March/April 2010 Animalsheltering.Org
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Mar/AprMar/Apr 2010 Helping Difficult Dogs Beware the Can Scam Friends in High Places Creating Appealing Cat Housing The tree at the Angels for Animals shelter in Ohio certainly catches your eye: It’s 24 feet high, made of pipes, plywood, and artificial grass. You can picture monkeys swinging from it, but it’s actually the centerpiece of the shelter’s cat colony room, and among its branches >>>>>> you’ll find happy felines awaiting adoption. But you don’t need a giant tree to keep your kitties and adopters interested—some basic design upgrades can work wonders. The “101”p. Department, 39 26 32 The Soft Touch Scam in a Can? Every shelter has at least a few difficult-to- The canisters soliciting donations to a handle dogs who, while not aggressive, national animal welfare organization are high-energy and lack proper seemed to be in every pizza parlor socialization. Sadly, they often get branded and tanning salon in South and “unadoptable,” and some wind up Central Florida in 2007. But while the being euthanized. The good news is that organization claimed to be helping modifying their behavior can lead to better animals, it remained a mystery to local outcomes—and it’s a simpler, shorter shelters and animal welfare groups. process than you might think. COVER: MICHELLE RILEY/THE HSUS; MONTGOMERY COUNTY ANIMAL RESOURCE CENTER, DAYTON, OHIO 5 Letterbox Animal Sheltering is a publication of The Humane Society of the United States. 7 Scoop ANIMAL SHELTERING MAGAZINE STAFF Editor As tough economic times continue, pet food Carrie Allan Associate Editor banks help people fill their animals’ bowls; James Hettinger Staff Writer/Copy Editor the Pets for Life NYC program provides Jim Baker counseling to keep people and pets together; Production/Marketing Manager Amy Briggs a Colorado shelter is running on sunshine, n thanks to a socially conscious teenager; Advertising Manager ReNae Vorgert a Yonkers family teams up with Farm Design Sanctuary to save a lamb; artists pick up their Bussolati Associates n paintbrushes to portray shelter animals and Chairman, Board of Directors, Humane Society of the United States benefit their keepers; big cats help little cats MCCAIG/ISTOCK.COM Anita W. Coupe, Esq. in Texas; and much more. President and CEO, Humane Society of the United States Wayne Pacelle n 24 Coffee Break 49 Shelter Medicine ABOUT THIS MAGAZINE Animal Sheltering (ISSN 0734-3078) is published bimonthly by In your space, you told us about the times Canine influenza virus, which first grabbed The Humane Society of the United States. Our magazine serves the people on the frontlines of animal protection—by offering you’ve come close to losing your cool with headlines in 2004, is back in the spotlight, practical expertise, technical know-how, forums for debate, pro- gram profiles, news on the latest research and trends, and a sense a frustrating member of the public, but thanks in part to the release of the first of inspiration and community among those striving to make the world a better place for animals. managed to save a difficult situation by canine influenza vaccine. How concerned Subscription Prices staying calm and polite. should shelters be? What preventive Single-copy subscriptions are $20 each ($25 for subscrib- ers outside the U.S.). Members of Shelter Partners receive a approaches should they take? Miranda 10-percent discount. For information on multiple-copy dis- counts, visit animalsheltering.org. 39 The “101” Department Spindel, the ASPCA’s director of veterinary Circulation Offices To order, renew, change your address, or inquire about A cat adoption space should appeal to outreach, helps separate fact from fiction. other subscription-related issues, visit our website at animalsheltering.org or contact our circulation office: both felines and the people who come to Animal Sheltering P.O. Box 351; Congers, NY 10920-0351 see them. If the space is clean, bright, and 53 Behavior Department 866-512-3111 (toll free) 845-267-3004 (local) 845-267-3478 (fax) interesting for cats, it will please potential For a pet who’s used to being the center of [email protected] Editorial Offices adopters and lead to more cats finding new attention, the arrival of a newborn child can Please send letters to the editor, Coffee Break submissions, and article ideas to: families. Learn how shelters are sprucing up be an upsetting experience. Pets puzzled by Animal Sheltering magazine/HSUS 2100 L St., NW their cat rooms with elements that keep the sudden lack of attention often resort to Washington, DC 20037 202-452-1100 (phone) cats engaged and help them show their inappropriate behavior—which sometimes 301-258-3081 (fax) [email protected] true personalities. has tragic consequences. But some shelters animalsheltering.org are showing expectant parents how to adjust Advertising Information Contact ReNae Vorgert, Animal Sheltering’s advertising manager, 45 Q&A their routines beforehand to make their pets at 701-572-9100 or [email protected]. Job Listings Aristotle claimed that animals do not have baby-ready—and prevent them from being To post a free job announcement, visit animalsheltering.org. much capacity for thought or feeling—but relinquished unnecessarily. Reprint Information We encourage private humane organizations and public animal science has come a long way, baby. Jonathan services agencies to reprint Animal Sheltering articles by HSUS authors in whole or in part, without prior permission, provided Balcombe and Marc Bekoff—leading that the reprinting serves educational purposes in keeping with 60 Off Leash the magazine’s intent. Please credit the article’s author as well as scientists in the growing field of animal Shorty Rossi’s Pit Boss, a new reality show on Animal Sheltering magazine, and send us a copy of the reprinted material. If you are interested in reprinting articles by non-HSUS authors, special permission may be required; e-mail us at ethology—have spent decades studying the Animal Planet, gives viewers a glimpse of pit [email protected]. complex emotional lives of animals, including bull rescue with a little difference. The Small Print The HSUS does not endorse or guarantee any products, services, morality in animal communities and animals’ or vendors mentioned in Animal Sheltering, nor can it be respon- sible for problems with vendors or their products or services. Also, capacity for pleasure. The HSUS reserves the right to reject, at its discretion, any adver- tising. Views expressed by non-HSUS authors are not necessarily those of The HSUS. ©2010 The Humane Society of the United States. All rights reserved. ED W NT IT RI H P 1 0 Y 0 % G W ER Cert no. SW-COC-002281 IND EN www.NewWindEnergy.com 2 ANIMAL SHELTERING MARCH/APRIL 2010 ANIMALSHELTERING.ORG letterbox 101 Spreading the Word The Soft Touch >>>>>>Helping Cats Find Their Happy Place I produce Animals’ Voice magazine for Molding “hard” dogs into “soft” dogs may be easier Towering trees, designer digs—and more modest efforts, too—showcase pets and please people than you think—and it also saves lives BY JIM BAKER BY MELISSA BAHLEDA behavior SPCA Auckland in New Zealand. department Reading your Sept-Oct 2009 issue, I was taken by the great story about Pat Making Babies? First, Make Baby-Ready Pets Shelters help prepare pet-loving expectant parents Y T IE BY JAMES HETTINGER C Parelli, “The Long Way Home” [p. 25]. I HUMANE SO HUMANE D AN A was wondering if you would have any ob- URN/SAN SPC DIEGO B L. CO jection to Animals’ Voice running the story A fish-eye view of the “Cataquarium” playroom at the San Diego SPCA and Humane Society. The aquarium-themed room gives cats plenty of things to do, and provides an atmosphere where potential adopters want to linger. Towering over visitors’ heads, the tree with durable, black plastic netting that desire some “alone time,” prime spots to sun- has become quite an attraction, visible even makes the trunk and branches climbable. bathe, and volunteers to interact with. in a future issue? from the road, turning the heads of drivers The branches terminate in big, green pads “They just love it; they have a great time who pass the Angels for Animals shelter in that are perfect for high-altitude lounging. in there,” Less says. “They climb all over it. Canfield, Ohio. And at first glance, the room does bear But most of the cats that we put in there run “We’ve had all kinds of questions about it. some resemblance to those that zoos set up down when we walk in the room. They’re People [who see it] have asked me if we have to house monkeys. very friendly animals.” Many thanks. primates,” says Diane Less, who co-founded But the tree is orangutan- and chimp- Because the cats dig their space, they’re Angels for Animals in 1990. free. Instead, it serves as the centerpiece of happier and more outgoing. And because the It’s a reasonable question: The large the main cat colony space at the shelter— tree provides such an unusual visual to the - room that holds the tree is the key attrac- and on any given day, it’s the high-altitude shelter’s adoption space, people are drawn Deming hatched an idea for a workshop tion in the shelter’s 13,500-square-foot, $3.5 hangout for between 30 and 40 cats waiting there to meet them. that would show expectant parents how to pre —Bruce Scott million Lariccia Animal Center. At 24 feet for homes. Called the Tree of Marie—in honor of MCCAIG/ISTOCK.COM is 5-day-old baby—that inspired Jane Deming, pare their pets and keep their newborns safe, tall, the tree is constructed of steel pipes, The space offers plenty of room for its Marie Stilling, a supporter who, on her death then the education director for the Providence with the ultimate goal of reducing bite-related plywood, and artificial grass, and wrapped feline inhabitants, places to go when they in 2002, made a $100,000 bequest designated Founding Father Benjamin Franklin Animal Rescue League, to start a program to injuries and fatalities as well as the number of credited with saying it first: Failing to prepare help new parents keep the peace between pets relinquished on account of children.