Lynchburg Humane Society Blog

My most recent foster puppy had a pretty hard start to life. He was brought to the shelter covered in ticks. I'm told there were dozens, if not a hundred of them. The poor little boy was hiding under his bed in his crate when I came to pick him up for the first time. The whole drive home, the little husky mix the girls at the shelter lovingly called "Tick" hugged my chest as closely as he could ( I wasn't driving, don't worry). The first thing the poor baby had to endure at his temporary home, was meeting my dog. Sadie wasn't too sure what to think about the little 6 pound ball of fur at first, but she gave him the nod to come on in "her" house. Of course, once I got "Tick" inside, before his little paws even touched carpet I knew he'd need to get a bath. Oh, the things that came off that dog! I counted about a half a dozen dead ticks (the girls at the shelter gave him frontline... and picked off all the ticks they could) in the...

You wouldn't think it is that difficult for people to know if they own an animal or not. But in our world it isn't so cut and dry. Yesterday a young lady came in to surrender two cats that "were not hers". Her friend had found them as young kittens and took them in to her home. Raised them and then this young lady decided to take two of them in and keep them. For one reason or another she could no longer keep them. So when we asked her to sign them over to us, as their owner, her sentiment was "they are not mine" they are strays. Well to give you some idea they are now almost a year old so they are definitely not strays. When a stray animal comes into any animal shelter we are required to hold them for a time period to allow them time to be found by their owner. These cats were beyond being looked for by an owner and were more than likely not being looked for by anyone. But she still could not understand why she was the owner. She didn't want ...

I have a problem, I am having an office affair. I have a dog, his name is Parker and he is a 10 year old border collie mix. He came into the shelter in Richmond as a nervous dog who had spent the first 7 months on a chain in a back yard. He never spent a day in the kennel, I took him home immediately. Parker soon became my pet and the Richmond SPCA's education dog. I taught him a bunch of tricks and he would go with me to all the school and group visits to highlight how wonderful pets from the SPCA/Humane society can be. And he is special. He has been in a number of TV commercials, he was featured on an Animal Planet show called Adoption Stories and has been in a number of newspapers and magazines. As far as pets go, he is the love of my life. He is the first one to meet me at the door when I get home and if I just walk out to lets say take the trash out, he acts like he hasn't seen me in years and would die with out me. It is a mutual relationship of pure love. So what a...