Why I don't like Twitter so much anymore

Note: this mostly applies to my "dog" Twitter. My writing Twitter is what I find I've been spending a lot more time on, and interacting with people on.

I don't spend a lot of time on my @TheElkaAlmanac Twitter anymore. I'll share peoples' blog posts, and look at specific peoples' accounts to interact with, retweet, whatever, but looking at my feed in general? Not as much anymore. It just kind of depresses and frustrates me.

I've done it to myself, in a way. One's Twitter feed is full of who you've opted to follow, or follow back (I do tend to follow back, my numbers permitting. It's only polite, after all). But with my interest in supporting dog rescue and boosting the signal for people and things like that, I've gotten a lot of follows and such whose tweets I don't want to read. I also don't want to go and unfollow hundreds of people. It's my choice, and I could do it, but it doesn't seem fair. But.

Good new for Sayrevile, NJ shelter!

I've been checking on the Sayreville, NJ Petfinder page, but hadn't gotten back there for awhile.

Guess what?

I'll let you read it in their words:

DECEMBER 8, 2012: IT'S OFFICIAL...AS OF TODAY EVERY SINGLE ONE OF OUR BEAUTIFUL PETS HAVE BEEN PLACED IN LOVING HOMES! The staff of SPAC would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all of our faithful supporters for your kindness and generosity. Thanks to you we were able to remain open throughout 2012 and to find homes for an additional 450 pets who would have otherwise had nowhere else to go. PLEASE REMEMBER TO VISIT AND SUPPORT OUR OTHER LOCAL SHELTERS AND RESCUES WHO HAVE MANY WONDERFUL CATS AND DOGS WHO STILL NEED HOMES. We will miss you all...... 

So, I'm not sure if anybody got there and got a pet because of reading this blog. If so, that's pretty rad. If not, it's still rad. All of those dogs and cats are now at home!

Sayreville, NJ Animal Shelter closing, Adoptions Free

While I've heard of Sayreville, New Jersey, I've never been there. It's north of my New Jersey point of origin. It boasts an animal shelter that is no kill, The Sayreville Pet Adoption Center, but it's closing after December 31. As a result, with 80 dogs and cats still in residence, they're having free adoptions to try and get everybody safe and home before those doors close for the final time.

(Brutus, a dog listed on the Petfinder page at the time of this blog)

From their Petfinder page:

We're right next door to the Sayreville Police Station.SHELTER HOURS: Monday through Friday: 12 Noon to 7 PMSaturday & Sunday 12 Noon to 4 PM The best and most greatly loved cats and dogs live at SPAC - come and see!It is with heavy hearts that we announce the closing of Sayreville Pet Adoption Center effective December 31, 2012. Unfortunately like so many others we have fallen victim to the economy. Providing and caring for over 120 animals on a daily basis is no easy task. We have always strived to provide a clean and safe facility along with the best veterinary care for our shelter pets in a warm and nurturing environment. This endeavor has been a joy and a labor of love. The loss of our municipal contracts combined with the rising costs of vaccines, medications, supplies, utilities, maintenance and upkeep of our shelter has taken a toll on our budget as well as the impact of events relating to Hurricane Sandy. Although it is difficult, we are forced to think with our heads instead of our hearts and to face the fact that even with the overwhelming outpouring of donations and support from our many friends, we simply cannot sustain operations any longer. The staff of SPAC would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all of our faithful supporters for your kindness and generosity. Thanks to you we were able to remain open throughout 2012 and to find homes for an additional 450 pets who would have otherwise had nowhere else to go. We still have over 80 dogs and cats with us at this time who are looking for their forever homes. We are deeply honored to have been touched by the lives of these precious animals and by our many volunteers and friends. Thank you. PS - It should be noted that the operations of SPAC have been subsidized by Sayrebrook Veterinary Hospital since the time SPAC opened. In today's economy, it is no longer possible for Sayrebrook to do so. We are grateful for everything.

If you're near Sayreville, NJ and looking to add a new family member, this might be a good fit for you. The Petfinder page also cautions that they do no same day adoptions, and that adoption applications may be completed via email. Other important information is that all dogs and cats are spayed or neutered, all dogs are tested for heartworm, and all cats are tested for leukemia.

(Shiraz, a cat listed as available for adoption on the Petfinder page at the time of this blog)

Edited December 15 2012: Apparently, as of December 8, all of the animals at the Sayreville Shelter have found homes! It's a Christmas miracle!

Dogs I've known (part 2, the family chapter)

I asked for a lot of things as a kid. A horse, for one. A dog, as I've mentioned exhaustively. I can see how it seemed improbable that I would properly care for a dog; my ability to reliably carry out responsible tasks was not great.

It's interesting, though, to think of a family's history of pets, and responsibility, and mindsets. My grandparents are not who I would consider "pet people". On occasion, they've been the designated cat sitters when various households went on vacation, but once their kids grew up and moved out, they didn't have pets of their own anymore. My grandfather clearly loves Elka when she visits, but does not want a dog of his own, to my grandmother's relief.

(sorry for the Christmas picture. It's Elka in my grandparents' living room)

Name Your Own Price Pet Adoptions

October is "Name Your Own Price Pet Adoptions" month at the Broome County Humane Society.

From their web site:

You can’t put a price on love.  Or can you?  This October, you are invited to name your own price on all cat and dog adoptions, all month long.  It is the ultimate “re-tail” event, to encourage adopters and find new homes for dozens of loveable pets.
Simply pick out your favorite dog or cat, determine that furry face’s value, and make an offer.  In addition to special adoption rates, we will also be giving away a $10 gift card to Hoffman’s Car Wash with all approved adoption applications.
The Name-Your-Own-Price Adopt-a-thon will kick off this weekend with two adoption events.
Friday, September 28th we will be at PetSmart on the Vestal Parkway from 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM and Saturday, September 29th we will be at Hoffman’s Car Wash from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM.
How many homeless pets do you know?  We know 150!
We currently have over 50 dogs and 90 cats in our shelter all looking for a good home.  Stop in to find a new “best friend.”  Normal adoption fees range from $65 to $187.  Standard adoption criteria apply.  Offer excludes puppies & kittens (under 6 months old).

What an interesting thing for a shelter to have! I'd never heard of such a strategy before, have you? You know what the best news is, that I've noticed on the Broome County Humane Society web site? Storm isn't on there any more! I'll take that as the best sign, that the very last of the Conklin Dobermans was adopted! I couldn't be more happy for him,

We've had a couple of visits here from owners who have adopted some of the Dobermans from the Broome County Humane Society, which is totally awesome. Who knows, maybe we'll here from Storm's new family!

The Social Question

Elka is a friendly dog.  She loves kids, and is very gentle with them, of her own choosing. She loves adults, and is a little less restrained.  I think she thinks people of a certain size should be able to hold their own.  The hole in her socialization is she doesn't know any dogs, and only rarely encounters cats.

So, still basically friendly, Elka will do her hesitant and clumsy best to figure out what best is confronting her. Unfortunately, most of the dogs we meet are under twenty pounds, which appears to be the cutoff for whether one trains one's dog.  So we're concentrating on walking calmly past other dogs (command "On by", cribbed from dog mushers), since their owners don't appear interested in controlling them.

Also unfortunately, cats don't tend to like dogs.  Cats are fascinating to Elka.  There's one that comes on our porch, a detail that she doesn't like while inside.  There's one that sits on its own porch when we take our walks, and she wants to shove her big pointy head in that cat's face to say hello, tail wiggling.  We use "on by" for that one, too, as you can imagine cats are not happy with that development.