Volume 26 Issue 2 FALL 2020
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Volume 26 Issue 2 FALL 2020 STAYING STRONG DURING A PANDEMIC! O F F Here at the shelter, just like everywhere else, Covid-19 I changed everything in Mid-March. C E Nothing changed, however, for the animals who still needed R to be cared for and adopted, so we figured out a new way to S OFFICERS do that. Even though we are closed to the public during these & Evelyn Ackley-Raps PRESIDENT challenging times, people are doing online applications and we Liz Taranda VICE PRESIDENT are taking extra safety measures making private T Yvonne Skikus SECRETARY appointments, one at a time. We have a small building and so R TRUSTEES social distancing can be difficult but with masks and U S Laurie Egan determination, we have made it work. We do a few cat T Susan Eryan appointments per day and the dogs can still be seen outside E Caroline Herrmann weather permitting. Despite these new hurdles we continue E Joshua Schmieder S to do what we always do, it has been time consuming but well Mary Scorpati worth it! OFFICIAL FOS MAILING ADDRESS We are seeing fewer dogs coming in as people are not moving FRIENDS OF THE SHELTER, INC. as often, owners are home more and so strays and P.O. BOX 4923 surrenders have been reduced. Cats on the other hand, CLIFTON, NJ 07015 continue to come in and are still in need of forever homes, which we work tirelessly to find. Our volunteers have been amazing, many being flexible with schedules, keeping everyone safe and trying to help in any way possible. We decided when this started that we would do what was needed to be sure that animal care and adoption efforts were uninterrupted. While many other rescue groups were temporarily fostering their pets during “lockdown”, our Friends of the Shelter residents stayed in the building. This allowed us to conduct Answering Machine meetings and reduce the stress of moving them back and S forth until their adoption. H (973) 470-5936 E We are grateful to people who called to drop off supplies, L Visit us online offered to foster and to our adopters who called and emailed T ANYTIME at: E to check up on us. We wish good health and a safe holiday R CliftonAnimalShelter.com season to you, our extended family and Friends of the Shelter! I Instagram: Cliftoncats N F Facebook: O www.facebook/com/ FriendsoftheShelterClifton AMAZON WISHLIST— OUR LINK is ONLINE on our HOMEPAGE www.PETFINDER.com Page 2 ANIMAL ANTICS JOHNNIE - Proof a cat really can have 9 lives! JOHNNIE, who has been our resident feline Instagram rock star for a long time, was adopted on August 16. Johnnie first came to our shelter in 2015 when his owner passed away...and we did rehome him to a relative who unfortunately allowed him to go out of the house...Johnnie was injured outside, and the owner brought him back. Shortly after his return, we learned he was FIV+, and a volunteer with a big heart and extra room stepped in and took him home. Our volunteer then went through the traumatic and life changing event of a house fire! Johnnie, the family and all the other pets, survived—another miracle, Thank Goodness! Johnnie came back to the shelter and quickly settled back in. He is on special prescription food to prevent a urinary condition which made placing him a little harder since the best environment was one where he would be the only cat, the King of the Castle. For 394 days, Johnnie was the King of our Castle—the Friends of the Shelter Castle—until finally, the perfect adopter met him and fell in love! We miss him dearly but are so happy he is at home with his new mom getting the life he deserves - where he can get belly rubs, kisses and attention 24 hours a day! Due to the pandemic, we had to cancel our 16th Annual Beefsteak/Tricky Tray - our biggest fundraiser of the year and unfortunately we will not be holding Santa Pet Day 2020. We are disappointed as many of you are who support us year after year. Not to worry, we are re-inventing our fundraising! There are many other ways you can help! We are holding FACEBOOK AUCTIONS - keep an eye on our website, cliftonanimalshelter.com for the details and dates. As always, some great items will be available– Designer Handbags, pet items, gift certificates and more! Our AMAZON WISHLIST is full of great supplies that we use daily for our shelter residents. DONATIONS OF ITEMS from our wish list can also be dropped off at the shelter. Our Annual HOLIDAY TREE ORNAMENTS a great way to honor a beloved pet around the holidays, coupon on page 9. ANIMAL ANTICS Page 3 MAIZE ... now “A. MAIZE GRACE” ! I grew up having cats my whole life. After my children were born, slowly my fur babies Maize is doing quite well. We left her alone for about two hours the other day to test her. all went over the rainbow bridge. My house She was absolutely so good! Nothing eaten was without fur babies for more than 5 years, and no accidents in the house. We shower her which was the first time ever I was petless. with lots of belly rubs and hugs and most of all love! Both my sons had been asking for a cat for a few years. Since my young one was a I taught her to give me “paw” when I say preemie and had respiratory problems, we shake and of course she gets a treat. She enjoys our long walks throughout the day. She needed to make sure he was okay to have any even talks at times! She’s beautiful! pets. We had been following the cats up for She loves her walks and going out on the deck! adoption for a while and were on the lookout The family loves her! for an orange kitten and a black one. I was I decided to name her A. Maize Grace. shown the kittens Allison was fostering. We I love A. Maize Grace so much. She surely has went to visit them. They were so friendly and rescued me ! Again THANK YOU. cute. We knew we were definitely taking the Thank you!! orange one (we named Deutch) and the black Stay Safe, Stay Healthy -Tayelor Barrett and white one (we named Diesel 10). Both my sons were in love. Meanwhile, I fell in love with the calico (we named Dragon). We went for a 2nd visit and by the time we left I knew the cream and white (we named DeLorean) and the cream (we named Doc Brown) would also be moving in with us. Adopting these furbabies has been the best part of 2020. Anthony and Alex announced our new addition to our family on their youtube channel and we created a tiktok channel for them : @5_Meows Thank you Clifton Animal Shelter for all that you do. - The Billsons MICKEY & MINNIE ARE LOVING QUARANTINE LIFE! Page 4 ANIMAL ANTICS We adopted Elmo in April 2020. I’d left my prior cat Hi there Evelyn! with my parents when I moved to the New York City I'm just checking in, thought you might like to see area seven years ago. Now that I’d been put on some pictures of Gamora. She has a ton of toys furlough and my fiancé was working from home for and loves running in the backyard (as long as it's the foreseeable future, we coped with the impact sunny, she hates the rain lol). Gamora thinks she's COVID-19 has had on our lives the only way we a lap dog and loves to lounge on the couch. She know how: by rescuing a cat! does like to go for walks but not anything over 15 When we saw Elmo’s videos on Petfinder, our minutes (she gets tired). She absolutely loves her hearts melted. We read that Elmo struggled with training sessions. We do two 15 min. sessions some mild CH, and that he’d need to be re-tested for daily to teach her new things. She gives paw, she FIV (Editor’s Note: Great News—He’s negative for backs up on command, she sits, she stays and she FIV!). As someone who was born premature herself, comes (to wherever your finger is pointing), we and who has done everything my doctors claim I’d also do "touch" (I believe Andi taught her that never do, we immediately felt a kinship with Elmo, one). We introduced her to the cat gradually, and and set up an appointment to meet him. He even has she doesn't really seem to care. Francesca (the cat) a little line on his nose – as do I! has become more and more accepting with each day. When we first brought Elmo home, he wobbled a lot. In short, we are one happy family! Thanks He had some lesions on his fur that he kept picking again for everything! back open, so we gave him a sweater. He looked Kate positively dapper and very handsome even if it wasn’t his favorite. Elmo didn’t show much interest in jumping, but his slip-slidey-ness didn’t discourage him from destroying several wand toys to date. We were both half-asleep the first time he jumped on the bed, and we couldn’t believe that neither of us hadn’t put him up there. We feel the same way about him jumping down from the couch.