We thank all the businesses who allow us to place our doghouse banks at their establishments for donations from customers. We hope you will patronize them and perhaps drop in some change while you are there. They are as follows: 

Miscellaneous Businesses:

P.C. Repair Shack, Classic Car Wash (Industrial Rd.), Metzger Eye Care, Tractor Supply, Bi-County Co-Op, Heart of Healing, Healthy Alternatives

Veterinarians:

Shelby Street Veterinary Hospital, Hebron Animal Hospital, Burlington Pet Hospital, Florence Animal Clinic, Middendorf Animal Hospital, Union Pet Clinic, Walton Animal Clinic, Oakbrook Veterinary Hospital, Ft. Wright Pet Care.

 Pet Stores:

Jack's Aquarium and Pets, Crescent Springs Complete Pet Mart, Planet Pet

 Groomers: 

Especially Dogs, Doghouse Groomers, Your Best Friend Pet Salon

 Thanks to all of you who keep reloading your Kroger gift cards you got from us. We receive a check about every other month from Kroger.

Those who shop at Remke just need to fill out a form you get from us with your Remke Card number and the computer keeps track of the rebate we get. We receive a check from Remke every three months. Thanks to all of you who re-registered this year when we sent out the forms.

This is a way of donating to Friends of the Shelter without it costing you anything if you shop at Kroger or Remke markets anyway. Those of you who live in Walton or Hebron will have new Kroger stores in your area soon. Contact Carolyn for a Remke form, and Mark (991-2997) for a Kroger card.

 We are grateful for donations from Marie and Steven Gibson, Chris and Dwight Hasselberger, and Robert and Carolyn Reis.

We thank all of you who responded to the list of needed items at the 3 Northern Kentucky shelters and made donations to them directly.

We now have three locations where you can place paper to be r'ecycled and we get the money from the company. One bin is in Verona at the Verona Market near the gas pumps, another is in Burlington at the Forcht Bank on Route 18, and our new bin is in Florence on the Sachs parking lot on Spiral Drive across from Beckfield College. (This is near Sams)

You can place newspaper, catalogs, junk mail, and office scrap paper, etc. They do not want cardboard, phone books, plastic, metal or garbage placed in the bin. If these items are placed in the bin the whole thing is dumped and we get no money for that load. 

 As you search and shop on-line this year for holiday gifts, don't forget goodsearch.com and goodshop.com.

If you choose Friends of the Shelter Union, KY as your charity, you can earn money for the organization without additional expense to you. This can really add up. As of this date we have earned over $50.00 in less than six weeks.

Take a minute to look through the participating merchants and you'll find most of the businesses you typically shop with. You can book airline tickets, hotels and car rentals through this site. Please spread the word and encourage your friends and family to use goodsearch and goodshop.

We are grateful to all our members and friends who help with our various fund-raisers.
They are:
Doghouse Banks in local businesses
Pet pictures with Santa
Paper Recycling
Aluminum recycling
Cat adoptions at Complete Pet Mart
Annual Raffle
Annual PetFest
Derby Party
Remke Rebates
Kroger Rebates
Memorial Plaque
Cash for trash Program
Cash donations
If you want information about any of these, call one of the officers or board members listed at the top of the Paw Print.

I see more and more of the Spay/Neuter License plates in our area. Do you have yours?

The plates have a Beagle and a cat, paw prints and carry the message Spay and Neuter Your Pets.

The extra money for the plate or renewal goes to the State Spay/Neuter Fund to help Kentucky residents who need help with altering their pets. Please consider getting one of these plates when you renew your license plate on your vehicle.

 On October 15^th, Boone County Shelter started its spay/neuter of adopted dogs and cats from the shelter.

The fees will now be $119.00 for dogs and $89.00 for cats. For this amount the animal will have shots and worming, flea control if needed, microchipping, spay or neuter, dogs tested for heart­ worm and cats tested for feline leukemia and FIV.

Senior citizens have been getting pets free because Purina paid $50.00 for the adoptions and the person then had to spay or neuter the pet at their own expense. Now a senior who qualifies for the Purina program will pay $69.00 for a dog and $49.00 for a cat and Purina pays the rest. The senior will have no further expense.

Kenton County Shelter already spays and neuters all adopted dogs and cats before the animal goes to its new home. Campbell County shelter requires the person who adopts an animal to sign an agreement to spay/neuter the pet at their own expense. The fees vary at the local shelters for the adoption of pets.

The local shelters have volunteer opportunities. If you are interested and have time to give, call your local shelter to find out how you can volunteer. There are opportunities to help at the shelter, foster puppies and kittens, and other ways depending on the needs of the shelter. Most shelters require volunteers to be at least 18 years old.

Do you have a pet that loves people? Bonnie is looking for owners and pets to visit St. Luke Hospital, Harbor Side and Florence Park Care Centers. Many of the residents are former pet owners and they look forward to the visits with the animals. The group goes 3 mornings a month. You can commit to one or more Saturdays. Call Bonnie at 371-8380 for more information.

Each year Friends of the Shelter asks the Boone, Kenton and Campbell Shelters what equipment they need, but don't have in their budget. We use money earned from our fund-raisers to buy some of the needed items. We have received their lists and are presently purchasing the items to be delivered to the shelters. This is one way we show our appreciation to the shelter staff and hope this helps make their job easier.

We recycle aluminum as a fund-raiser. We appreciate all of our members and friends who save cans and other aluminum for us. If you don't already recycle, please consider saving your aluminum cans and other aluminum things such as old lawn chairs and anything else made of aluminum. You can drop off the bags at the barn behind the Boone County Shelter or at Carolyn's house. Call her at 371-6740 for directions

In a recent article in USA WEEKEND magazine by Steve Dale, some shocking things were brought to attention about how cats are treated in the U.S. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association cats outnumber dogs by more than 10 million (82 million to 72 million).Many of these cats are adored by their owners, but cats are more neglected than dogs, more often relinquished to shelters than dogs and less often taken to veterinarians than dogs.

Only 2% to 5% of lost cats at shelters are ever reclaimed and more cats than dogs are given up at shelters by their owners. About 30% of dogs in shelters are reclaimed by their owners. Sadly well over half those shelter cats are never adopted and most are euthanized.

We need to educate the public to how unique and wonderful cats are. They are not small dogs, but they can be as devoted, affectionate and fun in a different way, but definitely fun.

The addition to the Kenton County Shelter is well underway with an anticipated opening the first of the year. When this is finished it will help the staff to care for more animals placed 1n the shelter and serve the citizens of Kenton County. Look for an open house when this is completed.

Many of you know that you can go to petfinder.com to see what animals are available at local shelters.

Did you know that you can now donate a dog bed to your local shelter by going to their web site and logging on to the Donate a Bed Program? The maker of Kuranda dog beds has teamed up with petfinder.com to help homeless pets. All of the beds and fleece pads are provided at deep discounts. This is another way you can help your local animal shelter.

 A donation was made by Terri Sullivan to place Ginger on the Memorial Plaque at the Boone County Animal Shelter. Ginger was the beloved dog of Pat and Norbert Kneis.

For information on placing a pet on the Memorial Plaque call Carolyn.