Saving lives, finding homes

For both the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri and Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary, finding families for their boarders is mission critical. Staff and volunteers work tirelessly to present pets to the community through mobile adoptions, pet photos in the Southeast Missourian, segments on television and special events in the park and at businesses.

October is National Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, and as both facilities see many puppies and dogs coming in, educating the community about the benefits of shelter adoption is important.

Gila Todd, resource development director with the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri has a saying: "Adopt a pet, save a life, enrich many and open a kennel for another in need."

That echoes the sentiment of those striving to find homes for these animals.

"Even though we are a no-kill [shelter], they're saving a life because then we can take in another dog," said Alice Wybert, director at Safe Harbor. "I want them adopted, and I want these animals to be loved and treated well as a member of the family."

Volunteer Lacey Hink hands a puppy to Joshua Phillips, 9, to play with Saturday during a mobile pet adoption event at Walmart in Cape Girardeau.

When adopting from either facility, people are asked to fill out an adoption application, answering questions to ensure the pet will be going to a good home and not returning to the shelter.

"We talk to them about where the dog is going to be, what their family life is like," Wybert said. "We don't want a big, energetic dog in an apartment. Those are things we talk about, and we have them take the dog up to the exercise pen and play with them."

Todd said a lot of times, people bring their current pets to the shelter to see if they are compatible with the dog they want to adopt.

"It's a test drive of sorts, to make sure that both pets will like one another," she said.

Wybert agreed, and said it's also a good opportunity for people with children to see how they will react with the potential pet.

Cheryle Dillon, executive director with the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri, said the shelter follows similar guidelines for adoption. The Humane Society also places Home Again microchips in every adopted animal for easy identification if the pet is lost or stolen.

Both facilities vaccinate and heartworm test the dogs, as well as deworm and perform health examinations. They also stress the importance of spaying and neutering pets.

"State law says that any animal that is adopted from a shelter must be spayed or neutered," Dillon said. "For puppies, they can take the puppy home that day and we give them a certificate to get a reduced cost on the spay or neuter. After they get the surgery done, they get back $30 from the adoption fee."

The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri offers the Spay Neuter Assistance Program that assists low income families with altering their pets. Applicants fill out a short application and show proof of income and, if approved, the cost is only $25 for a cat and $35 for a dog. The program will cover up to two pets per family.

Safe Harbor wants to make sure that puppies that aren't old enough to get altered are still taken care of.

"What we do is we adopt them out, and then when it gets time for their spay or neuter, we get an appointment made," Wybert said. "They pay the full price for the dog and the spay or neuter is on our bill."

Many different breeds of dogs are available at both facilities, from mixed breeds to purebreds.

"There are many purebred dogs; we've got a cocker spaniel out there now, and we just adopted out three Pomeranians," Wybert said. "We've got some nice dogs out there, we really do, and they would love to go home with somebody."

The Humane Society and Safe Harbor both feel the economic crunch of reduced donations and are using special events to raise money to feed, shelter and care for their animals.

"We're always in need of puppy food," Dillon said. "People bring adult dog food, but they never seem to bring the puppy food for the little ones. We always have a lot of puppies."

Safe Harbor has a fundraising event Saturday at Port Cape. There will be appetizers and a cash bar, as well as a silent auction. There will be live music from Etherton Switch from Carbondale, Ill., as well as Doug Rees, Don Greenwood and Chris Moore, and the headliner is the Ivas John Band. Tickets are $15 in advance and are available at Busch's Pet Products and the Safe Harbor Thrift Store.

The Humane Society will have a mobile pet adoption where people can meet animals and get more information on adoption from 1 to 4:15 p.m. Saturday at West Park Mall. The organization will have its first-ever Humane Society Music Fest on Nov. 19 at Breakaways. The charge is $5, with all door proceeds and part of the bar proceeds going to the shelter. There will also be shirts available for purchase.

More information on the adoption process and requirements as well as the special events can be found at www.semopets.org and www.safeharboranimalsanctuary.org.

Pertinent addresses: Humane Society, 2536 Boutin Drive, Cape Girardeau, MO

Safe Harbor, 359 Cree Lane, Jackson