It’s the most magical time of the year, and we’re feeling the holiday spirit at the Cumberland County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals! We’re hoping to share the holiday spirit with our supporters, and there’s quite a bit going on in the shelter to update you on.
Due to the physical manifestation of holiday joy as actual snow this weekend, our Tree of Hope lighting was postponed until 6:30 p.m. this Wednesday, Dec. 13. Please join us at the shelter as we share delicious holiday treats and hot cocoa prepared by our volunteers, enjoy our holiday decorations, and meet adoptable pets looking for their own homes for the holidays. At 6:30, we will display our memorial slideshow of photos sent in by our supporters who donated a light. Then we will watch as the tree is lit, each light reminding us of the value of each animal who touches our lives. Please consider joining us for this special event.
We also will kick off our holiday promotion. Our “Isle of Misfit” adoptable dogs and cats are hoping to find a home for the holidays and are available for only $25 for cats and $50 for dogs. You can identify our holiday misfits by the signs on their kennels and cages. What makes an animal a misfit? Just as in the classic Rudolph movie, there is nothing wrong with them; they are just different and overlooked! We hope that highlighting these special animals will encourage our adopters to give them a home for holidays.
This year, we also will offer Santa Express deliveries! Santa’s elves are eagerly awaiting their opportunities to deliver newly adopted pets to their families on Christmas morning. Please see our front office for more information.
Meanwhile, to add to the holiday chaos, our cruelty agents spent the day before the snow rescuing a litter of 2-week-old puppies from the elements in the woods. The puppies were brought to the shelter, where they immediately went into foster care with our staff to be bottle-fed. As the puppies were in great health, we knew there was a mama dog out there. Our foster coordinator and agent again went to the woods and spent hours searching for mama in the snow. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to find any signs of her, but we aren’t giving up and the puppies are doing very well in foster care in the meantime. We expect that the pit bull mix puppies, which we’ve named the “Mafia Litter,” will be ready to find forever homes in five to six weeks.
We have a serious shortage of puppy supplies at the shelter! We are urgently seeking donations of Esbilac Puppy Milk Replacer, A/D Diet critical care canned food (can be obtained at a veterinarian’s office), and pate canned puppy food. We also will need high-quality puppy kibble when they are reading to start eating on their own.
And believe it or not, kittens – including even bottle babies – continue to pour into the shelter! Our kitten supplies have dwindled after a long, relentless kitten season. We urgently need dye-free cat and kitten food (such as Purina kitten and cat chow), pate canned food, A/D Diet and especially Snuggle Safe microwavable heat pads. As the nights become chillier, it’s essential that we are able to keep our smallest residents toasty warm, and Snuggle Safes are the best way to do so.
As the holiday spirit continues, we ask you to keep the shelter in mind. We hope to see you Wednesday for the Tree of Hope lighting. All donations for our puppies and kittens, as well as our adults, are so greatly appreciated. And we are truly hoping that those of you considering bringing a homeless pet home for the holidays will visit the shelter and meet our Misfits.
Happy holidays!