Washington Humane Society Blog

It's Better To Give Than Receive!

 
WHS gave away 4 tons of dog food to area rescues Tuesday. Nearly 20 of our humane partners showed up despite the soggy conditions. The food was donated by Mainline Animal Rescue of Philadelphia as part of their "Tackle against Michael Vick" campaign. The event was a success!

 
  

Giving Back 10!

Real estate agent and WHS supporter Gregory Nelson is shaking things up in today’s largely doom-and-gloom market with a creative and pioneering a program that allows clients to give to their favorite charity, including the Washington Humane Society.  (photo below of Gregory and his dog at a WHS event)

Nelson’s new “Giving Back Ten” program pledges that 10 percent of his commission on a home sale or purchase will go to the charitable organization of his client’s choice. Nelson and his brokerage company, Eden Properties, give the money directly to the organization once the sale is complete. “It’s a simple concept, and one that makes me feel good about being in the real estate business,” says Nelson, a corporate marketing veteran who has developed mutually beneficial marketing partnerships for companies such as Carlson Hospitality, USAirways and Nextel.

His inspiration for “Giving Back Ten” came while fundraising for the Washington Humane Society’s ‘07 Walk for the Animals. Nelson saw and experienced first-hand the amount of work done and degree of collaboration between volunteers, marketing partners and the organization itself to mount a major fundraising effort.

If you are thinking about buying or selling a home and would like 10% of the proceeds to benefit WHS, please contact Greg Nelson by calling (202) 669-2896 or by visiting www.givingback10.com.

I am in Love

By: Eleanor Blackford, Volunteer Program Manager

I am in love.  His name is Jeremy, he’s a 2-month-old goat living at Poplar Springs Farm Animal Sanctuary. 

Jeremy and his twin brother, Lenny, were brought to Poplar Springs after being rescued by a very kind woman. 

I was lucky enough to go along on our recent Humane Education Program Field trip, led by WHS Humane Education Program Manager, Shakela Brown, with a 4^th grade class from Hendley Elementary School in southeast DC.  I’ve said this many times before, and I’m sure will say it again, but I have a pretty cool job.  I got to spend my morning playing with farm animals and teaching kids about our responsibility toward all the creatures we share this earth with.  This whole trip left me with a smile on my face for the rest of the day, and I can’t wait to go back for another visit.

(photo below of WHS Chief Programs Officer, Scott Giacoppo, holding a chicken)

The thing about Poplar Springs that I loved the most was how compassionate each of the staff we met along the way was.  You or I might have no trouble telling the dogs apart at the local dog park, but have you ever tried to tell a flock of chickens apart?  The staff at Poplar Springs can not only tell their chickens apart, they can tell you their names and each rooster’s or hens’ story.  Not only that, but the staff also know what animals have funny little tricks to show off (like the hen that jumped 3 feet in the air for her treat.  Or Jeremy, who has the nifty little habit of liking to jump on the hood of cars). 

I’ve also never met a friendlier bunch of farm animals before in my life.  Maybe it’s because they’re a little bit thankful that they get to live out their lives in green pastures, surrounded by love.  Maybe it’s because they know they have a story to tell and a lesson to teach. I, along with all the 4th graders received so many kisses from horses, mules, goats, and pigs.

 

I also learned a few pretty neat things too! 1) goats wag their tails when happy. 2) you can teach a pig her name, and she’ll come when called.  3) Best of all, I learned that what we do spreads far and wide – the world of animal welfare is full of compassionate people and by teaching the children we are helping animals and children for generations to come.

WHS to Host Fourth Grade Students on an Animal Sanctuary Field Trip

By: Tara

Tomorrow WHS's Humane Education Program will take twenty-five fourth graders from Hendley Elementary School in Southeast Washington, DC on a field trip to Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary, a 400 acre non-profit refuge for farm animals and wildlife.

The students in Mr. Kenneth Robinson’s fourth grade class have been working with WHS’s Humane Education Program Manager, Shakela Brown, over the course of the school year. The WHS Humane Education program is an enriching curriculum teaching students more than just animal care basics. Young people in the program also learn about issues affecting their everyday lives. They are taught about bullying, violence in their community, violence against people and violence against animals. Most importantly, they are empowered to speak up for themselves and for animals rather than just accept the role of the passive observers.

“One of the goals of the program is to teach children to make compassionate and responsible decisions. I have been working with Mr. Robinson for 3 years; he’s a wonderful teacher that not only teaches his class math and history lessons, but also life lessons, pushing his students to strive for excellence.  It is a great opportunity to take these students out of a neighborhood riddled with violence and into a new and stimulating learning environment,” said Shakela Brown.

The students will arrive with WHS’s Shakela Brown to Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary at 10:30 a.m. They will be given an overview on the work of the sanctuary and how the animals came to Poplar Springs. Then, the students will be led on a tour of the sanctuary where they will see, touch and feed pigs, cows, chickens, goats and horses. 

UPDATE - Help the Cats at the Meadows of Chantilly

By: Bridget Speiser, Program Manager: CatNiPP

Late on a Friday afternoon is always a good time to get a GOOD update!

Alley Cat Allies released an announcement via their website this afternoon that conversations with Equity LifeStyle Properties -- the management company for the Meadows of Chantilly -- were very productive and very well received!

Per the Alley Cat Allies website, your actions made a real difference: Thanks to the more than 2,000 letters from advocates who took action, along with an offer of help from Alley Cat Allies, the company further assessed their situation and agreed to work with us and their residents to ensure the cats’ safety.

There is still local groundwork to be done.  If you are interested in helping in a hands-on way over the coming weeks, please visit the Alley Cat Allies site to Volunteer.

Thank you for all of your efforts!

Help the Cats at the Meadows of Chantilly

By: Bridget Speiser, Program Manager: CatNiPP

Over the past several days, there has been much attention in the local media regarding a large colony of stray and feral cats living in Chantilly, VA.  (Washington Post - March 12, 2008: Wild Cats at Chantilly Trailer Park To Be Trapped, Probably Killed).

The Washington Humane Society's Cat Neighborhood Partnership Program (CatNiPP) is committed to providing much needed spay/neuter/vaccination resources to all stray and feral cats living in the Greater DC area.  This offer has been explicitly extended to the caregivers working tirelessly to save the cats living in the Meadows of Chantilly.

The cats still need your help!  There is an online petition that is open to residents of DC, MD & VA.  Please consider adding your voice to the cry against the needless euthanasia of these outdoor cats -- many of which have already been spayed and neutered at no cost to the residents or management of the Meadows.

If you would like to offer more direct help, please email Alley Cat Allies at: washdc@alleycat.org.

For more information on CatNiPP and what the Washington Humane Society is doing to help support stray and feral cats, please visit: www.washhumane.org/catnipp.asp.

Happy National Feral Cat Day!

And happy birthday to our friends at Alley Cat Allies, which was founded 17 years ago today.

(These cats live in SE DC. They were part of a targeted trapping in May 2007. All have since been spayed/neutered/vaccinated and returned to their loving caregiver. The adoptable kittens were routed through a foster and adoption program.)

This week is feral cat week!

Well, not officially, but it sure seems like it :) On Friday and Saturday, Alley Cat Allies will be hosting its National Cat Advocacy Seminar in Old Town Alexandria. The event kicks off with a colony management workshop and features speakers including Becky Robinson and Wendy Anderson from Alley Cat Allies, Christine Wilford from the Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project in Seattle, and Dawn Kua from the Cat Welfare Society in Singapore.

Here's Becky With Washington Humane Society President and CEO Lisa LaFontaine at the grand opening of the National Capital Area Spay/Neuter Center on 1001 L Street SE (more photos here). Alley Cat Allies is a founding member of the facility, which has the capacity to perform up to 75 sterilization surgeries per day. Over time, this will make a huge impact on reducing the overpopulation of unwanted pets in the region.

Speaking of the Spay/Neuter Center, we're having a CatNiPP Clinic this Sunday! CatNiPP stands for Cat Neighborhood Partnership Program. Washington Humane Society supports local Trap-Neuter-Return efforts through this initiative by offering free sterilization, vaccination, flea/tick grooming and ear-tipping services to caretakers of DC-area feral cat colonies.

Here's a photo of the surgery area at the Spay/Neuter Center. Dr McGee (he's the one on the right), our medical director, was on Fox 5 last week! We're expecting as many as 60 cats on Sunday. I've just signed up to help out. If you're interested as well, please contact Bridget Speiser, our CatNiPP program manager. We need volunteers for cat check-in, anesthesia prep, cat grooming and moving cats from the surgery to the recovery area and back to their traps.

Also on Sunday, George Washington University Law Professor and CatNiPP volunteer Joan Schaffner will be speaking at the PG County Feral Cat Summit. Other presenters include Nancy Peterson from the Humane Society of the United States, Susan Kogut from the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, Mary Ellen Drayer from Voices for Animals, and Kenneth Shapiro from the Animals and Society Institute.

BTW, don't forget our adoption events in the midst of all this feral cat activity! Our adoption mobile will be at Chateau-Animaux in Capitol Hill from 12-3pm on Saturday and Big Bad Woof in Takoma Park from 12-3pm on Sunday.

We're going to be on Fox 5!

Gurvir Dhindsa from Fox 5 is coming to the new National Capital Area Spay & Neuter Center tomorrow! Tune in at 8:15 for a special morning news feature on the facility. (Update: check out video here.)

The Center is nearly 4x larger than our Georgia Avenue spay/neuter clinic, which will now become Washington Humane Society's training center. Our behavior specialists will soon start offering dog AND cat(!) training classes to the public. Stay tuned!

The Center has the capacity to perform up to 75 sterilization surgeries per day. Patients will come from Washington Humane Society's New York Avenue and Georgia Avenue shelters, as well as partner organizations including Alley Cat Allies, Animal Welfare League of Arlington, and other rescue groups and animal control agencies throughout the region.

The Center will also be home to every-second-Sunday CatNiPP Clinics. As part of Washington Humane Society's trap-neuter-return initiative, feral cats brought to the Center will be sterilized, vaccinated, de-wormed, ear-tipped and groomed for fleas and ticks at no cost. The next clinic will be held on October 14.  For more info on CatNiPP, please click here.

The feral cats debate

In a letter to the Washington Post, Ellicott McConnell, who once served as president of Talbot County Humane Society, condemned the "shortsightedness" of trap-neuter-return programs. He wrote that feral cats are poorly able to fend for themselves and inevitably die slow and miserable deaths. The kindest solution is to end their unhappy existence by "quietly and peacefully" putting them to sleep.

Suzette Stitely and Charles Riter, current Executive Director and President of Talbot County Humane Society sent the Post an immediate response. Not only do they believe trap-neuter-return is the humane way to manage feral cat population, they've introduced a pilot program in which sterilized and vaccinated cats are returned to colonies managed by caretakers who monitor their health. Their agency also places socialized cats into homes through their adoption program. (Above is a newly neutered and vaccinated feral kitten; he decided he'd like to be a house cat.)

I'm glad that times are changing in favor of feral cats. Increasing numbers of animal welfare organizations are getting involved with TNR. And public opinion overwhelmingly supports this approach over euthanization. Harris Interactive recently conducted a poll (PDF) on behalf of Alley Cat Allies. Of the 1,205 respondents, 81% felt it's more humane for a feral cat to live out his life outdoors versus being put to sleep. 72% said they'd feel the same way even if they knew for certain that the cat would die in two years after being hit by a car.

On October 4, Washington Humane Society and Alley Cat Allies will be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony for our new National Capital Area Spay/Neuter Center, where free clinics will be held through CatNiPP, our TNR support program, for sterilizing and vaccinating feral cats. For more information on how you can get involved, please visit the CatNiPP website. Thanks!