Family Reunited with Missing Dog After Eighteen Months

The Johnson family from South Haven put out flyers and even posted a reward when their Siberian Husky Rufus went missing with out a trace. 18 months later a family member was browsing pet adoption websites and saw a photo of a red and white husky being housed at the Wexford County Animal Shelter in Cadillac. Click here for more info.

Breast Cancer Awareness Takes Many Forms at Northwood Animal Hospital

During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Northwood Animal Hospital has invited community members and customers to join in a conversation about breast cancer awareness and the crucial role that support plays in recovery. Led by Dr. Jen Klabunde (DVM, CVCP), the local vet and animal hospital has highlighted breast cancer awareness with pet owners, and stressed the importance of taking action as a community to support those fighting cancer.

Cadillac Mayors Race Could Impact the Future of the Wexford County Animal Shelter

In January of 2013, Mayor Bill Barnett interviewed previous Wexford Co. animal shelter employee Kathy Dennis about inhumane activities occurring at the animal shelter including accusations of heart sticking (intracardiac euthanasia) without sedation and not holding animals through their stray period. A few days later, Pet Friends Magazine also reported on this story which you can read here.

Great strides have been made since January thanks to the exposure of shelter activities and volunteer involvement with the shelter. Taxpayers have attended county meetings to keep up-to-date on issues, volunteers are networking pets, animals are being socialized more, heart sticking has stopped, the kill numbers are substantially lower and monitoring of the shelter continues by Pet Friends Magazine as well as volunteers and community members.

Still, more needs to be done, and many are not happy that the shelter remains under the control of Sheriff Finstrom and the Sheriff’s Department. There has not been any accountability for past activities that ACOs were involved in, except for fines to the county from the Michigan Dept. of Agriculture. In addition, volunteer policies are not friendly with minimum hour limits they need to be there per month and limits on the number of volunteers that can be at the shelter at one time. Additional changes have been made to the ordinance such as the county not having to take in cats in the future. The Sheriff’s Dept. has also stopped adoption sponsorships on the animals which has been a great marketing tool for shelters all across the country. Many taxpayers believe that the county continues to lack accountability and financial transparency. The ACOs haven’t been held accountable for not vetting animals, not keeping animals on their proper stray holds and other violations of the state. (the State’s report can be viewed here.)

Homeward Bound – Animal Rescue Group Learns More About How to Help Pets

AC PAW volunteer Sally Kavanaugh and founder June McGrath are investing in the future welfare of area dogs and cats by continuing to learn how to serve them in bigger and better ways. Both women each attended a different seminar co-sponsored by pet store chain PetCo and Petfinder, the website by which many of their rescued animals find new homes. Click here for more on the story.

The PANT-try Shelf Helps Feed Pets in Need

photo credit: sheknows.com

The PANT-try Shelf is a pet food bank that helps pets and their families in need in Grand Traverse County and now in Cadillac. The program is run by Jess Hoedeman from the group “Frisco & Joey’s Mission.” Jess is one of those animal rescuers who shows up at all the regional pet events, helping network pets in need and working with whatever animal shelter or rescue group is looking to save lives. The PANT-try Shelf is an effort that’s very close to her heart.

Pet Crisis Center Raises $6,000

The 13th Annual Chili Cook Off and Silent Auction was a great success! Over 300 people attended raising $6,000.00 for the Pet Crisis Center in Bellaire.

Best Chili in Antrim was:

1st place was The Pelican Inn #1

2nd place was Lulus Bistro # 7

3rd place was Moka #2

Bentley says thanks for all the support and is wondering why no one has adopted him yet. You can read more about him here.

Missaukee County Humane Society Needs Cages to Help Get More Cats Adopted

The Missaukee County Humane Society would like to hold adoptions at Tractor Supply every Saturday and some Sundays. In order to do that, they need more cages so they can leave them at the local store and just use their vehicles to transport the animals instead of big cages. Having more cages at the store means more animals having the chance to get adopted!

They would like three to four cages and each cage costs $114 plus shipping. To donate towards this, you can click here.

You can also send a check to: Missaukee Humane Society, PO Box D Lake City, MI 49651. Partial donations are welcome – just write what your donation is for.

Community Pet Education Day Comes to Williamsburg in November

It’s almost time for AC Paw’s Community Pet Education Day on Saturday, November 2nd from 10 am to 5 pm at the Mill Creek Elementary School in Williamsburg. This event is also sponsored by Bowsers by the Bay with all proceeds going to No Unwanted Pets. Registration starts at 9:30 a.m. and the cost is $20 for adults 19 and older; $10 for students 10-18 years old and kids nine years old and under are free.

Grayling Group Urged to Explore Other locations for Dog Park

Crawford County officials have asked residents seeking to place a dog park on county-owned property to study their options.

Tom Brooks attended the Crawford County Board of Commissioners committee meetings last week, seeking use of county-owned property for the Grayling Bark Park.

Brooks said citizens spearheading the development of the dog park have formed a board, are working with Gaylord attorney Paul Slough on regulations for the park and are seeking to gain 501-C3 non-profit status through the federal government. Click here for more info.

Wexford County Adopt-a-Thon a Success: 27 Pets Adopted

The Adopt-a-Thon held at the Wexford County Animal Shelter on Saturday, October 12th. Unlike the open house event in July, this event was focused on adopting the animals and the county commissioners approved paying for FREE spay/neuters for all animals adopted on that day. Incentives are a great way to get people motivated to adopt if they’ve been thinking about it and this Adopt-a-Thon certainly proved that point.

First adoption of the day! Photo credit: Judy Nicols, Wexford County Shelter Shares Facebook site.

Michael McCready, a Wexford resident who is involved in monitoring shelter activities and improvements, got the Adopt-a-Thon ball rolling by talking to the Undersheriff about holding such an event this fall. Volunteers got together with Animal Control Officers and the county to make it happen.

Jack is Looking for a Foster Home

Jack is 12 years old and a possible Aussie/Cavalier mix. He had a good home but they have to move and could only take one dog. Poor Jack misses having a family and really needs a foster home right now as he recovers from surgery. He has one of those fun cones on his head so he will leave his stitches alone. He has a bit of separation anxiety (which is to be expected when you are abandoned) but is very loving and affectionate. He gets around well and loves to take walks. He is a bit overweight so he’s eating diet dog food. If you can help Jack out and foster him, please call Crystal at 938-1683 or email cyarlott@earthlink.net.

No Unwanted Pets Receives $10,000 Matching Grant Challenge

No Unwanted Pets has learned that they will get a $10,000 donation for their participation with Swingshift & the Stars if they can come up with an additional $10,000 in donations between now and December 20th. You can donate to No Unwanted Pets at by clicking here.

Two Cases of Circovirus Confirmed in Dogs in Michigan

The Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health at the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine has now confirmed two cases of canine circovirus in Michigan. Dr. Lindsay Ruland from the Emergency Veterinary Hospital in Ann Arbor said she was worried because six dogs showing symptoms of the virus have died in the past month. The deaths typically occurred within 12 to 24 hours after the onset of symptoms. She says hundreds of other dogs have also gotten sick. Click here for more info.

Recently Introduced Michigan Senate Bill 560 Would Have an Impact on Stray Hold Laws, Dog Breeders and the Gassing of Pets by Shelters

photo credit: Michigan Humane Society

Senate Bill 560 was introduced Tuesday, October 2, 2013 by Senator Steve Bieda (Warren) and assigned to the Senate Agriculture Committee. The bill requires large large-scale commercial dog breeders in Michigan to be registered with the state and follow established guidelines of care for the dogs and puppies in their facilities. It would also limit the size of large-scale breeders.

The law also updates stray animal holding times in animal shelters. According to the Michigan Humane Society, who helped craft the bill, a shorter hold time for stray cats without identification (two days) would move stray cats into shelter adoption streams more quickly, thereby reducing disease outbreak and enabling more cat lives to be saved by adoption. Dogs without ID would have a four day hold. Animal with identification would be held for 7 days and the ID traced. Shelters could count weekend days if open for animal reclaim.

A Summary from the Cherryland Humane Society’s Annual Meeting in September

The Cherryland Humane Society’s Annual Meeting took place on Monday, September 9th. At the meeting, members received a packet that included information on CHS accomplishments in 2012, the financial report for 2012, the budget for 2013 and shelter statistics for 2012 (intake and euthanasia information).