Adoptions by Appointment Only, So check out our website at: mchs.rescuegroups.org

To see bios & pics of our available animals and sub-mit an Adoption Application

MCHS is an all volunteer Organization We receive no funding from the City of Austin, Mower County, or the Humane Society of the U.S.

Shelter Report

Animals - In 2019 there were a total of 168 dogs and 222 cats adopted at MCHS. Through the third quarter of 2020 there have been a total of 150 dogs and 168 cats adopted to new homes. Both numbers are ahead of last year’s totals for the first nine months. Unfortunately however, during this time 138 new dogs and 176 new cats have come into the shelter. These 314 new animals are 88 more than what we had taken in at this point last year, and 52 of theses animals, 17%, came through the city pound.

Financial – Total expenses for 2019 were $181,366. For January through September of 2020 total expenses have been $105,987.70. Costs for veterinary services continues to be our single largest expenditure for these nine months at $58,007.09, accounting for 55% of total expenses. In 2019 total annual vet expenses were $84,550 (47%).

Events - Due to the continuing Covid-19 pandemic, we have still been unable to host the usual every other month visits to our shelter by the Minnesota Spay Neuter Assis-tance Program (MN SNAP) mobile surgical unit. All of the scheduled dates were can-celled and no new visits have yet been scheduled. We did however continue our mission of providing reduced cost spay/neuter opportunities for Mower County pet owners by hosting a Fall Feline Spay Neuter Clinic in partnership with the Austin Vet Clinic. Surger-ies were conducted throughout the month of October. Costs were $40 for a neuter and $50 for a spay, and the final tally was an impressive 33 female spays and 47 male neu-ters. When combined with the spring spay neuter clinic at AVC, which was cut short early due to Covid-19, the totals are 54 female spays and 75 male neuters. Thank you Austin Vet Clinic for continuing these all important annual events!

On Sunday September 13th we held our 24th annual Walk for the Animals fundraiser at Todd Park in Austin. As always a big thank you to all the supporters who came out to make the event a big success and resulted in net proceeds of nearly $9,000. The top fundraisers this year included Barb Lewis, Mary Mueller, Isla & Keara McIntosh, and Eli, Teegan, & Myah Buck. A special thank you to all the local businesses that helped spon-sor the event this year including Pet Supplies Plus, Old 218, Austin Vet Clinic, and Hy Vee. Please support these local businesses who do so much to support our community.

Volunteer Shelter Coordinators Dog Side: Carey Sharp

Cat Side: Kelly Rush

Board Jay Lutz – President Liz Coughlin – Vice President Kathy Stencel – Treasurer

101 22nd Street S.E. Austin, MN 55912 507-437-9262

Fall 2020

MCHS Newsletter

Melodie Ann Williamson 1956—2020

Last January the Mower County Humane Society lost a long time supporter and volun-teer. Mel Williamson volunteered at the MCHS shelter for many years, cleaning ken-nels and working on numerous fundraisers. For years she held periodic rummage sales out of her own garage to help raise money for the organization to purchase new kennels and pay for vet bill expenses. Even in her passing Mel continued to support MCHS. Last month her brother and father came to the shelter to present a check to the organi-zation from the the proceeds of the sale of Mel’s home. (Above Mel’s father Al presented the check to MCHS President Jay Lutz)

Notices: MCHS Merchandise now for sale at Pet Supplies Plus. How about a great idea for

Christmas gifts this holiday season? You can now pur-chase MCHS logo sweat-shirts (pullover and zip up),

T-shirts (short, 3/4, and long sleeve), micro-fleece jackets, cell phone Pop Sockets, and beach towels at the Austin Pet Supplies Plus Store.

For photos and pricing see

our Facebook page banner.

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Tail Tales Layla and Messi – The Opposites At our house we love the Mower County Humane Socie-ty! Two of our family members – Layla and Messi – were cared for by them before we found each other. In 2016 a horrible accident took our beloved Daisy May from us. My daughter had grown up with Daisy when we adopted her from a shelter in North Dakota. Daisy made the move with us to Minnesota in 2011. She and Daisy had been inseparable and the accident devastated her. She had been looking for a new family member for several months. When she saw Layla – love at first sight! Layla was the one for us. I have to admit when I saw her, I thought she was so big! Little did I know that she is a little dog in a big girl’s body. She jumped in the car, rode like a trooper home and came in like she lived with us her whole life! She has been with us since April 2017 and we couldn’t imagine life without her. You could tell she was very loved but sometimes circumstances change and it was our luck to get Layla! She slept right next to our daughter for about a week – and by next to her I mean her head on a pillow and their backs touch-ing! Layla is one of the best dogs we’ve ever had – eve-ryone loves her and comments on her beauty. She has human friends everywhere we go – “Hi Layla! Bring her in, here’s treats for Layla” – businesses know her well! In September 30, 2018 I lost Buster – he was an older dog who I had rescued and loved dearly – but he had heart issues and left very suddenly that night. I was so heartbroken. Layla laid on my bed next to me for about a month – she is so caring – and then let me know it was time to move on. That’s when my little fella Messi came into my life! I had not had a small dog since high school (and I’m old so that was a very long time ago). I have to say he is the most delightful dog I have ever had the priv-ilege to know. His tail is always wagging and he’s so darn happy! He filled a very deep hole in my heart when I was lucky enough to adopt him! I know he also came from a loving home but circumstances changed. When he first started sleeping with me, he would crawl under the covers and get right next to me and that surprised me. Now he sleeps next to me but above covers. He is just a joy! And guess what? He is a big dog in a small dog’s body! LOL! They both bond when it’s time for din-ner, treats or a ride in the car! They are like night and day but each is fabulous in their own way. We have a small family so they are very much a part of it. We could not imagine our lives without them! I thank all the volun-teers and Mower County Humane Society for allowing us to have these two in our lives. Both came at a time when we needed rescuing and they were the perfect fit to mend our broken hearts! When you lose a pet people say “oh I just can’t adopt right away” but I feel that the best way to honor your beloved pet is to rescue another pet soon. They would want that. Getting Layla and Mes-si didn’t take away our love and memories of Daisy and Buster but it did help mend our hearts. Please adopt!! And then adopt again! Thank you, all the great volunteers who care for the pets, before they find their homes – you are all heroes!!

Layla, a little dog in a big girl’s body.

Messi, a big dog in a small dog’s body.

Shorty (Now Emerald) When I went to MCHS, I knew just what cat I want-ed; however after holding her for a few minutes, I knew she was not for me. I looked at several oth-er cats and I had about given up, when I held Shorty. I knew she was the one for me. She was brought to MCHS when she was only 6 months old and was there for 5 years. The first thing I did was change her name. With her beautiful green eyes, I called her Emerald, Emmy for short. I had my utili-ty room all set up for her with food and a litter box. That was fine except I never saw her for the next 6 weeks. She hid during the day and came out at night to eat and use her litter box. I asked MCHS for some advice. It was really great. For several days I slowly moved the food and the litter box out of the utility room and into my office. One night as I lay in my bed, I heard Emmy eating, so I got up and closed her in the office. Then I started visiting a few times a day, and slowly started petting her. She remained on top of my bookcase. After about two weeks, as I was leaving the office Em-my snuck out. From then on she had the run of the house. After about a month she finally let me pet her and she finally came on my lap for short periods. It took a little over three months and lots of patience for this little one. Now her favorite places are looking at the birds and squirrels through my sliding glass doors and sitting on my lap. She still hides when family, friends, strangers come over, but we share a mutual love.

More Tail Tales Page 3 of 4

A shy girl, Shorty at the shelter.

Shorty in her new forever home.

Mower County Humane Society

101 22nd Street SE

Austin, MN 55912

PLACE STAMP HERE

Donation / Membership Form

Help support the homeless animals of Mower County!

Membership or Donation

Please record my Membership at the following level:

Name: __________________________________ ___ $25 Individual

Address: ________________________________ ___ $35 Family

City: ____________________________________ ___ $50 Sponsor

State: _____ Zip: ____________ ___ $100+ Patron

Business: ___ $100 Bronze ___ $250 Silver ___ $500 Gold

Please make checks payable to MCHS and mail to:

Mower County Humane Society

101 22nd

Street SE Austin MN 55912

MEMORIALS

We would like to gratefully acknowledge the following memorials we have received in memory of:

Terry Garness, Lorraine Hanson, Aidan Hegge, Ric Murphy

Carol Green, Margella Johnson, “Sadie”the dog, Katherine Seiver

Roger Slindee, Mary Regensheid, Jerry Anderson, Jack Dunlop

Shelley Oldenburg, Sally Kolb, and Melode Meyer Williamson.