The Laker Newspaper
Holiday Issue

photo by Derby

Humane Holidays
Dan Derby

Even during this holiday season, Carolyn Hess works five days a week for no pay. As President of the board of the Lakes Region Humane Society, her rewards are emotional, not fiscal. With dozens of dogs and nearly eighty cats in its care, the shelter provides Carolyn and the rest of the mostly volunteer staff with ample opportunity to get emotional payment.

With the Christmas holidays approaching, homes are increasingly filled with excitement, visiting family and friends. Many a parent or grandparent will decide that this is a good year for their special child to have a pet. Thinking this will be a welcome surprise and a chance for added responsibility, they buy or adopt a 'gift' pet. This can spell problem for child and pet alike. As Caroline points out, our holiday homes can be a bewildering and frightening experience for a new animal. It may already be under stress from being removed from littermates or having come from a pet store or animal shelter. A quiet, calm environment is best to establish the patterns and routines that will get them, and the rest of the family, off to a good start.

But there is more to think about. Beyond the holiday season, this is a long-term commitment. Dogs live ten to twenty years and cats nearly that long. Ducks and chicks, favorites of the Easter season, can live upwards of ten years if cared for properly. For rodents (mice, hamsters, gerbils, etc.), three to six years is not an uncommon lifespan. Consider what was the longest time your child ever kept a Christmas gift. You might also consider the difficulties of house-training a puppy in the snow. Many breeders and shelters will not allow their animals to be given as holiday gifts. The LRHS is one of those. Adoption yes, surprise gifts no.

Just off Ledge Hill Road at Winner's Circle Farm in Tuftonboro, the LRHS facility has long been a leader in sheltering without destroying animals that can't get adopted. It has paid a price. The facility is currently full and can no longer accept dogs. There is simply no room and there is a list for people waiting to surrender animals. Some of the less thoughtful have left animals at the facility in the middle of the night and illegally abandoning them outside the buildings. To help those needful to place a pet, the facility provides a "Pet Match" program that is fairly unique. Volunteers evaluate the animal and build a description of its history, health and personality. With that, the animal returns home and the shelter works through a variety of methods to find a home for it. The Lakes Region facility is so full that while it lists rabbits as one of its animal programs, Carolyn keeps all forty plus of them in her own home!

So adoption is a welcome process at the LRHS shelter and the staff works hard to ensure that both family and animal are successful. The Humane Society has a simple form that adopting families use to provide information on the environment where the pet will be going. It is also used as means to verify information provided. On the pet side, the staff puts together a dossier on each animal, as mentioned, and in the large cat facility, each cat has it's name and personality described on it's cage. That facility, by the way, includes a large outdoor play area adjoining the primary indoor cage room. Cats that are comfortable with others have the run of both and it's not unusual to get lots of affection and purring when visiting the facility.

There are mistaken impressions that shelter dogs are somehow bad. If you worry about adopting a pet from one, Bill Christiansen, author of "Choosing a Shelter Dog", suggests pets from a shelter can be wonderful additions to the family. His book discusses how to prepare for adoption from a shelter, what to expect and how to work with such an animal might be an appropriate alternative to just picking up a puppy on the spur of the moment. One dog in three will live its life with it original owners, according to Christiansen. For more information, read Gina Spadafori's article in the Veterinary Information Network's "Pet Care Forum" on Christiansen's work. FYI, "www.petfinders.com" is a web site that lists adoptable animals from all over the country. It is daunting that the site has more than twenty-six thousand dogs listed for adoption. The Lakes Region Humane Society's own web site is "www.lrhs.net".

Some of LRHS's adoptions have had delightful consequences. Tuftonboro Police Chief, Andy Shagoury's family adopted Koda, a three year old Rottweiler, this past year. Over time, Andy discovered Koda had a real talent for tracking. He arranged for specialized training for the both of them via the NH Police K-9 Academy. This past spring, Koda and the Chief were certified by the U.S. Police Canine Association, making them available for locating lost or missing people and assistance in investigations and evidence recovery.

But this sort of adoption is very different from a surprise gift, no matter how well intended. It is critical for the responsible person to understand the commitment and have some knowledge of their role. It can't be just the child's pet, children need the whole families' help and they are the ones that are really adopting what amounts to a new family member. Since pets generally don't come with warrantees protecting the pet and families' emotions, it's important to be fully aware of what you are getting into.

Most humane societies interview and give out questionnaires to prospective owners as the LRHS does. This is their way to ensure the ongoing health of the animal and to protect, in some ways, you from a well-meaning mistake. It's a practice that many professional breeders use too. After all, puppies and kittens are very perishable. By the way, you should exercise caution with someone or someplace that is touting their animals as holiday gifts. Good suppliers are worried about the health and socialization of their animals after they get home.

A possible solution to this holiday pet gift conundrum is to give gifts associated with the animal, photos, books, posters, but not the animal. This can start the thinking and talking about adoption without the total commitment and strain. A visit to the shelter might make a fun and educational holiday outing. Some shelters have volunteer programs where you can provide normal duties of the center. These are necessarily limited since supervising young people with animals is more time consuming than supervising the animals themselves. Adults are always welcome to help out.

If, after all this, the grandparents still want to give a pet, Caroline says that the LRHS will provide a picture of the cat or dog to use a starting discussion on Christmas day. But she points out this will still be a family commitment, not a child's alone. The LRHS requires all the normal paperwork during the holidays that they due any other season. Remember that they will not release an animal to someone planning to give it as a gift since many have come back in a few months.

By the way, the Lakes Region Humane Society has many programs to improve placement as well as enhance the community. With the help of several local families, they have a foster home program that allows for temporary home stays for dogs. This is intended to build a good picture of their personality for potential adopting families. It turns out that this is one of those good news / bad news stories. The good news - all dogs put in foster homes were adopted by the foster home families. The bad news - there are no more foster families available to work with the program. The staff hopes to restart the program in the future.

On a regular basis, the Humane Society staff takes animals to nursing homes on what they call "Meet and Greet" visits. These are done as staff time permits and several of the not-yet-adopted regulars have become popular on the visit circuit. In a parallel program, called "Senior to Senior", older cats are placed with senior citizens for adoption and provided a mentor for back up. This allows older folks to have a pet, a process long known for it's emotional benefits. The mentor reduces worry about care if the adopter is faced with illness.

Educational outreach, a priority item, continues to be limited by lack of staff resources. Caroline expects the team to apply for a grant this year, with a probable focus of providing support for local education activities. In recent year, students from Carpenter School have "adopted" the facilities, writing stories about the animals, making them Christmas gifts and providing food for special occasions, including home made biscuits. The shelter has also participated in "School to Work" programs, allowing young people a chance to assist with the animals' care on a voluntary basis. Some have even served their court mandated community service helping at the facility.

Oh yes, you should also exercise care during the holidays for the animals you already have. For example, many household plants are toxic. Poinsettias, mistletoe and amaryllis bulbs are poisonous to dogs as is, believe it or not, chocolate! Tinsel and ornaments are often a puppy's first chewable, with disastrous results. And don't forget that ultimate holiday danger, good cooking. Everybody in the house slips old Spot a little chip & dip from time to time. This can be tough on his stomach, not to mention your carpet. This is particularly the case with really fatty foods. Poultry bones shatter into deadly shards when chewed. Finally, be warned that bringing in an outdoor tree may convince your dog that you've changed you mind about house training!

LRHS is a private, non-profit organization that depends on individual donations and fund raising to get by. It has had auctions, cruises, yard sales, pet shows and written grants. Individual contributions continue to make a major impact on its programs. This holiday season the LRHS will have it's annual fund raising dinner on December 10th. It will be held at the Woodshed, starting 5:30 for cocktails and dinner around 6:30 p.m. A silent auction will follow. The cost is $33 per person and reservations can be made with Caroline at 569-XXXX.

By the way, non-traditional methods also play their part. On the web site "www.Igive.com" you can find merchandise for purchase and as a special incentive, a percentage of your purchases go to the charity of your choice . . . like the Lakes Region Humane Society, perhaps?