Mews & Pupdates - September, 2019
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There are so many positive things happening at OPHS! I hope you enjoy reading the updates below. A big THANK YOU to all those who give their time, talent and funds to help us care for the animals.
Luanne Hinkle, OPHS Executive Director
All About the Animals
Staff Training
– The Dog Team will attend yet another Dog Handling and Psychology class at OPHS in September. The more we learn, the more the animals benefit.
Aussie Update
- We continue to work with the Aussies we rescued. Four went to dog rescues and another three will go next week. And, we have now managed to socialized and adopt out 4 to new homes! Take a look at the video (below) and see how one happy Aussie is finding his new home! It warms our hearts to see how far they have come. A big thank you goes out to all the staff and volunteers who have worked diligently with these dogs and helped them be more social.
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Laundry Room
You can imagine how much wear and tear happens to the residential washer and dryers that run all day, every day, not only to clean towels but larger blankets and bedding the animals receive fresh daily. Lots of service calls, parts and down-time prompted us to author a grant which was awarded to OPHS to purchase a new commercial washer and dryer and move the laundry room to a better on-site location.
As of this writing we are awaiting the final inspection and are anxious to compare the energy savings between electrical use and propane, as well as the overall time savings to complete loads due to the larger capacity and drying times.
New Vet Services Building
The Design Committee met on August 8
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and discussed initial design ideas for a new, state-of-the-art, 2,000 sq ft Vet Services building that will house a surgery room and separate dog and cat areas for medically compromised or recovering animals. This structure will eventually replace the existing Vet Services modular building that the county has required OPHS to remove as a requirement of the original Conditional Use Permit granted when the agency moved to its new location on Old Olympic Highway.
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Fundraising Events
Jim’s Pharmacy
– OPHS was Jim’s Pharmacy’s charity of the moth recently and received just over $700 as well as food and toys collected from their staff and clients. Thank you Jim's Pharmacy!
Harbinger Winery
donates the proceeds of the sale of their limited production wine, Menagerie, to OPHS every year. This year that amount equated to over $8,000! That is a lot of dog and cat food for sure!
Olympic Cellars Winery Event
– All who attended the event on August 24
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that featured the rockin’ band
No Rules
from Seattle had a fabulous time. Donations from the event and tips brought in $1750 for our furry friends. Thanks to the Board members and staff who parked the cars, sold the tickets, worked the bar, cleaned up after and even took out the garbage and mopped the restrooms. We are lucky to have such a devoted crew.
One Strappers Band
– It’s wonderful to see the youth of the community care for animals. The members of One Strappers Band, all students at Roosevelt Elementary School, presented a check for $86.00 collected from donations gathered at their recent performance. One band member, Matthew Miller noted, “We wanted to help the animals and give them homes.”
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One Strappers: Back Row from Left to Right: Luanne Hinkle (OPHS Executive Director), Sky Gelder (Viola), Arlo Pullara (Viola), Grant Butterworth (Cello), Ewan Mordecia-Smith (Bass), Nicole Patrick (OPHS Development Director). Front row from Left to right: Matthew Miller (Violin), Brazen Harris (Violin), Anthony Jones (Cello).
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Save the Date
AMAZING SUPER-DUPER
OPHS BARN SALE
Come on over to OPHS on Sept. 13
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and 14
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and you will find deals of a life time on all your pet’s needs! Carriers, beds, collars, bowls, scratching poles, portable cages, leashes - too much to list here! These deals can't be beat!
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Volunteering – A Mission of Compassion
Chances are if you come by OPHS to visit the Bark House you will see a very petite and energetic woman working with the
dogs or around the property. That is because Monica Roberts has discovered that, in this time of much conflict and suffering in the world, her personal mission of spreading love, comfort,
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and joy is accomplished by working regularly with the dogs awaiting their new forever-homes.
“Every day I have a choice on how to engage. I can participate in the rage that I can personally do nothing about, or I can add to the world in a positive way and
decrease suffering," shares Monica.
Monica Roberts and Mabel Shaking Hands
And, that is exactly what Monica does by working with the dogs regularly to help socialize and decrease their kennel anxiety. “I can do more by my example than with my words. I can provide compassionate care and lend a calming presence to the animals and help alleviate the stress on the staff as well.”
As a self-professed failure at retirement, Monica, who worked in IT management for many years, finds that OPHS is the perfect match for her. “I feel appreciated and welcomed when I volunteer. The staff accepts my skills and allows me to contribute. I feel so whole here.”
Monica has even lent her skills in helping re-vamp the volunteer program to ready it for online training and smooth on-boarding. “Monica’s experience and perspective as a volunteer is invaluable. Our goal is to ensure anyone who wants to volunteer can come away with a rewarding experience and can contribute in a myriad of ways. Whether you want to work directly with the dogs or cats, help with an event or in the office, or even work on new program development, we want to ensure our volunteer’s skills are utilized in all ways where they wish to contribute,” shares Luanne Hinkle, Executive Director for OPHS. “Our small staff concentrates on caring for and adopting the animals 24-7, 365 days a year. Volunteers are our life-blood for growth and community engagement. We cannot do our job and grow without their help.”
OPHS thanks Monica, as well as all the volunteers that graciously contribute their time and talent to help the shelter accomplish its mission of
providing the highest level of compassion for the animals entrusted in their care; to measurably reduce companion animals' overpopulation and to take a leadership role in promoting humane values and education for the benefit of animals.
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B
y now, many of you know about the 30+ Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mixes that were rescued from a hoarding situation in the Agnew area.
One of the dogs that still needs socialization and rehabilitation is a little 40lb, bright eyed, black and white, female named Shasta.
Shasta was the very last dog trapped from the property. She had been on her own for several weeks; scavenging for food and finding someway to survive. There had only been a few sightings of her in the several weeks that she was fending for herself, but when her presence and whereabouts were made known, fellow local rescue WAG (Welfare for Animals Guild) stepped up and were able to quickly and humanely trap this little lady to get her to safety at OPHS.
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When Shasta first arrived, she displayed the same fearful behaviors that most of the other dogs displayed. She was not aggressive or snarly, she just wanted to avoid interaction and politely asked in dog language to “please leave me alone!” We could tell that she was obviously related to the other members of the Agnew family because she looked exactly like the
other black and white females that came from the property, and she must
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have inherited Toof’s (one of the older red and white Aussies that has been adopted and in the video above) strangely narrow tongue!
During Shasta’s spay, I found something interesting in her tissues. In her omentum I saw a dark, small, spherical, “thing” that I do not normally see when performing a spay procedure. At first, I thought it was perhaps what is called “accessory spleen” tissue, but when I looked a little closer the “thing” was very dark, and when I felt it with my fingers, it was very firm… I figured out it was actually a bird shot pellet! And I found another pellet in the broad ligament of her uterus!
It is likely that Shasta was intentionally shot at while she was looking for food on other people’s property. There are probably many more pellets lodged in her little body, but only an x-ray would be able to tell us how many for sure.
For right now, Shasta has recovered beautifully from her spay procedure, and any pellets that may remain in her are not causing her any issues at all. We are happy she no longer has to hunt for food, or search for shelter or clean water, and she can relax and nap peacefully with a full belly, a full bowl of water, and a roof over her head.
We will continue to keep working with all these Aussie mixes so they can all eventually find new homes. It has proven to not be an easy task as these dogs are far from the normal kinds of dogs we receive at the shelter, but we have both been learning from each other, and it has been a very enlightening experience!
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Your continued support, in time and donations, allows us to do this wonderful work. Thank you.
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The OPHS shelter is open to the public:
Monday: 11 am to 6:30 pm
Tuesday: 11 am to 6:30 pm
Wednesday: Closed
Thursday: 11 am to 6:30 pm
Friday: 11 am to 6:30 pm
Saturday: 11 am to 6:30 pm
Sunday: Closed
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