PAWS TO PONDER

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by Suzyn Barron, President of Warwick Valley Humane Society, Inc. 

Did you know, nearly every day shelters are hit with the unexpected?  Shelter staff must be flexible at all times to handle not only the daily tasks of cleaning, feeding, medicating, socializing, answering umpteen phone calls and helping the public, but be ready to intake animals with unknown dispositions, injuries and illnesses.  Dior is a young, mastiff labrador mix who was abandoned in a condemned building.  His hard eyes and menacing growly bark told us to stay away, that he needed time to acclimate.  After a week, it was time to get him out of his kennel for a walk to see his adoptability potential.  Now a few months into his stay, he is a very friendly, energetic, bouncy boy who has overcome his fear and distrust and made it onto the adoption floor!  But at first, he was scary.   

On an average Sunday, six chickens were brought to the shelter without warning. We were ill prepared to take them in.  It was all hands on deck to set them up in suitable housing requiring weed whacking the overgrown pen and getting the necessary supplies to immediately accommodate them. 

Animal Control responded to a night call for a friendly cat laying in the middle of a village street.  She appeared to be unharmed, but something was off.  At the vet’s office, “Willow” was diagnosed as blind. And no none has reported her missing. 

A young female, sweet Rottweiler was found wandering on a busy road and the finder posted the dog on Facebook in the hopes of reuniting with the owner.  When that failed, they took her to the shelter and unfortunately, despite being a purebred, she remains unclaimed.  

When we received a desperate plea to help three sick kittens from outside of our area, we made the exception after seeing a photo of what appeared to be an 8-week-old with infected eyes.  We admitted the kittens and they turned out to be only 4 weeks old and abnormal.  Their heads were enlarged causing distorted eyes.  The vet pronounced them “hydrocephalus” kittens, meaning water on the brain which causes brain damage and blindness with a poor prognosis.  Euthanasia was an option, but we chose twice daily multiple medications to give them a chance.  The medications had to be compounded to accommodate their tiny size.   As “special needs” kittens they are fostered at night to provide extra feeding and watchful eyes.  In just a few days, they began eating on their own, using the litter box and playing with each other.  Despite knowing that any day might be their last, we delight in giving them love, attention and extra care.   We didn’t plan on intaking hydrocephalus kittens, yet here we are. 

Shelter staff never know what each day will bring yet they remain at the ready to handle it. It’s not just work, it’s a passion to work with animals.  It’s who we are, it’s what we do. 

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