Bernice, the beloved pet of Sandra and Charles Horning, and the beloved pets of Fran Piper, have been added to the Memorial Page on our web site www.friendsoftheshelterky.org/myfaithfulfriends.aspx

To place a lasting memorial on-line for your pet calls Lorie Clary of Faithful Friends Pet Memory Center at 282-6527. The donation goes to Friends of the Shelter.

Plans are coming together for PetFest 2008 on Sunday, June 29^th, at Boone Woods Park in Burlington.

We need your help in obtaining items for the raffle and the silent auction. Please ask at businesses you frequent. The letters have gone out, but many businesses will only donate if asked personally. We could use some baskets and jewelry gift boxes to display items on the silent auction. If you can help call Bonnie or Carolyn.

We will also need soft drinks, and water donated for our food booth.

Have you seen our doghouse banks in local business places? We are having some new ones painted and need some new places to put them. This is one of our fund-raisers. If you have a place for us to put a bank, call Bonnie or Carolyn. We presently have banks in the following businesses:

P.C. Repair Shack, Shelby St. Vet Hospital, Hebron Animal Hospital, and Burlington Vet. Hospital, Tobacco Row, Jack's Aquarium & Pets, Florence Animal Clinic, Middendorf Animal Hospital, Classic Car Wash (Industrial Rd.), Union Pet Clinic, Metzger Eye Care, Especially Dogs, Complete Pet Mart, Marci's Pet Salon, Walton Animal Clinic, Doghouse Groomers, Tractor Supply, Bi-County, Your Best Friend Pet Salon, Oakbrook Vet Hospital, and Pac Mail. When you see one of our banks please drop in some spare change.

If you are a Remke or Kroger Shopper, we hope you are a part of their program to help charitable groups. If not, it is easy to help us when you shop. At Remke you just have to sign up and designate Friends of the Shelter to receive one percent of your purchases each time you use your Remke Preferred Customer Card. Both are available at the service desk. The rest is automatic and we get a check quarterly.

Kroger's program operates differently. You must get a Kroger Gift Card from us. The card number is registered to Friends of the Shelter. You load the card with any amount you wish. We receive four percent of the money loaded on the cards registered to us. The cards can be loaded over and over so don't turn the card in. I load mine with a credit card to make it easier and I even get a rebate from my credit card company. Each time you buy groceries, gas, or drugs you swipe your card and there is nothing to fill out or sign. It is really easy and the register receipt tells you each time how much is left on the card. To get a card, call Mark at 991-2997.

Most of the local shelters can still use blankets, towels, treats, toys, etc. Call your shelter to see if they can use items that you want to give. Items do not have to be new. They just need to be still usable.

We are grateful for donations from the following: Teresa Sullivan, Robert & Carolyn Reis, Monica Braunwart, Roger Hahn in memory of Lena Meyer, Mona Snyder, Amy Peterson, Karen & Earl Sullivan, Nancy Hawkins for PetFest, Annette Klein and Bonnie Ravenscraft in appreciation to Cheryl Clark for her help

 Don't forget to keep saving aluminum and paper for our recycling programs that bring us money.

The aluminum can be left at the Boone County Shelter or at Carolyn's house. The paper can be left in the bins at the Verona Market or the Forcht Bank in Burlington or at Carolyn's house. Call Carolyn for directions.

Pretty Girl, the beloved cat of Joyce and Jesse Baker was added to our Memorial Plaque at the Boone County Shelter. If you would like to add an animal please call Carolyn for information.

Many of you have taken advantage of the new low-cost spay/neuter clinic in Cincinnati called UCAN. They have been overwhelmed with the response from the Tri-State area. Because of rising costs to provide their services they will be raising their fees on May 1^st, 2008. Their fees will still be affordable for most and they do accept vouchers from shelters and humane organizations such as ours. Just ask the fee when you call for an appointment. They are located at 1230 West 8th Street. Their phone number is (513) 721-7387.

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.

Did you know that people who own pets are healthier and live longer than those who don't? It has been shown that caring for a pet reduces stress and blood pressure.

Many local shelters have programs to assist senior citizens with the cost of adopting a pet.Check with your local shelter if you are thinking of adding a pet to your home.

My phone rings constantly with requests for help. Some we can help; some we cannot. We help citizens of Northern Kentucky with vouchers to pay part of the cost of spay and neuter of cats and dogs to enable them to keep their pets and prevent unwanted litters. This in turn reduces the number of animals going to local shelters, giving the animals there a better chance for adoption. These vouchers are accepted by most of the local veterinarians. What the citizen pays depends on the facility they choose.

We also have a grant from D.J.& T Foundation to pay the full cost of dogs owned by citizens who cannot afford to have their dog altered. We have two veterinarians offering us reasonable prices for these. UCAN and Kindred Spirits. Most of this fund has been spent, but we will apply for a new grant.

We recently received notice that we were awarded $2,000 from the Kentucky State Spay/Neuter License Plate fund. We will use this to issue vouchers to help make spay/neuter affordable for citizens of Northern Kentucky.

Many persons who adopt shelter animals call us for help in altering. If the animal has been adopted from Boone or Campbell Shelter, the adopter has signed an agreement that they know they have to spay/neuter the animal at their own expense and have to do it by a set date. In this case we offer no help unless we have selected an animal in advance to help with the neutering to encourage its adoption.

We will help if the shelter does not have mandatory spay/neuter such as Grant County Shelter.

We do not take animals to foster and find homes nor do we pay veterinary bills for sick or injured animals. We couldn't possibly have the funds to pay vet bills and have money left to alter up to 1000 animals a year.

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.

 A new website has been launched to help people, interested in volunteering or to make donations to non-profit groups in our area. Friends of the Shelter will be listed on the web site. Visit nkyhelps.org to see what opportunities are available here in Northern Ky.

May 18^th to 24^th is National Dog Bite Prevention Week sponsored by the American Veterinary Medical Association . (www.avma.org )

Parents need to teach their children ways to avoid dog bites since children are the most vulnerable.

They should never pet a dog without permission from the owner and never a stray dog.

Running and screaming can excite a dog and cause it to chase and perhaps bite in play. Small children should never be left alone with even a family pet. For more information visit the web site.

May 4^th to 10^th is Be Kind to Animals Week. The sponsor is the American Humane Association.

www.americanhumane.org .

Many organizations sponsor adopt-a-thons in conjunction with this week. If you are thinking of adding a pet to your household, this is an excellent time to visit a shelter or other adoption venue.

Our thanks to all of the wonderful people who save paper and aluminum for us to recycle, and also those who sign up for us to receive rebates from Remke and Kroger Groceries.

Last year we received $1,002.45 for the recycled aluminum and $425.89 for the paper. The Remke rebates were $611.53 and the Kroger rebates were $1,182.44.

All these things add up to a considerable amount we can use to help animals. Recycling also helps the environment and if you shop at Remke or Kroger it takes very little effort to arrange for us to get the rebates.

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.