"Clearing the Shelters" . . .

All of the dogs available for adoption at the beginning of the day on Saturday.

August 15th was "Clearing the Shelters" day here in New York.  Adoption fees were waived for the day.  I'm not sure if it was throughout the U.S.  Hopefully it was because it was a beautiful event!!!  I was asked if I could donate my time to photograph the day's activities and jumped at the chance.  What an absolutely WONDERFUL day it was!!!  Our local animal shelter chose a carnival theme for the day complete with a kissing booth, dunk tank and face painting. 

This is Ice.  She was doing the kissing at the Kissing Booth.  How could you resist that face??  : )

Ice is available for adoption and I honestly would've taken her home if we weren't already at maximum capacity here with two dogs and three cats.  All she wants to do is kiss people and have her belly rubbed!!

A tortoise shell kitten available for adoption. 

One of our young volunteers braving the dunk tank.  It was a hot day so thankfully there were lots of volunteers for this!!

 This lucky little guy was one of the first babies to get adopted on Saturday.  He was just the sweetest boy and I know his new mama is going to spoil him rotten!!  : )

Heading home with his favorite toy in his mouth.  Probably my favorite photo of the day!!  : )

It was an absolutely amazing day with 10 dogs getting new homes.  Numerous cats, kittens and rabbits found their special families as well.  Now we're off to sign the contracts for the sale of the house.  It looks like we'll be able to make an offer on the house we've been looking at in Cornwall-on-Hudson.  Things are moving so quickly but it's all good stuff!!  : )


Happy Wednesday to you ~ Wendy

Introducing the Newest Member of Our Family . . .

This is Mr. Bigglesworth. We adopted him from our local animal shelter. He is a year and a half old and was brought to the shelter by someone who kept him as a pet in his dorm room but was unable to keep him when college ended. He was at Hi -Tor (the name of the shelter) for three months before we adopted him.

I first fell in love with Biggles (he came with his name so we shortened it instead of changing it) when I took my cat Rollie to be neutered by the mobile spay and neuter clinic that had come to Hi -Tor. They go by the name of TARA and are an incredibly wonderful and loving group of people who travel around to help control the pet population. When I had gone into the office to write a check for their services and to make a donation there were several cages in there due to the over abundance of cats and kittens that are surrendered this time of the year. I had seen Biggles on Hi - Tor's Facebook page and couldn't wait to see him in person. He was laid back and took everything in as he watched people coming and going. When I bent over to write the check, Mr. Bigglesworth reached his paw thru his cage and touched my butt. LOL!!! Of course, I instantly fell in love with him and wanted to take him home then and there!!

Biggles meeting Rollie for the first time. They're still working on getting along but I know they'll be best of friends in no time.

It wasn't until a month later that I was able to see Biggles again. I kept track of him thru Facebook and saw that he hadn't yet been adopted. It was also during that time that my cat Rosie had passed away. We went back to Hi - Tor to make a donation of towels and pillow cases that they were in need of and there was Biggles still in his cage. I asked one of the shelter volunteers about him and she told me his background story. She also told me that they were starting to worry about him because he was going stir crazy being in the cage a lot. They took him outside on a leash to walk around but he was starting to lose his spunk. Needless to say, my heart hurt for him. My husband told me that he wasn't ready to have another cat again. The rest of the day all I could do was think about Biggles and literally cried when I thought about this beautiful creature being in a cage.

The next morning, my husband woke up and told me he was going to take my son and his friend to drive some golf balls at our local golf course. They were back in less than an hour. Unbeknownst to me, they went back up to the shelter and adopted Biggles and surprised me with him.

He is so loved and is living the high life here with us!! He has a fresh side to him but we're working on that. We call it his "cattitude." : ) He has found his forever home and is being spoiled rotten. Oh, how I wish every animal looking for a home could have a happy ending!! Please adopt a shelter animal and save a life!!


Many blessings ~ Wendy

Rollie's Busy Day . . .

The mobile Spay and Neuter Clinic came to our local animal shelter last week. We've used them in the past but had to travel 45 minutes away for them so we were thrilled to hear that they were going to be close by this time.


These people do God's work, as far as I'm concerned. For a minimum cost compared to what a veterinarian charges, your cat (they only fix cats) gets spayed or neutered and a rabies shot for $60.00. We paid the extra $10.00 for a distemper shot since he's an indoor/outdoor cat. Rollie was actually our neighbor's cat but decided he wanted to live with us instead. We also have his mom who came to us as a stray. She had four babies and Rollie was one of them.

I knew that by choosing to go to the animal shelter to have Rollie fixed I was also facing a bit of a fear of mine. I am a huge animal lover and I don't deal well with seeing homeless animals in cages. I "friended" Hi-Tor (the name of our local shelter) on Facebook and have been able to see how wonderful they've become in the last few years. They didn't have the best reputation in the past but that's all changed now. The volunteers there are nothing short of incredible. They are always sponsoring community outreach activities where they spotlight some of the furry residents of Hi-Tor, having fundraisers, sending out mailings and updating on Facebook. This has greatly increased the number of adoptions that are taking place.


Right now they are at full capacity so they have to put some of the cats and kittens in the small lobby of their building.These babies were so sweet. I caught them in mid-meow so the two white ones look kinda fierce in the photo. LOL!!

If I didn't think my husband would take me to divorce court for bringing another animal into this house, I would've taken this guy in a heartbeat!! His name is Mr. Big and he was an absolute sweetie pie!! He was right next to the front desk in the lobby so while I was bent over writing a check he kept putting his paw on my butt. Thankfully, he's declawed!! : ) He's been at the shelter for about a month and the volunteers all adore him. He's treated like a king so please don't worry about him. I NEVER could handle this at all if I had any doubt that these babies were all okay!!!!!!

And here was one of my favorite residents. His name is Gully and he has the most beautiful eyes that you've ever seen on a dog. I watched him play in his kennel and then chase around a butterfly that flew into it. After breakfast, they get to run around in the fenced in yard behind the shelter and then swim in the kiddie pools that people have donated. It's donations that keep this place running as well as it does.

Rollie made it thru his surgery very well and came home and slept for about 24 hours and then was good as new!!

PLEASE spay and neuter your pets and give what you can to your local animal shelter. It will be greatly appreciated. : )


Many blessings ~ Wendy