Remember pets
when making your New Year’s resolutions
By Christine Cowett Robinson
Special to the Star-Herald
Well, we have survived yet another Christmas, the outpouring of generously donated gifts has been amazing.
Our shelter is very blessed to have such support from the communities we serve. It has been humbling to look at all the items, and know that “you” do care. Many times, we lose sight of just how important we are to the communities we serve and how much people do care about what we do.
Over the Christmas holiday, the temperatures dropped and I worried about the animals left out in the cold, struggling to stay warm. If you have a dog, the safest place for that dog is inside your house. If that is not possible, please provide them a draft-free shelter, off the ground, full of dry, clean bedding. Provide extra food and fresh water. The same is true for a cat; inside is the best. Don’t forget your farm animals; they need a shelter to get out of the wind and throw them a bit extra hay. They call horses “hay burners” because eating hay keeps them warm, but they still need shelter from the winds.
Owning an animal, no matter what breed or species, is a huge responsibility. They depend on us to be smart enough to know how to care for them; don’t let them down! If you see an animal without adequate shelter, standing in the cold or huddled in a ball trying to stay warm, with no shelter, report it! By speaking out, you may be saving the dog’s life and will most definitely end its suffering. That is what animal control officers do, they investigate and try to educate. So call your police department and they will dispatch an officer to address the complaint. We need to be the voice for the voiceless.
The New Year is almost upon us and with the New Year comes new hope. So I asked my pets about their resolutions:
• Zoe, my beloved 13-year-old dog: I will try to be more tolerant of pugs and not be such a bed hog;
• Rusty, my boxer: I need to lose a few pounds, so definitely more exercise is in my future;
• Tommy “the old pup”: I will try to come when I am called the first time and not make Mommy get up to let the dogs in more than once;
• Tucker, the hound: I resolve to stop making funny faces and wagging my tail like a helicopter, especially when Mom calls my name;
• Taz: I will try very hard not to burrow too far under the covers and take them off the bed when I leave; and
• Pugley: Well, there are a few pounds I need to shed as gravity has taken hold and I can hardly jump on the couch, stop eating cat poop and anything else that is on the ground, try to fight less with Zoe over food for one day she will seriously whoop my butt, work on my snoring issues and stop taking so much guff off Taz!
2011 was an amazing year, with many amazing accomplishments. Our shelter is proud to serve you; we are happy to provide a warm, safe place for the stray animals of your communities to go until an appropriate forever home can be found. Without the shelter, cats would be left in the streets, cold and multiplying, getting into garbage and killing song birds, not to mention spreading disease and being a nuisance. The same would be true of dogs. Dogs would be running the streets, also getting into garbage and terrorizing people and other animals. We are proud of the work we do and very grateful for your support.
Happy New Year!
If you are looking for a Friend for Life, please visit the Central Aroostook Humane Society. We are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday. The shelter will be closing at noon on New Year’s Eve, so please plan accordingly.
Have your pets spayed or neutered.
