It's rewarding to get updates on some of the animals adopted out through A Better Pet. Bosco, the border collie mix who arrived as a stray pup a year ago, is a handsome, active and much beloved dog to his wonderful owners up in Ashtabula; several of the rescue kittens have also made wonderful transitions into their forever homes. Tommy the Shih Tzu came through our doors during the heavy snows of last winter and while originally the plan was simply to foster until a suitable home was found, he ended up tugging at our hearts and showing magical wizarding powers and now helps other fosters or rescues adjust before moving on. Right now our featured pet is GUNTHER, a 3 year old bassett hound mix (beagle?), a lap warming cuddly bug who needs structure, consistency and attention.
UPDATE FALL 2011 - Fall has arrived. Crunchy leaves, slanting sun, shorter days. Hopefully you're still getting out and about with your animals. If you are taking care of an orphaned kitten or litter, don't forget that until they are old enough to eat on their own, they need help peeing. This is best done by taking a damp cotton ball or wadded up dampened tissue and rubbing it gently on the animal's genitals, much like the mother would lick to stimulate the release of the bladder and bowels. Infant animals are very vulnerable and can go from healthy to very ill in no time. On the plus side, they can also rally and recover quite dramatically. Please check out the animals listed -- the numbers change often and we try to keep the info up to date. Most of the animals that we take physical custody of are carefully selected for some intensive evaluating and training before customized placements; we also do a fair share of adoptions of animals that remain in their home until a suitable match is found. We are NOT a shelter. If you are interested in fostering animals in need of care prior to permanent adoption, please email rachel@abetterpet.com for more details on requirements. Peruse the posts at A Better Pet (www.abetterpet.com) to learn more about training, the value and importance of socialization and how to prevent and/or trouble shoot any problems in your companion animal. For those looking to find new homes for their animals A Better Pet can help but only if you are able to foster your animals until a suitable home is found and I can't help if your needs are too short notice. The rules and requirements for using A Better Pet LLC petfinder services are simple. To place an animal:
1. The animal(s) must remain in a home or non shelter environment until a proper adoptive home is found. Give all ways of contact and agree to check email regularly for any possible prospective adopters.
2. Submit a detailed "personals ad" description of the animal keeping in mind what the best possible home for this animal might be. The more detailed and informational, the better. Your content may be edited. Review other animals listed for adoption. Address issues like personality/temperament, socialization history -- to kids, other dogs, cats, etc., and what would be an ideal home for the animal. Be sure to include any and all things that will be made available -- food, bowls, beds, crates, equipment, toys, etc. Any animal over the age of 6 months must either be spayed or neutered or arranged to have done prior to foster care or adoption.
3. Up to 3 digital photos of each animal you are trying to adopt. Take digital pictures that reflect the animal in the best possible light. Avoid red eyes, blurry shots, etc. A new feature in petfinder includes video so if you have a VIDEO clip that highlights the essence of your pet, please send that as well.
4. A Better Pet posts the animal, screens inquiries and forwards them on to you.
5. You agree to follow up on any and all leads sent your way for an adoptive home for your pet and be available by email regularly. If your needs are urgent and the animal must leave immediately, there is unfortunately not a lot we can do. Only rarely can we physically take animals into foster care. Hence the request for more foster homes!
Thanks. And enjoy perusing the available animals on our list. They all deserve a chance as lovely companion animals and with the right match making, that's what will happen. Bear in mind there are some days this list is very long with available, deserving animals, and other times very few or one. But changes can occur daily so check back to keep our available pets in mind.
While A Better Pet LLC specializes in positive only pet and service dog training, it is also our mission to help match people to the most appropriate pet and to have the knowledge and wherewithal to maximize the human/animal relationship. To that end we also provide rescue for both cats/kittens as well as dogs/pups that come into our home or are fostered in our community. All animals that come through A Better Pet LLC are fostered in home environments and treated like members of the family until a forever family can be found for them. This helps minimize stress, maximize socialization and better assess the best placement for each animal. Our website is at A Better Pet
The criteria for adoption are as follows: the understanding of responsible pet care and our sense that you will provide an appropriate home. While we do not conduct home visits, we consider ourselves to be fairly good judges of character and are looking at the needs of the animal to be paramount in placement. The service has steadily grown through a grassroots system of communication and we are pleased that the animals we have fostered and placed have ended up in wonderful homes in a variety of settings. PLEASE NO PHONE CALLS. WE STRIVE TO ANSWER EMAIL INQUIRIES PROMPTLY.
Animals available through A Better Pet LLC are living in real homes throughout the Greater Cleveland area. Animals available for adoption can be seen by EMAILING your specific interests and contact info to see if a face to face meeting is a good idea. We are flexible and try to accommodate as many diverse schedules as possible but are also very busy.
A Better Pet LLC
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
www.abetterpet.com
Email:
rachel@abetterpet.com
Click here for a list of pets at this shelter
