2023 Protect MI Pet roundtable review

If you haven’t heard, there’s a lot of excitement building among Michigan’s animal welfare advocates. Protect MI Pet is taking it to the voters to decide if our state should have a publicly accessible, searchable database of convicted animal abusers.

And it doesn’t stop there. Right now, if pets are seized from a suspected abuser, they can sit for months or years in animal shelters, waiting to learn their fate. Will they be returned to their suspected abuser or will they be allowed to find a loving home? The justice system moves slowly, and our pets’ lives are already short.

Camp Bow Wow Hudsonville

Growing up in Fremont, Michigan, Alicia Offringa was always surrounded by dogs, cats and the occasional lizard. As the owner of Camp Bow Wow Hudsonville, she’s still surrounded, but just by dogs.

“My goal was to work in a zoo,” Alicia said. “While I was studying for a biology degree at Grand Valley State and working for the Humane Society of West Michigan, a family friend offered me the opportunity to be the manager of the new Camp Bow Wow Hudsonville. I started work there on the very day it opened 16 years ago.”

Registration now open for One Voice conference

Join us in Grand Rapids, Sept. 21-22, for an exciting opportunity to network with Michigan’s animal welfare community and to learn all about what’s new and what’s next.

We’re excited to announce two keynote speakers at this year’s conference: Dr. Marty Becker, founder of Fear Free®, and Denise Evans, diversity, equity and inclusion expert and founder of Consult Me, LLC.

Little Traverse Bay Humane Society

Some organizations live up to their guiding philosophy. Some fall short. Count Little Traverse Bay Humane Society among the ones that make their words work.

The Harbor Springs shelter was established in 1951 from what they term “humble beginnings” and now boasts a number of affiliated for-profit services, such as veterinarian services, boarding, grooming, day care and training that feed their bottom line.

Video On Demand

Michigan Pet Alliance maintains a database of training and DIY videos. Check them out online any time. Some videos are free and some are paid, but when you become a member of MPA, the entire video library becomes free to you.

Adopt-A-Pet in Fenton

At Adopt-A-Pet in Fenton, enrichment and learning are such key activities for the dogs and cats there, training sessions are as regular an activity in their lives as eating and sleeping. Every dog is given a training session every day. Adopt-A-Pet’s spacious eight-acre grounds include wading pools, four fenced play yards and an agility course. This summer, Maddock is planning an outdoor “Zen Den” with different smells and textures to provide even more enrichment.

Capacity Crisis: Let’s Talk About Solutions

MPA experts discuss solutions to the “capacity crisis” facing animal shelters across the country. The panel consists of industry experts sharing their approach to managing this unprecedented challenge. Our experts review current data to identify some of the causes of the crisis. Additionally, they discuss tactics to successfully help animals find homes during the adoption slowdown and for keeping animal guests safe and happy for the extended stays many of them are experiencing in shelters.

Humane Society of Macomb

Tool & die shop owner George Fox was an animal lover who had a dream to someday build a shelter where homeless pets would be cared for and safe. In 1955, he and a group of like-minded friends bought seven-and-a-half acres of land in Shelby Township and began to raise money to fulfill that dream.

H.O.P.E. Animal Shelter

In Gogebic County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, H.O.P.E. stands for Help Orphaned Pets Everywhere. That’s been the mission of the H.O.P.E. Animal Shelter since its inception in 1992.

No Kill was the philosophy of the original H.O.P.E. founders, who wrote it into the organization’s charter. The shelter has maintained a save rate of between 95 and 99% since then, making it one of the first No Kill shelters in Michigan. In 2011, the Michigan Pet Fund Alliance recognized the people of Gogebic County as one of 10 Michigan No Kill communities saving homeless cats and dogs through life-affirming programs.

FeLV Cat Adoption Program

Humane Society of Huron Valley (HSHV) in Ann Arbor is one of several shelters in Michigan that has an adoption program for cats diagnosed with feline leukemia (FeLV). We spoke with Gary Evans, the clinic director at HSHV, to learn more. Wheels by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Artist:… Continue reading FeLV Cat Adoption Program

What is FeLV?

Learn more about what Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) is, how to test for it, what symptoms to look for and how to prevent it.

Music Credit:
Inner Light by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300021
Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Reva Laituri, UPAWS

During Reva Laituri’s tenure, UPAWS has gone from a save rate of just 37% to saving 97% of the animals in UPAWS’ care. In 2019, a new $3.6 million state-of-the-art shelter was completed under her leadership, thanks in part to a $1.6 million bequest from UPAWS supporters Philip and Ruth Spade, for whom the new shelter is named.

Feral Cat Assistance … You Can Be the One for Change

By Jenny German, TNR Advocate Just after turning 40, the idea of helping feral cats was something I had never entertained as I truly didn’t know much about these felines, nor had I ever heard of the acronym TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return).   That all changed in 2003 when I learned of a large colony of cats in my… Continue reading Feral Cat Assistance … You Can Be the One for Change

C.H.A.I.N.E.D. INC.

Gina and Jim Freemon of C.H.A.I.N.E.D. INC. walk up and down, through empty lots and alleys, passing abandoned homes, looking for a dog that neighbors reported as living chained to a porch without shelter. The Freemons are working one of their December outreach events for C.H.A.I.N.E.D. in southwest Detroit.