Waiting in the airport, Federal Express pilot Richard Vantour of Big Lake picked up a copy of the July 13 Homer News. Across the front page were photos of 21 animals, all of them residents of the Homer Animal Shelter. All of them needing homes.
Among them was a puppy, its dark brown eyes staring into the camera. Its black, short hair hinted at a lab-mix heritage, just like two dogs already sharing Vantour’s residence.
“He called the shelter to see if we still had the dog, then flew it back to his home in Big Lake,” said Sherry Bess, Homer’s animal control officer.
Although it is now a bigger dog than either of its canine housemates, the former shelter puppy has settled right in.
“He’s really an awesome dog,” Bess said of reports she has received from the pilot.
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After seeing Lady on the cover of the Homer News in July, an Anchorage woman made two seperate trips to Homer before finally adopting her. Sherry Bess, HomerŐs animal control officer, said both the dog and owner are both doing fine. The same canŐt be said for Fluffy Louise. After being adopted by an Anchorage family, the cat jumped out of the car while it was stopped in Anchor Point and hasnŐt been seen since. There are plenty of animals to adopt right now as the facility on the Sterling Highway is full.
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Lady, a purebred bloodhound, captured the attention of a woman from Anchorage. Knowing that a bloodhound’s purpose in life is to follow its nose, which makes this type of dog nearly impossible to contain, the woman brought pictures of her Anchorage residence to Bess to see if it would do the trick.
“She drove all the way down here from Anchorage, and then came back a couple days later to adopt Lady,” Bess said. “She even brought us a picture of her house with an 8-foot tall fence and a really large fenced-in yard.”
Lady shares her new space with another dog and is benefiting from some specialized dog training.
“She is doing really well,” Bess said.
Mocha, another dog featured in the July article, won the heart of an Anchor Point woman.
“The lady drives a truck and Mocha is her constant companion, so they’re on the road a lot,” Bess said. “Mocha loves her new home.”
Others animals featured in the article also found homes, including Porkchop, a guinea pig.
“(A family) adopted her and then they moved so they brought her back, but she’s been adopted again and is doing just great,” Bess said. “This is a family with two boys and I don’t think she’ll be coming back. That’s a good sign.”
Those are the happy, feel-good stories. Then there’s Fluffy Louise, a feline that was on her way to a new home in Anchorage, but never made it.
“They stopped in Anchor Point and had the window down on the car. Fluffy Louise got out and hasn’t been seen since,” Bess said.
Some animals lack the warm and fuzzy nature that attracts humans. That is a fatal flaw when it comes to finding a home and singles them out for euthanasia.
“The shy ones don’t do well because when people walk in the door, they want a cat that’s going to come running, jump on their lap, rub up against them, want to be petted and loved,” Bess said. “When they’re shy and we’re full, those are that ones that are going to go.”
A full house is exactly what Bess is facing. In just one month — September — 72 cats and kittens were brought to the Homer Animal Shelter.
“We’re full now because people are moving into apartments and rentals where no pets are allowed,” Bess said. “We’ve also had many cats come in because people saw strays around their houses all summer, but now it’s cold the cats are in trouble. People have moved away and abandoned their cats that have since had kittens, so the moms and kittens are being brought in.”
Among the shelter’s current residents are intelligent, loveable animals that desperately need homes. Take, for instance, Earl, a neutered male cat with short black hair.
“One day we caught Earl, standing on his hind feet, with his claws wrapped through the cupboard doors, opening them,” Bess said.
Earl’s target was the shelter’s linen closet. From it, he extracted clean bedding on which his shelter mates comfortably settled down.
“He’s so smart. Someone needs to adopt him,” Bess said.
And there’s Mac, a large, friendly male feline that has claimed the top of the shelter’s cat tree. And there’s Harry, a young adult, neutered male with a mellow personality. And there are plenty of others.
Not everyone can take an animal home, but there are other ways to brighten these creatures’ temporary residence at the shelter.
“You can take them for walks or come sit in the cat room and pet them,” Bess said. “That helps a lot.”
The Homer Animal Shelter is located across from Public Works off the Sterling Highway. Shelter hours are Tuesday-Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call 235-3141.
McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.
