From the President

Post date: Jun 17, 2015 11:05:40 PM

From the President

Dear RCHS Supporters,

The past few months have been busy for RCHS, with a number of our animals requiring more than routine medical care. One such animal was my foster, little Cinnamon (pictured below). Cinnamon came to RCHS after her owner passed away. When Cinnamon arrived with RCHS she was emaciated, her nails were so long that they were penetrating her pads and she had a very large mammary tumor that touched the ground when she was standing. The tumor turned out to be cancerous but, luckily, it was removed before it spread. Subsequently, after several months of a top- quality diet and lots of love (oh, how I do love her) Cinnamon was adopted by a wonderful couple that adores her.

As anyone who fosters pets knows, fostering is an extremely rewarding and emotional experience. For me (as I expect it is for all "foster parents") it is always somewhat difficult to part with my foster pets, but there are some that I become especially attached to. Cinnamon was one of those. She was a foster that I seriously considered adopting, and I shed a few tears (well, maybe more than a few tears) when she left my home. But during that time of heartache I reminded myself why I foster homeless dogs and cats and why it is important that I let them go to loving homes: It is about the greater good. It is about saving, nurturing and then finding wonderful forever homes for as many of these very deserving animals as we can. As hard as it was to give up Cinnamon, and many other animals that I have fostered over the years, it is even harder to think about what would have happened to each of them if I hadn't been a foster. Moreover, there are so many more precious pets that need our help in the form of a temporary place to go, before they find their perfect home. RCHS was Cinnamon's last s chance. Because we took her, her scheduled appointment to be euthanized was cancelled.

So, if you have ever considered fostering pets such as adult cats and dogs, puppies, kittens, bunnies and pocket pets, NOW is the perfect time to start. If you cannot foster then please consider volunteering. RCHS is run by a small group of very dedicated community members - none of whom are paid for all their hard work. They are all volunteers. But there are never enough people or hours in the day to do everything that needs to be done to help the many homeless pets in need.

Finally, in our last issue we included an article titled "The Downside of Declawing". RCHS would like to express our sincere apologies to anyone who took exception to that article. Although RCHS is, with rare exception, opposed to declawing cats for convenience of the caregivers, we recognize a that there is currently no scientific consensus that declawing causes behavioral problems or chronic pain.

Happy summer! I wish you all a splendid season.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lisa Pohlman DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVP

President, Riley County Humane Society