Washington Humane Society HLE Division

I am writing this during a time of unseasonably warm weather for the month of December. The lack of colder temperatures this year has had positive and negative effects on the animals in the District. Many backyard dogs and homeless cats have been spared the effects of being left in the cold and our Humane Law Enforcement Officers have been able to remedy many situations before the animal was left in the cold. We have done our yearly delivery of straw to the houses of those animals that live outside. This will provide them with bedding and along with doorflaps made from donated carpets our Officers are able to ensure these animals will be protected from any upcoming cold weather and their owners will be in compliance with the law.
On the negative side many unaltered animals have continued to reproduce throughout these months due to the lack of cold weather. As any shelter or rescue can tell you fall and spring are generally kitten season and cats don’t usually reproduce throughout the winter. This year, however, we have continued to receive an influx of kittens at our shelter as cats have not slowed down their reproduction. Speaking with other local shelters and those who work with feral cats, this has been an issue across the region this year. Our spay and neuter clinic which works with public animals across the region and shelter animals in the district and Virginia has been seeing many eight to twelve week old kittens coming through. Today, animals are here from the Animal Welfare League of Arlington and a large number are small kittens. Kittens in December are almost unheard of in colder years.
Speaking of our spay and neuter clinic, our policy of scanning each animal for a microchip who comes into the clinic paid off in unexpected ways recently. This policy of scanning all animals was introduced in an effort to ensure that animals brought from the shelters were scanned an additional time (they are all scanned upon entry at the shelter as well) as well as to ensure that anyone who brings a microchipped animal in is aware their animal is microchipped. Often animals may be microchipped by the breeder and the owner is never aware their animal has a microchip. As the story below shows microchips are an essential tool in reuniting owners with their lost pets. Recently a husky was brought into the clinic and after being spayed the dog was scanned for a microchip (this is generally done during recovery period). The dog had a microchip and when the microchip company was contacted the dog came back to a different owner. When contacted, the owner reported her dog was stolen seven months ago. Thankfully the family had their dog microchipped and they were able to be reunited with her. Because the Washington Humane Society is committed to reuniting animals with their people we have stepped up our microchipping program. Please keep an eye on our website for upcoming dates for microchipping clinics and I urge everyone to have all their animals microchipped. As someone who spent three weeks in New Orleans after Katrina rescuing animals, I can tell you that the number of animals eventually reunited with their owners would have been significantly higher had all the animals been microchipped or if even a large portion of them had. The sad reality is that few animals are microchipped. With the microchipping process being as quick and easy as getting vaccinations I hope that one day people routinely microchip their animals.
In the meantime at the D.C. Animal Shelter the Washington Humane Society has Kathryn. Kathryn is a long time employee of the Washington Humane Society who has recently moved into her role as the full time lost and found coordinator. With Kathryn on the case the stray animals that come through our shelters stand a much better chance of being reunited with their owners.
Finally, just a reminder to please keep your animals safe over the holidays. There are many tempting goodies around during this time of year and it’s important to supervise our animals to make sure they don’t get into anything that might be harmful to them. The biggest problems are generally chocolate for dogs but remember that many things such as tinsel and other decorations that we may not think of as enticing may look like fun toys or treats to your animals so please keep them safe. As for me, next Monday on Christmas day I will be doing my annual rounds delivering Kongs filled with treats to the guard dogs left on the District’s lots over the holidays. In my next blog I will tell you how this years delivery went.