Think how many animals we could help for $10,000!

Help us win! All you have to do is click to help rescued animals, and then vote in The Animal Rescue Site $100,000 Shelter⁺ Challenge. Both of these actions are absolutely free! You can vote once a day, every day, from January 18th through April 18th, 2010. Every time you vote, or tell a friend to vote, you are making a huge difference for us.

Help us make more happy tales!

Great weekend for dog adoptions!

Long term resident Kyla went home with a great new family!

We had a great weekend for dog adoptions! We sent home 10 dogs on Saturday! Big thanks to all of our great adopters who decided to give our shelter dogs a chance!

Digger the Chihuahua puppy has a home to grow up in!

We still have lots of great dogs waiting!

Putnam the Dachshund is still at the shelter.. he says "Choose me!"

Long term residents free to good homes

Joey T came to us at the end of summer 2009 as a 6 month old puppy
At the Humane Society of Stillwater we are a "No Kill" shelter meaning animals are not euthanized due to space (for example, we will not euthanize a dog in our adoption program to make space to rescue a dog from Animal Welfare). This presents a dilemma- how long is it humane to keep an animal in a cage? We (staff and volunteers) try so hard to make life at the shelter as wonderful as possible for these animals but it doesn't change the fact that they are homeless and spend most of their day alone in a kennel. Some dogs do alright in a kennel for a few months.. others suffer greatly. Right now we have two sweet dogs who are suffering without a home- Kyla and Joey T. They are both exhibiting signs of kennel stress and we are determined to get them out of here before life in a cage permanently affects their nice temperaments. They are both free to good homes. Also, if you are willing to open your home temporarily (2 weeks to 6 months) to either of these dogs to work on basic obedience training to make them more adoptable we would love to here from you.
Now introducing Kyla and Joey T!

Kyla is a young (about 2 years old) Border Collie mix we have had since August 2009. Why hasn't she found a home? Poor girl has three strikes against her- she is black, active and smarter than most people! She has started to not like the other dogs at the shelter but we believe this would change in a good, structured home environment. This is a dog who would love a job- so if you are willing to put a little work into her you would have yourself one fantastic dog!

Joey T is a silly boy who makes up for what he lacks in intelligence in sweetness. I imagine him as the little kid in class who thinks he is doing the right thing but is actually eating all of the paste. He tries so hard to please people but learns really slowly. He has a great "sit" and is so proud of it. He loves for you to ask him to sit! He is so happy to show it off. He also walks well on a leash. He was 6 months old when he came to us at the end of the summer. He has lost his manners with other dogs so he will either need an only dog home or one with a consistent owner and a dominant female dog to put him back in his place.

Kuranda cat beds!

We use Kuranda dog beds at the shelter and they do a wonderful job of being durable and easy to wash and very comfortable for the dogs. The cats deserve the luxury of being comfortable as well.. Calamity Jane here has the privilege of being the first cat here to get one of these great donated beds!

We would really like several more of these beds and even though they are reasonably priced it just isn't in our budget. If you would like to donate one, please visit http://kuranda.com/donate
for information.

Puppy Love

Our friends with Tiny Paws Kitten Rescue took in 10 (yes 10!) of these little guys. I know what you are thinking.. no these aren't kittens!

Their mother was hit by a car and their owner was not willing to give them the care these precious 1 week old puppies needed to survive. Some of their siblings had already passed but they decided to take in these babies and give them a fighting chance! Bottlefeeding is truly a labor of love that requires great sacrifice. They are spending hundreds of dollars on formula to keep them from going hungry and giving up sleeping past 3 a.m. and anything that requires them to be out of the house for long for the next several weeks. All for the the love of these little puppies. If you are interested in helping out with these guys or being 'on call' for bottlebabies in the future, please let us know!

Petco adoption weekend

Some of our great dogs, cats and puppies enjoyed spending a day 'people shopping' at Petco this Saturday. Thanks to all of our great volunteers!


Euro looking cute with a volunteer

Putnam asking everyone if they need a Dachshund

Cringle is one cool cat hanging out with the dogs

One of our long termers hoping this is her lucky weekend

In need of kitten food!

As usual, we were hit hard this kitten season. Sadly, this year we lost our contract that had allowed us to obtain the kitten food we needed. For now, we are dependent on donations to help us feed our smallest felines.

So if you can, pick up a bag or a few cans of kitten food for us the next time you go shopping. Our young cats would really appreciate it!

Penny's puppies- they grow up fast!

Penny was turned in with her puppies when they were only 3 weeks old. They have spent the last several weeks in foster care and this Saturday the puppies will be back at the shelter and ready for adoption! Look at what a difference a good foster home and a few weeks can make!

Euro



Krone



Yen



Rupee



Franc



Dinar



Peso



There's nothing better than healthy, sweet puppies! If these pictures make you melt and you want a little chaos in your home, consider adopting one of these cuties or signing up to foster the next litter we get in!