This morning, I began the staff wake up process by YEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWLING numerous times from the spare bedroom. Then, I stampeded into big bedroom and around the bed. I hopped over the laundry basket and knocked into the floor lamp, making loud jangling noise (not that staff wasn’t awake already at …

Open-admission shelters have a hard row to hoe. They take in all animals that are brought to them, relinquished ones and strays. They don’t have the luxury to pick and choose the pets in their care and seldom have the luxury of extra space. Sufficient funding is hard to come …

I love my job, but I won’t deny that by Wednesday I’m starting to drag a little. I like to schedule a good lunch on Wednesdays, or a happy hour with friends to perk up the middle of the week. This week it was the promise of puppies at lunch …

Kelli Gibbs’s experience is an object lesson in keeping your options open when adopting a pet. Richmond Animal Care and Control was just down the road from her, so it was her obvious choice for a shelter to visit. But first, from the comfort of home, she visited Petfinder to …

Jennifer R. had her heart set on the cute little dog she spotted on Petfinder and knew that she would be able to surmount any requirements for adoption thrown her way. She was the manager and a vet tech at her family’s animal hospital, and her home was suitable and …

This morning, I conducted one of my favorite wake up combo tactics. First, I started out with a MEOWMEOWMEOWMEOW and then climbed up on the female staffer’s chest. This didn’t really affect her. So, I paused to think. Then, I stood on my hind legs (this created an interesting effect …

How would you like to know that the strident meow your cat is directing toward you means “Clean my litter box” or that the woof your dog is making means “Sweet potatoes again. Bummer”? Finding out what our pets are “saying” may not be too far in the future, according …

If you or someone you know is interested in enhancing the lives of shelter animals without cleaning cages or walking the strong and often energetic dogs, there are plenty of additional opportunities to volunteer. Even better, you might be able to read that book you’ve been lacking time to dig …

I am in no way shape or form a dog trainer. Let’s start off with that. I am, however a dog lover and someone who surrounds herself with dogs all the time, both at work and at home. So, even though I have no training background, I do know dogs and …