"There's No Place Like Home"

The title of this blog can be attributed to Dorothy from the "Wizard of Oz" or to Perry Como and the song "Home for the Holidays". And in both cases, they ring true. For the animals at Northwoods Humane Society, living outside a stainless steel or wire kennel is what they truly want. They want people to snuggle and play with, beds to curl up on and love. They want a forever home. Right now it is a home for the holidays, but every day Northwoods has animals waiting to go home.

Now some people say you shouldn't consider adding a pet to your family during the holiday season. With parties, visitors, decorations and such, it's just too hectic for a new addition. And, in some cases, that is true. But if you have been considering an addition to your family, why not now? Why not give yourself what you truly want? My family and I just completed the adoption of the kitten pictured above. Yes, she is getting into and under the Christmas tree, but we made accomodations for her curiousity. It's great fun to watch her smack at a bulb or curl up among the plethora of stuffed Christmas animals we have at our home. And we know that because we had the room in our home and hearts for one more, we created a space at Northwoods for one more. One more animal that can get out of the cold and the snow. One more dog or cat that will soon be hoping for a home of their own.

Northwoods has two opportunities to help make the consideration of adopting this holiday season even more intriguing for you.

The first is the Twelve Days of Christmas Sale where you can "unwrap" your savings towards a pet adoption from December 12-24. Plus each adoption comes with a gift package for the new family member

The second is Foster a Lonely Pet for the Holidays. An opportunity to give the animals still in the shelter a break from their kennels from December 23-26.

Please check out http://www.northwoodshs.org/ and click on events or call the shelter at 651-982-0240 for more information.

Thank you

With no snow and few winter jacket weather days, it's hard to believe it's Thanksgiving. However, it is here, and with Thanksgiving comes the giving of thanks. Giving thanks started this week with Give to the Max Day when 19 people donated $3950 to the animals of NHS in just 24 hours. Thank you to you all. However, every day, the animals and staff at NHS have reason to give thanks.

Thank you to the volunteers who come in rain, snow, sun and mosquito weather to walk the dogs, clean the kennels and cuddle the cats. To the volunteers who answer the phone and help the customers, and to the volunteers who raise funds, work events, foster animals, serve on the board, write thank yous and so much more.

Thank you to the people who donate their hard earned money to help the animals, who bring in grocery receipts and bags of cat food or bottles of bleach. To the people who have recently lost a family friend and yet think about the other animals they can help by donating items their family member will no longer need.

Thank you to the girl scout troops, elementary schools and other groups who make items for the animals to improve their stay at NHS or ask others to donate items from our wish list.


Thank you to the kids who choose to have their friends bring food and other items for the animals for birthday gifts instead of presents for themselves. Your thoughtfulness and giving is the true meaning of this time of year.

Thank you to the people who choose to adopt and rescue an animal(s) in need. Thank you to the people who pick up the dog running along Highway 8 or the box of kittens alongside the road.

Thank you to the people who refer others to NHS when they are looking for a pet.

Thank you to the vets who reduce their fees and the schools who provide surgeries and vaccines for the animals.

Thank you to the staff who tirelessly devote themselves each day doing what they can for the animals in their care.

Thank you to the newspapers and WCCO who support NHS with free advertising and PR.


And to every one I mentioned and to you I inadvertently missed, THANK YOU for your support, your time, your empathy. An animal has found its forever home because you cared.

Sadie needs a Hero

When people call Northwoods Humane Society about surrendering a cat or dog, one of the first things many people ask is whether we are a "no-kill" shelter or not. Northwoods is a limited admissions shelter because we don't time animals out based on their length of stay, but the organization does euthanize animals for temperament and medical reasons.

And for the most part, people are satisified with this answer. They understand that we are trying to help as many animals as we can. However, I wonder what Sadie thinks about our policy. Sadie is a beautiful, petite, 3 year old black cat with a pretty patch of white hair on her chest. She is talkative and absolutely adorable when she buries herself under a blanket or newspaper and peaks out at people as they come through cat adoption. Sadie enjoys being petted but is not sure about snuggling or being held and isn't very friendly with other cats. While some consider this a barrier for adoption, I think she's earned her right to be picky about her forever home.

Sadie was 2 years old when she arrived at Northwoods. She celebrated one year of living in a kennel on September 20th, 2009. The staff and volunteers at Northwoods Humane Society have tried everything we can think of to find Sadie a home. We even think she could do okay as an outdoor cat because she does prefer people on her terms. Not that living outdoors is the best solution for a cat, but living a life in a kennel is definitely not the life anyone would hope for a cat.

If you have ever considered rescuing an animal, truly being the hero to an animal who needs it, please come meet Sadie. She deserves to go home.

Deaf Awareness Week

So what does Deaf Awareness Week have to do with Northwoods Humane Society? Well, it gives us the opportunity to highlight Maddy, a deaf Australian Cattle Dog available for adoption at NHS. Maddy is definitely a staff favorite and we would love to find her a forever home soon.

Maddy was found abandoned at Northwoods Humane Society on December 16th, 2008. She is a pretty girl who is almost 2 years old . She has the herding dog personality, and would love to go to a new home and have a job to do.

We would also say that Maddy is completely house-trained. In addition, she has quickly learned the hand signal for sit and will sit quickly for you.

Good-bye Goldie

Northwoods said good-bye to an old friend last week. Her name was Goldie. For years, Goldie transported animals for Northwoods Humane Society. She took animals to the University of Minnesota, Minnesota School of Business and Argosy University to be spayed or neutered. She transported animals to the Minnesota State Fair to be spayed. She transported countless animals to the vet and took many cats to PetSmart to be adopted from their "Adopt a Pet" Center. For years, Goldie toiled tirelessly taking animals where they needed to go. She also brought food and litter to the shelter, transported items for fundraisers and took employees to events and classes.

But finally, Goldie got tired and began to struggle on her trips. She just wasn't able to keep up with the demands of transporting so many animals anymore. So sadly, last week we had to say good-bye. Goldie was a great mini-van that served NHS well for many years.

Now NHS staff can be seen driving a newer silver van. This one doesn't have a name yet, but he or she has already started working hard for the animals of NHS. The new van is nice, but today is the day to say good-bye to an old friend. So good-bye Goldie and thanks for all you did for the animals of NHS.

You Can't Have Just One

Northwoods has a sign hanging outside its cat room that says, "Cats are like potato chips, you can't have just one." And here at NHS, we have more than one, 101 to be exact, cats and kittens waiting for their forever homes. Plus there are 27 cats and kittens currently in foster care with more and more calls received each day from people needing to surrender one or more cats.
With no end to the warm weather in sight, the calls will continue. So in order to help find homes for the cats currently in our care and be able to help more cats in need, Northwoods is asking, "Do you have room in your heart and home for one more?" Because now through September 30th, the adoption fee for all cats and kittens is 50% off. No other discounts or promotions apply. Discounted prices range from $29-$75 plus tax.

The First Post

Thank you for checking out the blog for Northwoods Humane Society. Here we hope to keep you updated about the humane society, what is happening at NHS and about some great pets that are available for adoption or, maybe, who have already found their forever homes.

Northwoods Humane Society is a limited admissions shelter. Which means we don't euthanize animals to make room for new animals nor do we take more animals than we have space. So animals at NHS are here until they get adopted which is great. The downside is we do have to turn people away who have animals they need to surrender.

Sometimes animals are available for awhile. We don't always know what causes people to pick one animal over another but there are some obvious reasons. Kittens and puppies are picked before dogs and cats. Small breed dogs go home before the large ones. And black is usually the last color picked. To help those animals who have been with us for longer, we do have a program called "Shelter Stars" which reduces the adoption fee of all animals who have been at NHS for longer than 90 days by 50%.

So if you or someone you know is thinking about adopting, ask about the "Shelter Star" program. We currently have 1 dog, 13 cats and one kitten who have been waiting for too long.