Goodbye, 2010, Hello, 2011!

Happy New Year! With 2010 behind us and 2011 off to a fresh start, we want to take a minute to look back and look ahead; 2010 was a year of many Forever homes and other joys, and 2011 is shaping up to be another great one!

Highlights from 2010:

• Over the course of the year, we took in about 900 homeless pets, and found Forever homes for 700, including many special needs pets, seniors, and long-term residents. Despite an extra-busy kitten season and a rough economy creating a tough environment for many pet owners and adopters, we are going strong!

• On March 25th, Woodford Humane turned 35 years old! Thanks for the fighting spirit of our founders and the steadfast support of our community, we hope to be celebrating our birthday for many, many more years.

• Our first annual Woodford Wag 5k run/2k dog walk was a big hit! Hundreds of walkers, runners, and volunteers turned out for a beautiful day in the Woodford County countryside. Looks like this event is a keeper!
  

• Freedom Fest, hosted by Annestes Farms, was a huge success, and the highlight of the event came when a generous donor paid off the remaining cost of our new Adoption Center, constructed in 2006.
  

• Our 60 Cats in 60 Days and '09 K9 promotions found homes for many of our longest-term resident pets, who had been with us as long as three years! 45 long-term resident cats and 4 long-term resident dogs found their homes after waiting with us so patiently for that new best friend to walk through the door.

While every adoption is special, there are some from 2010 that really stick with us. Rocco, a handsome (and HUGE) black lab/rottweiler mix, came to us unsocialized, terrified, and thin; on top of everything, he also had severe hip dysplasia at just one year old and needed full hip replacement surgery. After being here for about a week without letting anyone handle him, we came in one morning to find Rocco a completely different dog: he reached out a paw to give us a nudge, and from then on he was the goofiest puppy possible! He was still hard to find a home for, though: as you might imagine, hip replacement surgery is neither easy nor cheap, even with help from our CHAMPS medical fund. But one beautiful day, a young couple walked through the door and asked for him by name! They already had a beautiful lab/rottie mix girl who was even bigger than Rocco, and were looking for a playmate. There was no sight so beautiful as two hundred-pound rottie mixes bouncing around together like puppies! Rocco went home with them that day, and found the loving home he should have had all along.

Aiko came to us in late Autumn, and she was just about the most pitiful sight imaginable: this elderly, long-haired calico cat was declawed on all four paws, and had been abandoned outdoors. Her fur was so badly matted that she had to be shaved, and without any claws she had been unable to hunt; on intake, Aiko weighed less than 5 pounds. But despite the gross neglect she had suffered, Aiko came into our lives with a huge, sassy personality and an easy purr! We all thought Aiko was one of those pets who would live out the rest of her days as our office cat - after all, not many people come in looking for a 15 year old cat - but we were wrong: just before Christmas, Aiko captured the heart of a wonderful adopter who also took home our then-longest resident cat, Eira. Aiko and Eira are now the best of friends, and spend their afternoons cuddled up together, enjoying the good life.

Coming up in 2011:
Despite a wonderful year in 2010 and a very busy adoption season over the holidays, we are, of course, still serving as the temporary home for many homeless pets. Here's to another year of great adoptions in 2011! With the continued support of the volunteers, adopters, fosters, and donors who keep us going, we're going to continue following our motto of SAVE - Spay/neuter, Adopt, Volunteer, and Educate - to get us one step closer to the goal of no more homeless pets. If you're already a part of our Woodford Humane family, thank you for making 2010 so great, and we can't wait to see you in 2011! If you're checking Woodford Humane out for the first time, drop by our Adoption Center for a visit, or just give us a call. We can't wait to show you what we're all about! And hey, we just might find you a new best friend while we're at it.