Baggage

Baggage

Now that I'm home, bathed, settled, and fed,
All nicely tucked into my warm new bed.
I would like to open my baggage Lest I forget,
There is so much to carry - So much to regret.

Hmm... Yes there it is, right on the top -
Let's unpack Loneliness, Heartache and Loss,
And there by my leash hides Fear and Shame.

As I look on these things I tried so hard to leave -
I still have to unpack my baggage called Pain.
I loved them, the others, the ones who left me,
But I wasn't good enough - for they didn't want me.
Will you add to my baggage? Will you help me unpack?
Or will you just look at my things and take me right back?

Do you have the time to help me unpack?
To put away my baggage, To never re-pack?
I pray that you do - I'm so tired you see,
But I do come with baggage - Will you still want me?

By Evelyn Colbath


Most of our pets come free of any real 'baggage'- they're just good pets who will eagerly join your family. But every so often we have an animal that has suffered some traumatic life events and needs some extra understanding.

Our Talisa is one of these special animals. We do not know what happened to her before she came to us, but it has left her shy and slow to warm up to new people. She does warm up and once she does she will love you forever and be the most loyal dog you have ever owned. The reward of her companionship will far outweigh the effort it takes to form that bond. Sadly, in the few months we have had her three different families have adopted her and returned her because they could not handle her 'baggage'.

It is breaking our hearts to watch her get her hopes of a real forever family crushed again and again. We are determined that her next home will be the home with the patience and compassion to be the forever home she has been waiting for. She loves other dogs, children and walks well on a leash- such a good girl. So if you think you can give a little black Labrador with a sad past a happy future, please contact us about Talisa!

Tiny dogs!

Sometimes all we have up for adoption is medium and large dogs.. and then sometimes we get invaded by the tiny dogs!

Right now we have lots of little lap sitting, purse sized munchkins just waiting to be pampered.

So if you don't have room for one of our big guys but have been wanted an easily portable little friend, come visit these guys!

(Bonus- several are nonshedding and great for those of you with allergies!)

Damond thinks the tiny dogs are pretty cool.

The summer slow down

One of the drawbacks to being in a college town is that when summer comes and the students go home we lose an estimated 80 percent of our volunteer base. Our shelter, so busy and lively for 9 months of the year, gets very quiet and lonely. Our adoptions slow down as well. The one thing that actually speeds up during the summer?

Intake! The number of animals that Animal Welfare needs to transfer to us increases during these warm months.

This leaves a small handful of volunteers to try to meet the socialization and exercise needs of a large number of homeless pets over the summer. We're hoping this summer is different and that we can build up a stronger volunteer base among permanent Stillwater residents.

So what are you waiting for? Summer is a great time to play outside with the dogs or chill in the air conditioned cat rooms with some fine felines. Bring the family!

Kittens!

If you were to visit the shelter right now, you might look around and say "Kittens, what kittens?". That is because, at the moment, our kittens are too young to be adopted so they are being raised in foster homes. When they are old enough to be adopted (2 pounds, which is around 9 to 10 weeks of age) they will be returned to the shelter, spayed or neutered and placed up for adoption. We actually have more kittens in foster care at the moment then we do at the shelter for adoption, so stay tuned!



So if you are looking for a kitten, keep up with the shelter's website because these some of these precious babies will be coming back and being made available for adoption in the next two weeks. Also, don't forget about their sweet momma cats who are usually not much more than kittens themselves and deserve great homes as well!