News Update

Ginger's amazing journey

February 7, 2008 was a cold night in Mentor with temperatures dipping into the low 20’s.  The Lake Humane Society furnace was broken and the staff was scrambling to find areas in G building to house our animals because that building still had heat.  A volunteer walking one of our dogs behind the shelter in the morning came in and questioned why we had a dog in our newly built yet unfinished fenced run.  Knowing those runs should be empty we raced to the area where we found an abandoned dog and a box with 2 kittens.  The dog was shivering and had ice forming on its coat. The two kittens faired much worst.  One kitten was frozen to death and the other was clinging to life.

Shelter staff hurried to get the animals warmed up. Slowly they responded and improved with every hour. The dog was dirty, matted and hungry yet despite her horrible experience she remained gentle and trusting. The staff named her Ginger because of her beautiful golden-orange color. Once cleaned it became evident that under the dirt, mud and ice was a beautiful Wheaten Terrier that was guessed to be about 9 years old.

Ginger was placed for adoption but weeks went by without a glimmer of interest from shelter visitors. Perhaps it was because Ginger sat quietly in her run with head and eyes cast down to the floor.  She looked sad and confused.

The shelter decided to feature Ginger as the Pet of the Month to help generate interest in her. One day a family wandered in just to look at the dogs and was immediately drawn to Ginger.  “She didn’t bark,” Michelle remembers.  “She just sat quietly waiting for us to visit with her.”  During that visit the family seemed to bond immediately with Ginger.  They adopted her and took her home. A couple of weeks later Ginger’s new owner, Michelle, called me to share Ginger’s amazing story.

Michelle was chatting with her good friend one day about the great dog they had just adopted. Michelle described the dog and shared how much fun the family was having with their new pet. As the conversation developed the friend noted that Ginger sounded remarkably similar to a neighbor’s dog.  As the similarities mounted, Michelle knew she had to take Ginger to the friend’s neighborhood to see if this was Ginger’s original home.  Michelle’s friend led them to the neighbor and as the family came outside Ginger went crazy. She remembered the family and they remembered her as well.  But even as the former family greeted Ginger the mother assured Michelle that she did not want Ginger back.  Michelle was not about to let go of her family’s new love but she was eager to learn more about the dog’s background and the former owner was happy to share her story.

Ginger’s real name was Maggie.  She was just a puppy when her first owners bought her from a breeder for $900.  The couple loved and cared for Maggie-Ginger for almost 9 years before the husband passed away.  With the widow’s health failing her daughter moved mom, an aunt and Ginger into a house across the street where she could give them daily help.  But the Aunt, who was mentally challenged, and Ginger didn’t get along and soon the Aunt said Maggie-Ginger bit her which surprised everyone because this dog had never even growled at anyone.  But to be on the safe side Maggie was sent across the street to live with the daughter who also owned two of her own dogs. The daughter’s dogs didn’t take to Maggie at all and pretty soon a decision had to be made. The daughter decided to put Maggie down and took her to the vet.  While there a woman in the waiting room expressed interest in Maggie and when she learned that the dog was scheduled to be euthanized offered to adopt her. Thinking this would be better than euthanasia the daughter agreed to the adoption.  That was in November.

The time between November and February 7 is blank.  We don’t know who adopted Maggie or where she lived.  We do know that she wasn’t cared for properly because of the dirty, matted condition of her coat.  We also know that whoever had her didn’t care about her well-being because on that freezing, cold February night, Maggie was driven to the shelter, taken behind the building, lifted up and thrown over the 6’ high fence into the muddy, frozen dirt. She was left there to endure the freezing night in total darkness.

Michelle tells us that Maggie now has her own bed, plays daily with the children, rides in the car to pick the children up from school, and bounces around the house like a puppy.  No longer does she hang her head and stare at the floor. She greets everyone with a loving nudge with her nose and is happy, playful and content.

Maggie’s journey delivered her to a loving, devoted and fiercely protective family that treasures her.  Maggie-Ginger has found her loving, forever home.

LHS partners with PETFIX to bring low cost
spay and neuter to Lake County

LHS is proud to announce it has partnered with PetFix Northeast Ohio to provide affordable spay and neuter surgeries to qualifying pet owners. The service is open to owners of cats, dogs, kittens and puppies over 8 weeks of age or weighing over 2 pounds.

The mobile state-of-the-art surgical clinic is staffed by licensed veterinarians and assisted by registered veterinary technicians, and animal care technicians. Animals arrive early at LHS on surgery day and are discharged to their owners later the same day. Detailed, after care instructions along with the name and number of a local emergency animal clinic is given to pet owners when they pick up their animals.

Pet owners qualify for the low-cost surgeries by providing proof that they are low income or are receiving public assistance. Once LHS has verified pre-qualification the pet owner will need to complete registration forms and pre-pay for the surgery. Owners will also need to provide proof that the animal has received their rabies vaccine. If it has not then PetFix will include this for an additional fee. This process must be completed NO LESS THAN FOUR DAYS BEFORE SURGERY. Payment can be made with a credit card, cashier’s check or cash. Personal checks will not be accepted.

The clinic will also be made available to caregivers of feral cat colonies. Each feral cat must be in an approved cage and will receive rabies shots for an additional fee. There is a limit on the number of feral cats for each clinic and caregivers are encouraged to register early. Feral cats will have their ears notched to avoid re-trapping.

LHS has worked diligently for the last 6 months to bring this vital service to our community because it is committed to helping control the rapidly growing over-population of dogs and cats in Lake County. The first clinic is scheduled for Thursday April 24th. The second clinic is scheduled for May 29th. People interested in learning more or to register for an upcoming clinic are encouraged to contact LHS at 951-6122 and ask for Brooke or Kristeen.

Good News… Lake Humane Society is listed on GoodSearch.com.

GoodSearch is a search engine powered by Yahoo that donates 50% of its revenues to the non-profit organizations designated by its users. It is simple to use - just set your homepage to GoodSearch.com and enter Lake Humane Society as your non-profit organization that you GoodSearch for. Then, every time you search the internet, GoodSearch will allocate a portion of revenue to our shelter. Since 2005, GoodSearch has raised money for non-profits through generous donations from their advertisers. Pass the word, use GoodSearch for proven search results and together we can make the world a better place!