Upcoming Events: Annual Pasta Dinner & Live Auction Sunday, February 24th Holiday Inn Grand Ballroom 4:00 - 7:00 pm MNSNAP Mobile Unit Mobile Spay Neuter Van for dogs and cats Friday May 10th Register at mnsnap.org or call 612-720-8236

Vaccine Clinic Austin Vet Clinic Saturday April 27th 9:00 - 11:00 am Reduced cost vaccinations And Heartworm tests. To request our newsletter

via email contact mchs.secretary@yahoo.com

Adoption Hours Tuesdays 4:30-6 pm

Sundays 2-4 pm

507-437-9262

101 22nd Street S.E.

Austin, MN 55912

Volunteer Shelter Coordinators Dog Side: Carey Sharp

Cat Side: Kelly Rush Jane Roden

Board Barry Rush – President Liz Coughlin – Vice President Kathy Stencel – Treasurer Cathy Sorenson – Secretary

Mower County Humane Society Newsletter Winter 2019

We receive no funding

from Mower County, or the

Humane Society of the U.S.

MCHS is an all volunteer

Organization

Please support us with your next Amazon order by using:

Shelter Report

Animals - In 2017 there were 149 dogs and 218 cats adopted at MCHS. For 2018 there were a total of 142 dogs and 227 cats adopted to new homes. Of these 369 adopted animals, 159 (43%) came from the city pound. Financial – For 2018 total expenses were $170,477. With 369 adoptions, this gave us an average cost per adoption of $462.00. At the same time, total collected adoption fees in 2018 were $29,965 for an average of $81.20 per adoption. (17% of expenses per adoption) Costs for veterinary services continued to be our single largest expenditure in 2018 at $83,178, accounting for 49% of total expenses.

In summarizing the past 10 years of operations at MCHS, 2009 through 2018, we have adopted 1,301 dogs and 1,638 cats for a total of 2,939 animals. A total of 1,811 of those animals (61.6%) came from the city pound. Over that time total expenses were $1,247,816.

Events - MCHS again sponsored multiple, reduced cost spay/neuter opportunities for Mower County pet owners in 2018. Last spring the feline spay/neuter clinic, held in co-operation with the Austin Vet Clinic, again treated just over 200 area cats. This effort results in reducing the number of unwanted kittens in our area by more than 4,600 just by the end of 2018. Also during 2018, MCHS sponsored visits to our shelter by the Minnesota Spay Neuter Assistance Program (MN SNAP) mobile surgical unit. In January, March, June, August, October and December over 180 dogs and cats from throughout the county were spayed/neutered at these five events. The next visit of the MN SNAP unit for the spay-ing and neutering of dogs and cats (which is not already full) is scheduled for Friday, May 10th. (see Upcoming Events on the left side of this page for details).

MCHS Annual Pasta Dinner & Live Auction Mark Your Calendars for one of our biggest fundraisers of the year, the Annual Pasta Dinner & Live Auction. Scheduled for Sunday, February 24th from 4:00 to 7:00 pm, this year’s event will again be at the Holiday Inn Grand Ballroom in Austin. So come and en-joy a good meal and a fun event. We will again be selling advance tickets for the Pasta Dinner at $10 for adults and $4 for kids 8 and under. At the door tickets will be $12 for adults and $5 for kids. Tickets are available at the MCHS Shelter (during adoption hours), Double K Specialty, and the Holiday Inn.

Membership Renewal Time It is time to renew memberships for 2019. Membership dues are a critical part of our funding. Please use the form on the back page, and thank you for your support. Don’t forget to consider an MCHS membership as a gift idea for friends or family. - - - If you would like to help save paper (and help us save on printing and postage costs) you can receive our quarterly newsletter electronically via email. Just send an email to mchs.secretary@yahoo.com. Or, do you have a pet that is an alumni of the Mower County Humane Society and would like to have their story told in our “Tail Tales” section of the newsletter? Just drop a note to the email address above or mail to the shelter and we will get back to you to gather the information. Don’t forget to have some photos too.

mailto:mchs.secretary@yahoo.com

Page 2 of 4

Tail Tales Autumn Many times, it takes a whole village to pull off the rescue of an abandoned animal. We would like to share the journey of a kit-ten originally named Autumn who is now known as Saffron. Snoopy, Gremlin, Autumn, and Cubby Bear are adorable kittens who were rescued in rural Mower County this past summer when they were found abandoned on a farm near Waltham. The kittens were lucky enough to have been found by Barb, an amazing lady who loves cats and dogs! She took in the kittens and realized that because they were so young that they would need someone to feed them around the clock for at least a few more weeks. Her work schedule at the post office did not give her the luxury of being a full time kitten momma. Barb found help with Kim who stepped in and became a surrogate mom for 18 days, bottle feeding them until they were old enough to eat on their own. Barb took the kittens back and cared for them until there was room at the Mower County Humane Society (we had the honor of housing nearly 150 cats/kittens for a time this past year!). Snoopy, Gremlin, Autumn, and Cubby Bear came to the Mower County Humane Society in early fall, 2018 as the most adorable babies who loved to play and interact with people. We lined them up for their blood tests for feline leukemia/FIV, got them spayed and neutered, and completed the distemper/rabies shots and de-wormings. We are happy to report that all four of the kittens have been adopted to great homes. The last kitten to go was Autumn. She was the smallest of the litter of four. Her new family inquired online through Petfinder about her. They made the decision to come down from Duluth, Minnesota to meet Autumn and hopefully take her home. The adoption day was January 26, which is also the day that south-ern Minnesota received snow, and lots of it. After a 7 hour drive, Autumn met part of her family, her dad, got a loving seal of approval, and was adopted. We received word back--"Saffron, formerly known as Autumn, has fit right in from day one! She is the sweetest girl and follows us around the house. Our family has been grieving, and she has brought so much warmth to our hearts. She is truly a blessing. Thank you all at Mower County Humane Society." From the volunteers here at the Mower County Humane Soci-ety: THANKS TO ALL OF YOU who are a part of the animal rescue chain! Autumn (Saffron) snuggles and lounges in her new home

Jonah Some dogs just never seem to catch a break. Jonah is one such dog. He originally came to us in 2011 as a young and handsome guy. Everybody loved him and he was adopted quickly, staying in his first home for over 3 years. Unfortunately, life changes for people and it did for Jonah’s first family. He was returned to our shelter and com-ing back was hard for this big guy. He seemed depressed, kind of like the wind had been knocked out of him. As a mature dog, he had to wait a bit longer for a new home this time. Jonah was adopted again and spent the next 3 years of his life loved and happy. However, you guessed it, his family’s life changed. He found himself, once again, back at the shelter. Being back at the shelter this time was especially hard for our Jonah. He was a senior dog and had a very large growth on one of his hind quarters. Vet exams showed that it was a large cancerous tumor. Due to its size and location, it was inopera-ble. Tests also showed that there were cancer cells in other smaller growths on his body. Although Jonah did remain up for adoption, vol-unteers resigned themselves to the idea that he would remain at the shelter for the remainder of his life. After all, who would want to take on an older dog with cancer? A dog whose life expectancy could be anywhere from a few months to a few years? Months passed and Jonah remained at the shelter. He took medications twice a day and luckily, showed no signs of illness. He seemed like a happy guy. The idea of him living out his life at the shelter was depressing for the vol-unteers, but they did what they do best: loved and nurtured him and hoped. Prayers were answered. A young woman came to the shel-ter, looking for a companion. She wanted and needed someone with whom to share her life. She came looking specifically for Jonah. For the first time in months, the light came back to Jonah’s eyes. Jonah is at home now with his new person. She gushes about him and the happiness he brings to her life. She doesn’t dwell on the amount of time he might have left. It’s all about the here and now, and for both of them, the here and now is pretty sweet.

More Tail Tales Page 3 of 4

Rhaegar Rhaegar is a loud and proud bluetick coonhound who came to the shelter as an owner surrender. He is a young guy, now about 2 years old. He was rescued by someone from a neglectful home. His rescuers couldn’t keep him as a very loud hound did not mesh well in their residential neighborhood. Rhaegar’s res-cuers did take him to their vet. He was found to have what sounded like a severe heart murmur. It turned out to be a whole lot more complicated than that. Rhaegar was referred to the Cardiology Dept. at the University of MN Veterinary Medical Center in St. Paul for an echocardiogram. This revealed that he was in the beginning stages of congestive heart failure due to complex congenital heart disease. In other words, his heart was badly broken. He was born with at least 6 horrendous defects in his heart. Seriously, how he was still alive and kicking was anybody’s guess! The good news was that there was a non-invasive surgical option. A “balloon valvuloplasty” would hopefully re-duce the pressure in his heart and help the blood to flow easily. Of course, it would be expensive, around $6,500. We decided that as a young dog, Rhaegar deserved the chance to live his life. He’s evidently a fighter and we decided to fight the battle with him. The first stage of his surgery took place on Jan. 9th and had a very “pleasing result”, according to his cardiolo-gist. The pressure in his pulmonary artery valve was reduced by 80%, which is better than anticipated. Rhaegar just went with the flow, not sure what all the excitement was about. We’re not done yet. Stage 2 of his procedure is scheduled for Feb. 20th. We all have our fingers, toes, and paws crossed that this next, more involved surgery, will be just as success-ful. We are incredibly grateful for all of the donations we have received in Rhaegar’s name. This guy means a lot to all of us and the support we have got-ten means a lot, too. Donations can be made right at our shelter or mailed to 101 22nd St. SE in Austin, 55912. We also have a GoFund me page set up in Rhaegar’s name.

Jonah on his adoption day, and lounging happily in his new home.

Mower County Humane Society

101 22nd Street SE

Austin, MN 55912

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Donation / Membership Form

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Membership Information - Please Print Membership Type and Level

Name: __________________________________ ___ $25 Individual

Address: ________________________________ ___ $35 Family

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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:

Marjorie Leak, Tim Brady, Gene Roden, Tom Bridges, John Murphy, Mike Iverson, "Ginger" and "Ellie" Smith, Marguerite Hallman, Don Olson, Beverly Houston, Terry Garness, Phyllis Sammon,

"Magic", Raymond Nemec, and "Denver and Aspen" Bue.

And In Honor of :

Michelle & Gene Enos, "Patches" Oehler, and “Leo” Thompson.