My name is Cupcake and I am a 3-year-old American Pit Bull mix and I’m about to tell youwhat I do all day at Butte Humane Society. First thing in the morning, after I eat my kibble, you can find me lying in my dog igloo for most of the day. I do come out of my bed whenever I hear something or see another dog barking, I will run around my kennel to see what it is and bark at whatever it is.  The other dogs all bark to, we all have our unique bark so it sounds like a symphony.

For those who have not been to Butte Humane Societymy kennel looks like this. I have two dog igloos beds, yes they are shaped like igloos and there are blankets in there so we can sleep on them. There is also a water bowl clipped to the kennel fence since we are dogs and need water.  My kennel is large, enough to run around and play in and there is a small tire to play with.

I am very sweet but shy when I first meet you, so be patient until I get to know you. Once you get to know me you will find that I am a big love bug and love to be pet. Take me out of my kennel and I am pretty good on leash except I have a bit of a jumping problem at first.Treats are my favorite and if you train me to not jump then I will listen if you use treats, when you call my name, I will prance right over to you. I like to play with the tug toy and the ball but can’t stay focused past three or four throws. After I get tired of playing tug and chasing after tennis balls I love to find a spot in the sun and lie there until you take me back to my kennel. Oh ya, I also love belly rubs.

Once you are ready to put me back in my kennel I will walk right next to you on leash and go right into my kennel. Give me a treat and I am set for the afternoon and will go back to lying in my dog igloo.

Up until last week, I did have my own kennel. I was moved to another kennel that wasn’t in the shade. Pit Bull’s have very thin hair and we are all muscle so we don’t have much to keep us warm. I have a kennel mate named Chance. He is a 10-month-old Terrier Pit Bull mix and has been at BHS since December 22, 2010. He is a very sweet and playful puppy, and we get along great. He does like to sleep in my dog igloo even though with dogs it doesn’t matter where we sleep as long as we have a bed.

My new neighbor is Steve; he is an older dog, 11-years-old, Labrador retriever, Mastiff mix and has been at BHS since November 8, 2010. He may be an older dog but he is still full of life and loves relaxing in his kennel and going for walks with the volunteers. Steve and I get along great. We were both out in the socialization area and we both ran up to each other and stiffed each other through the fence. Steve was recently moved to a kennel inside. I am happy to report that he was recently adopted out and hope he loves his new family.

My old kennel neighbors are named Marvin and Delilah. Marvin is  a very sweet and loving 3-year-old Beagle, American Pit Bull mix. He is one of the few dogs that have been here at Butte Humane Society the longest.  He has been here since October 25, 2010, but hasn’t been my kennel mate for very long. Marvin likes to lay down with his bottom against the kennel fence. He will bark whenever he hears something or someone walk by but that is normal.

Delilah is a 3-year-old Terrier Pit Bull Mix and has been here since July 3, 2010. She did get adopted out but then came back when her owners were moving and couldn’t take her. She also likes to lie in her dog igloo but does come up to you if you call her. Whenever Delilah hears something or someone she is very energetic and will jump on her dog igloo bed and bark.

Throughout the day I don’t do a lot, just hang out in my kennel and hope that someone will adopt me. I also hope that a volunteer will take me out of the kennel once in a while and take me for a walk and play with me! I love the volunteer’s because they come and clean up my kennel and feed me and give me loves. But, other than that my days at Butte Humane Society are not as exciting as being in a regular home!

I have been here since October 31, 2010 and am available for adoption for $75. I also come with a 30 days or pre-paid health insurance and come with a lot of goodies to get you started.  Again, my name is Cupcake, and I’m very sweet and loving and would make a great addition to any home. Tell all your friends and come visit me today!

-Monica Gunther, Public Relations Intern

In the past seven days I have seen four instances where people got their puppies from a “breeder”. Out of the 4, I can say only 1 of the puppies was from a reputable breeder. The others….two were from a puppy mill and one was from a back yard breeder. So sad.

About 6 years ago – I was determined to purchase a Goldendoogle or Labradoodle. Partly because my husband complains about my cat’s fur all over the place. Doodles don’t shed as they have “hair” not fur. So I set out looking for a “designer” dog. In my research, I found shelters and rescues all over the place were popping up with this breed. I had no idea that you could find a pure bred dog at a shelter or rescue…let alone a well behaved or loving dog. My impression of a shelter was just like many…”those dogs did something bad”.

After many months of searching and trying to convince my husband to let us get a dog, we ended up rescuing a puppy from Golden Gate Lab rescue (this was before I even knew BHS existed). He is a mix and truly the best dog anyone could have.

What this lesson taught me was something that I will never forget…DO YOUR RESEARCH. Since then, obviously, I have gotten quite involved in the cause of rescuing animals or giving them a second chance on life and love. But I still think back to when I was naive and didn’t know about the plight of shelter animals. I had no idea that in this country alone we euthanize 6-8 Million companion animals a year. So I try and approach people who purchase pets with this knowledge and try and share with them that shelters and rescues do have pure bred animals if that is what they desire.

I met a girl the other day in a pet store when I was getting some cat food. She was telling us about her pure bred dog and how it had a milieu of health issues and needed daily medical care. After a few minutes, I asked her where she got it. Turns out, she got it from a back yard breeder/puppy mill somewhere in the backwoods a few hours from Chico. She didn’t know at the time that you are not supposed to “meet” your breeder at a location other than their home. They met in a parking lot. After the breeder didn’t return her calls, she dug around a little and found out that this person in fact was a back yard breeder.

Anyway -my point is….It is important we do our research. It is important we adopt from shelters as there are amazing animals at shelters  just looking for a second chance on life. These animals are not bad, most of them are just lost (yep that’s right…just lost). And those who are surrendered by their owner are usually there because the family did not have time for him or her.

Anyway- I hope that we all continue to spread the word of shelter animals and we begin to learn truly what it means to adopt and not buy. There are millions of animals in shelters all across this country just waiting for a second chance.

Just FYI shelter animals usually come with:

• Current vaccinations
• Microchip
• Spay and Neuter
• Temperament evaluation

Please do your research and give a shelter or rescue animal a second chance. Together we can shut down illegal and inhumane breeding and cut down on the homeless animal population in our country .

Thank you!

– Kristen Staggs
www.buttehumane.org

Adopt ~ Don’t buy! Spay and Neuter ~ Don’t Breed!

A great time was had Thursday night, December 2, at the new Low Cost Spay & Neuter Clinic and Cat Adoption Center. Past president and long time supporter Geri Lee, ambassador for the Chico Chamber of Commerce, MC’d the event and approximately 60 people came to celebrate with us.

I had one enthusiastic woman say to me “this is the end of homelessness for so many animals”. She could not be more on the money…it truly is!

After looking at models all over the country, in an effort to cut down on pet homelessness and euthanasia, we decided as an animal rescue organization we would take the risk and open a Low Cost Spay & Neuter facility. This model in other cities have realized a a significant decrease in animals entering shelters and in some cases a negative population growth. While we won’t see the effects of this for a few years, it is a start and it was a risk we were willing to take for the animals.

The event was fantastic. Supporters included many Chamber ambassadors, Mayor Anne Shwab, our Assistant City Manager – John Rucker, Jaime Veglia from the Police Department, our dedicated volunteers and staff and long time donors and supporters. It was a wonderful turnout.

I think what I was most excited about is that we had 60 people in the room dedicated to making sure that the word of Spay and Neuter is spread in our community. We were able to reach out to people who had no idea that we take in 19 more animals per 1000 people than the majority of shelters in the country. They had no idea that we perform low cost vaccinations and microchipping. It was a great opportunity for us to talk about the good work that Butte Humane Society does and recognize our amazing volunteers and staff.

I would also like to recognize three of the most deserving of praise for putting this clinic together; Armeda Ferrini, Judy Alberico and Barbara Smith. Their dedication and drive to make the clinic and shelter happen was insurmountable. They worked night and day for months on end to make it happen and we thank them for that…we truly do.

It is truly a celebration to have this facility in our community and we hope that you all embrace us and help us make it a success.

The following is a link to the pricing and details of the clinic and Cat Adoption Center.

• Low Cost Spay & Neuter Clinic
• Cat Adoption Center

I look forward to seeing many of you out there soon.

Kristen

I have been waiting for the “perfect” time to do my “perfect” first blog post. I have been putting it off for a week now because I kept thinking the first post must be “perfect”. Silly me…I decided to throw that thinking out and just do it!

So here I go –  it is 10:30pm and I just got back from the shelter and clinic I figure why don’t I talk about my night and some of our staff. Hope that is ok with you! 🙂

We are gearing up for the Chico Chamber of Commerce Ribbon cutting tomorrow night to celebrate the opening of the new Spay & Neuter Clinic and Cat Adoption Center. We still have to get all the food and a few miscellaneous items, but we are almost ready. I spent the majority of the night with the volunteer marketing committee decorating the garage at the clinic so that it looks nice for our visitors tomorrow. When I was there, I got a chance to spend about 20 minutes with the cats and kittens up for adoption. It always feels great when you can take a few minutes to breathe and be with the animals you work hard to save every day.

When I was about to leave at around 8:45…Dustin (one of our dedicated staff members who works in our fundraising department) and I realized that we didn’t have a key to lock up the clinic OOPS, so we called on Shannon (another dedicated staff member) who works weekday adoptions and weekday morning transport – she has a key! She said she “would be happy to come and lock up for us”. She apparently was headed to the clinic anyway to pull food for an kitten that was going for spay/neuter in the morning. So I am sitting there thinking “WOW what dedicated staff we have…she is going to come back off the clock to pull food so an animal can go for spay and neuter in the morning“. “How lucky are we to have this kind of staff member?”

After the lock up,  I left Dustin working back at the admin office – he was working on the artwork for our Holiday fundraising campaign. I told him to “go home” as I left, but he insisted that he still had too much to do. (Dustin typically puts in a 70-80 hr week – I know this because I work closely with him and work many of those wee hours with him via phone and internet – he is an amazing dedicated staff member.)

I know that these are only two examples of staff working extra hard and there are so many others – I hope to tell more about them as I post more on this blog.

Anyway – I thought this was a “perfect” post for my first blog entry because one of the things we have always struggled with is telling our public how hard we all work, and truly what it takes to run a shelter and get our animals adopted. It really does take that extra “off the clock” time and lots of staff and volunteers to get it all done.

I am very PROUD to be a part of this organization and I am very proud of our staff….how hard they work and their dedication to their job – on or off the clock. I guess what drives them is the very same thing that drives me to do what I do for the shelter;  when I am at the shelter and I watch someone leave with their new best friend – it makes the early mornings, late nights and the occasional heartache all go away. I feel lucky to be a part of making that connection happen for that person and that animal.

So for my first post – I want to thank the staff and let them know I see how hard they work, I know the effort they put in and what they deal with. I am there with you and I appreciate what you do. Thank you for being there for the animals and thank you for being there for BHS – we could not do it without you!

xoxo
Kristen

P.S. Trent – you rock!!!

Welcome everyone. I hope that you all visit us often as this will be a place for open communication and hopefully some great feedback from our supporters.

I hope to post weekly myself (maybe more) and we have our fantastic staff members who would also like to talk about what they do and what goes on in their departments.

If there is a topic that you would like to discuss, or a question that you would like answered please email us at blog@buttehumane.org and we will do our best to address it.

We look forward to connecting with you and we hope to meet you all soon.

Stay tuned and enjoy!

Kristen Staggs
President, Board of Directors