For the second time in less than six months, the Humane Society of Loudoun County (HSLC) has been selected to benefit from the Giant Community Bag Program. During the entire month of January, when you purchase a $2.50 reusable Community Bag at the Catoctin Circle Giant in Leesburg, $1 will be donated to HSLC.

“We are delighted and thankful that the Catoctin Circle Giant in Leesburg has selected us again as the featured non-profit for their Community Bag Program. Community involvement is essential to our mission to increase public awareness about our life-saving programs and the donations from the sale of the reusable bags will help us provide care for our at-risk and homeless animals,” shared HSLC’s President, Juanita Easton.

If you weren’t able to participate during September’s campaign, you now have a second chance in January.  The Community Bags are purple (see photos) and are located at the front of the store. Cute animals are not included (but we can hook you up if you need one!)

 

Cat Photo: Kaitlynn Stone

By Anne Senft

On August 17, tens of thousands of animals found their forever families as a result of Clear the Shelters adoption events across the nation.

The Humane Society of Loudoun County adopted out one of our young cats that day. His name was Mellow.

After weeks of preparing for the event, you can imagine how heartbroken we were that more of our wonderful animals didn’t find their forever homes that day—including our celebrity kitties, Margo and Mr. Meow Meow.

To help me bounce back personally, I headed to my favorite yoga studio where the instructor told us a story. While it was a story I had heard many times before, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

THE STARFISH Story
by Loren Eiseley

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking up and gently throwing things into the ocean.

Approaching the boy he asked: “Young man, what are you doing?”

The boy replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

The man laughed to himself and said, “Do you realize there are miles and miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make any difference.”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the surf. Then smiling at the man, he said: “I made a difference to that one.”

Mellow was that lucky starfish who got his second chance on August 17. I happened to be nearby when the teenage daughter let the foster mom know that her family was adopting Mellow.

I wish I could capture in words the pure joy I saw on the foster’s face. She was so relieved that Mellow was going to a loving home. She gave the daughter a big hug. What a wonderful addition to the family Mellow would make.

HSLC doesn’t have a physical shelter. We rely heavily on a network of dedicated foster moms and dads to provide our at-risk animals the safe haven they need while waiting for their forever families. We are so thankful to them along with our caring volunteers and generous donors who make it possible to provide the second chances these animals deserve.

One day isn’t going to keep us down. Together with your help, we will continue to fight—day after day—for the abused, neglected and abandoned animals who are counting on us to rescue them.

Because, after all, there are still a lot of starfish we must save.

 

NBC and Telemundo owned stations are teaming up with hundreds of shelters and rescue organizations across the country to host Clear the Shelters, a nationwide pet adoption drive on Saturday, August 17 to help find loving homes for animals in need. More than 250,000 pets have found their forever homes since 2015.

The Humane Society of Loudoun County will participate in this annual event by holding an adoption event at the Leesburg PetSmart from 11:00 to 2:00 on the 17^th. We will be waiving all adoption fees for the event but need sponsors to help make that possible. Sponsorships will help cover the higher than normal medical expenses we have faced due to an influx of homeless animals this year.

Current adoption fees are $150 for cats and $300 for dogs. If you are able to sponsor or co-sponsor an animal, please:

1. Visit the adoptable animals on our website.
2. Choose the animal you would like to sponsor or co-sponsor.
3. Make a donation and, in the dedication section, let us know which animal you are sponsoring. If you prefer not to choose, just type “CTS adoption event”.

NOTE: If you are donating from a mobile device, there is no dedication field.  Simply email anne@humaneloudoun.org and let her know how you would like your donation designated.

Sponsoring adoption fees will help increase our adoption rate. This, in turn, will free up our fosters so we can save more animals.

We’re off to a good start with Newk’s Eatery sponsoring three of our homeless animals for the Clear the Shelters event.  Please join them and sponsor or co-sponsor an animal today!

 

Imagine being dumped on a country road to fend for yourself in unfamiliar surroundings.

Now, imagine you’re a 3-month old kitten who is totally blind.  What are your odds of survival?

And so begins the story of Daredevil, an incredibly sweet and trusting kitten abandoned and left to die – just because he couldn’t see.  Fortunately, a friend of a Humane Society of Loudoun County (HSLC) volunteer found Daredevil and he is now safe and sound with us.

His nonstop purring and fondness for snuggling tells us that he is grateful to be alive and in such caring hands—perhaps for the first time in his young life.

Daredevil isn’t going to see again and his ruptured eyes have already been surgically removed. Currently, he is being fostered by a caring vet assistant who works at Towne Animal Clinic.

It takes a village to save a kitten’s life.  From the volunteers who rescue them from unthinkable situations to the foster parents who give them a loving home to the donors who help cover their various medical expenses. But, it’s all worth it when we can give a beautiful animal like Daredevil the happy ending he deserves.

Daredevil is looking for his forever home.  Check out his video below and see if you can resist this adorable love-muffin!

 

 

 

Thank you to everyone who completed our Pet Owner Survey earlier this summer. The results were doggone interesting!

Here are some fun findings:

 

• 69% of you have two or more pets and 71% of you have been pet owners for 16 years or more! Companionship is—by far—the number one reason you brought a pet into your home.

• Dog people (65%) outnumber cat people (63%) but only by a nose! And, let’s not forget about the folks with birds (2%), fish (4%), rabbits (4%) and other pets (10%).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Only 29% of you leave the TV or other entertainment on for your pets, but a whopping 100% of you talk to them. Over two-thirds of you take photos or videos of your pets.

• Most pets sleep in or on a bed – either their own or a human bed. Only 8% of pets sleep outside.

• Two-thirds of you met your pet through an adoption event or at a rescue center. You considered a variety of factors when choosing a pet:

If you are thinking about adopting an animal, please visit our website to learn more about the many animals looking for their forever homes.

A special kittie was adopted this week. Enos lived for years as an outside cat in a colony near Leesburg. But as we were relocating most of the cats to new homes due to threats, we realized that Enos had some vision problems due to an old wound or injury. He could still see but his vision is limited, which means he couldn’t be moved to a new outside home.

Enos showed signs of being social and friendly, so we took a chance and put him in one of our foster homes. Fortunately, Enos decided that he was ready for the comfortable life of an indoor kitty.

Enos took to indoor life like a fish to water. Turns out Enos is all about getting snuggles and ear rubs and back scratches.

And just like that, the perfect family found and adopted this 9 year old, vision impaired love bug. So now he’s getting to know his new cat brother and if all goes well, they will have many happy years of playtime together.