Simple lessons
PET BULLETIN
‘Mews and Yips’ from the Central Aroostook Humane Society
By Gloria J. Towle
My husband’s cousin, Megan Cross, works for the Animal Welfare Society in West Kennebunk.
Megan’s job is to bring awareness and education to the public about caring for pets and to teach children and adults what is best about humanity — kindness, empathy, honesty, helpfulness and sharing. She is an amazing example of what a beautiful heart can accomplish. Lately, she is determined to learn to play the piano, so that she can continue to reach the young minds through the power of music.
Among the simplest yet more important lessons that she has learned is what animals can teach us about ourselves. There is a quote that she loves from Yann Martel’s book, “The Life of Pi”: “When you look into an animal’s eyes, you see your own emotions reflected back at you.”
Megan says, “This can be interpreted in a number of ways, but I think that animals teach us how to be kind, how to be patient, and how to better listen and serve others.” What a wonderful way to teach our children this amazing lesson.
Here at the Central Aroostook Humane Society, our local children do so much good, from asking for gifts for our pets in lieu of birthday presents, running bake sales or lemonade stands, from collecting pet food and supplies, to donating hard-earned allowance money. We are grateful for their love and commitment to our pets. These children are learning some very valuable lessons at a very young age. We are proud of the children and applaud their parents for encouraging them to give at an early age.
Young and old enjoy our annual PAWS benefit walk in May as a wonderful and fun way to help the shelter pets. By getting pledges for the 2-mile walk and bringing their own four-legged family member or by walking one of the shelter’s temporary residents. It’s a fun family affair, for sure.
Our past year at the shelter has been a fantastic one; many have reached out to support the shelter either financially or by volunteering their time. In 2015 the shelter had a total of 487 cats and 196 dogs come through its doors. Our numbers over the years have slowly been declining and we can only attribute that to the spaying and neutering of many animals that are leaving our shelter. We are very proud that so many dogs and cats have finally found their forever homes.
Adopting pets that are already altered truly does eliminate any possibility of unwanted litters in their futures. State law requires a $100 deposit on adoptions of pets that are too young to be altered, and this will be returned once proof of altering is shown.
We hope to continue such a positive trend for 2016 and look forward to seeing all of you either volunteering to walk our dogs, stopping by to say hello and play with the kitties or just helping to support the annual fundraisers that help us to do what we do best: keeping Aroostook County’s homeless pets happy and healthy until that purrfect home is found!
Our hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., closing for lunch from 12-12:30. Please be responsible: Spay and neuter your pets!
Gloria J. Towle is the secretary and a member of the Board of Directors of the Central Aroostook Humane Society.
