Where do I even start. The loose dog running down the highway? The two dogs found on the coldest night of the week with no food or water? The three cats found wearing collars huddled together in a school yard? The scared house cat found under a bush? The sweet pitti running loose, lost and confused in zero-degree weather? The poor cat injured at a recycling center? The call for help with a cat hoarding situation?

So the good news is the happy, goofy lab found running down the side of Route 17 is just fine! He is a big boy who loves everyone he meets (which tells us he once had a loving home). Sadly, we have not been able to find his owners, and no one has come looking for him. How he found himself running down the side of a busy highway will remain one of those mysteries.

Enter Wiggle Butt, a young pitti found running loose in a local neighborhood in ZERO degrees! But this girl is smart — she turned on her charms for the first person she found out in the freezing temperatures, who called our local animal control officer. As of now, her owner still hasn’t been found.

If the dogs weren’t keeping us busy enough, let’s talk cats! How did three sweet, very young cats wearing bell collars find themselves huddled together for warmth in 5-degree weather outside one of our local schools? Were they lost? Dumped? Did they follow their family’s children to school, and no one noticed? If ever you wished cats could talk! Luckily, they were spotted and scooped up before hypothermia or frostbite could set in. We are searching for their owners but, so far, we aren’t having any luck. Sadly, none of them are microchipped.

Now let’s talk about Cole, a sweet, biscuit-making kitty who was found by a man out walking his dog. At first the man thought nothing of seeing the cat underneath the bush as he walked by with his dog. But when the cat was still there on his return trip, he knew something wasn’t right. So he took his dog home and walked back to the bush and Cole was still there meowing. The kind man scooped up Cole and brought him to us. Thanks to Lost Pets of the Hudson Valley, we may have found his owners. They are on vacation but contacted us right away, believing that Cole is actually Eric and has been missing since November. Everyone please think good thoughts that we might have a happy reunion taking place very soon!

Sadly, not all of our days have happy endings. Some days we get there too late to save them. To the kitty injured at the recycling center, we are sorry we couldn’t save you, but know that in that short moment of time you touched our hearts and, if nothing more, we ended your suffering. Though we only knew you for a few minutes, we hope you understood the kindness of strangers who tried so hard and who will not soon forget you.

We ended our week with a call for help from our friends over at Ani-Mall Pet Hospital. They had been made aware of a hoarding situation in Sullivan County, where the caregiver had been put in the hospital leaving thirty cats in the house with no one to care for them! Twenty of the cats are now at Ani-Mall receiving much-needed vet care for severe upper respiratory infections, parasites and fleas. To start, six of these sweet angels will be coming to Pets Alive with the hope that, as we are able to find them loving homes, we will be able to take more from this sad situation and finally give them the lives they deserve — loved and spoiled.

It truly takes a village.

Becky Tegze
Executive Director

Our dog kennel building project Matching Challenge continues, therefore your monetary gift to help will be doubled, with the matching funds helping our dog kennel project!