2011 Feline Frenzy: A Purrfect Start to the Year!

We're happy to report that our 2011 Feline Frenzy promotion was a huge success! Donated cleaning supplies from adopters are keeping us looking (and smelling) our best, but more importantly, a whopping 51 cats found their forever homes during those exciting weeks! Those lucky felines came from every walk of life - kittens and seniors, lap-cats and strays - and they're all finally enjoying the loving homes they deserve! Here are a few of their stories:

Popsicle and Slurpee came to us in a litter of 6 orphaned kittens; they arrived in a cardboard box, and they were feeble and cold. We didn't know it at the time, but we soon found out that they also all had distemper, a serious illness that is usually fatal for kittens of their size. Despite the care of surrogate moms and veterinarians alike, only Popsicle and Slurpee survived; Slurpee struggled with neurological complications from his illness, and Popsicle lost an eye. Despite their rocky start, though, this adorable brother and sister grew into affectionate, playful youngsters with so much to offer any family - and this January, that family found them! It would just be silly to break up such a perfect pair, so naturally Popsicle and Slurpee were adopted together.

Loki had a little bit of a rough start the first day he arrived - he was a four-year-old stray cat who was shy of people and used to living on his own, and was understandably scared after being trapped in a crate and brought in! We let Loki relax a little in our exam room, and after spending a little time crouched on top of the filing cabinet, he let us coax him into a few cuddles. It was all up-hill from there! Before long, Loki was as cuddly as can be, and by the time he went home in January he was a completely different cat - confident, easy-going, and keen to make friends with cats and people alike. He was also considerably rounder than the almost-emaciated cat that walked in the door (in fact, his new mom reports that he is now on a diet)!

Coraline and Clover weren't strays, and they weren't surrendered by an owner...they were born at Woodford Humane! Their sweet mom, Calista, came to us from animal control one Monday, and we knew right away that she was pregnant; what we didn't realize is that she would give birth that very night! Calista and her babies spent several weeks with a loving foster family, and one by one the kittens got adopted. Coraline and Clover, the tortoiseshell twins, were the last two in the litter, and their forever home is twice as nice for taking these sisters home together!

We're all refreshed by a big adoption month like January, and we're excited to see what comes next. Help us keep those adoption numbers high in February: take advantage of our Sweethearts promotion! We love to send pets home in pairs, and Sweethearts lets us do just that: cat and kitten adoption fees are two-for-one, and if you adopt a dog you can take home a cat for free!

A long wait for a perfect match

Mercedes first walked through our doors here at Woodford Humane on January 21st, 2009 - exactly two years ago. This adorable brindle and white girl came to us with her sister, Queenie, as an energetic one-year-old with a constantly-wagging tail, a big heart, and a thirst for adventure! Queenie and so many other dogs have found their Forever Homes since January 21st, 2009, but Mercedes is still waiting patiently for her perfect match to walk through the kennel door.

She may be 2 years older now, but the description still fits her to a tee: Mercedes is always so excited to see her favorite volunteers and go out for a long walk, and she's always willing to share her heart with a new friend! We form special bonds with every pet that finds its way through our doors, but Mercedes truly has a special place in all of our hearts. She's a beautiful, vivacious dog who has so much to offer, and we don't want to see her wait here any longer! It's a wonderful testament to the staff and the mission of Woodford Humane that we can keep a dog like Mercedes happy and healthy for years on end, but we know that nothing beats a real home.

Mercedes is the perfect fit for an active home; she loves to play in the yard and go for long walks or jogs, and we're sure she would be a great hiking companion. All the hard stuff is done: Mercedes is already house trained and knows basic commands! She would be happiest in a single-pet home where she can hog all the attention of her loving parents and cuddle to her heart's content.

Please help us give Mercedes the life she deserves: Share her story with your family and friends! We don't want Mercedes to celebrate another anniversary here at Woodford Humane; instead, we want her to be celebrating each and every day in her Forever Home.

Get swept up in the 2011 Feline Frenzy!

To start off 2011 right, we're doing something a little bit special for our cats and all you cat lovers out there! Cuties like Dealer (top left) and Ferdinand (bottom left) can go home for just $20.11 with a donation of large, heavy-duty garbage bags, lemon-scented Pine-Sol, or liquid laundry detergent! (And an approved adoption application, of course!) The donated supplies help us keep all of our homeless pets happy and healthy, but better yet, we're hoping it helps us find wonderful homes for many of the cats in our care. Spread the word, and help us get the fur flying...right out the door!

The 2011 Feline Frenzy ends January 31, 2011, so don't miss out: find your new best friend with us today! Our Adoption Center opens every day at noon, and we're here until 6pm on weekdays and 5pm Saturdays and Sundays.

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.

Black Friday finds homes for black pets!

The day before Thanksgiving, we decided to create a promo for Black Friday: for one day only, we waived Adoption Fees for our pets with black fur!

Six pets:

Cats: Jinx & Alister,

Senior Cockerpoo: Heath

Kitten: Cairo

Lab/Boxer mix: Tiana

Kitten Pax (no pic)

were all adopted!

7 Year Old Helps Homeless Pets

Emily Harper turns seven on November 25th.

Nine friends attended her birthday party, but instead of gifts for her, Emily asked them to bring items to help our homeless pets.

On Friday, November 19, she and her dad delivered the presents to our Adoption Center and our animals thanked Emily in person! She especially enjoyed visiting with our adoptable bunny, Deloreon.

Emily has made a difference in the lives of our homeless pets. What an inspiration!

Happy Birthday, Emily!

Humane Red & Humane White Wine

Philanthropy at its "winest"

Lovers Leap Vineyards & Winery has created Humane Red & Humane White wine to benefit our homeless animals. The labels feature two adopted Woodford Humane pets, beautifully photographed by Peggy Maness Photography.

Each bottle of wine costs $20, and of that Lovers Leap will donate $5 back to our animals. In addition, the total Humane Wine donation will be earmarked to Woodford Humane's SAVE Matching Gift and Endowment Fund, so each bottle purchased goes twice as far helping our animals!

To get Lovers Leap Humane Wines to give as a gift, or for yourself, please visit Lovers Leap at 1180 Lanes Mill Road, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. Or contact them at info@loversleap.com or (502) 839-1299.

Must be 21 to purchase Humane Wines. Lovers Leap promotes responsible drinking.