Consider adopting a furry friend this National Pet Day – Pocono Record

Crazy cat fans and dog devotees rejoice: it’s time to celebrate your favorite furry friend—and maybe help out some of their brethren in need—this National Pet Day.
National Pet Day, held on April 11, was launched in 2006 by animal welfare advocate Colleen Paige as a means to celebrate the love and joy pets bring to their owners, while also highlighting the needs of animals looking for a family of their own. The Poconos are home to a wealth of animal shelters, all aiming to find a perfect fur-ever home for those lovable friends who tend to cherish their newfound family more than any other animal could.
“I feel that shelter pets are also more giving or loving than getting one from pet stores… they just see more appreciative. I’ve already bought dogs, and let me tell you what, I will never do it again. I will go and adopt before I go and buy a pet again. They just seem more rewarding that way,” Stacy Goldberg, president of Carbon County Friends of Animals, said.
Jackie Fritz, kennel supervisor for Animal Welfare Society of Monroe, agreed, noting that the pets taken in by AWSOM — all of whom are located within Monroe or neighboring areas — are often “failed by humans” and in need of a loving family.
“So people sometimes see them as as damaged. But they’re really not, they can be the most amazing loving animals that you have ever met. Most of the time, they have more love for you than any other animal that you could meet. Because you rescue them, you save them, you give them a second chance,” Fritz said.
Golberg agreed, noting that people often assume “there’s something wrong” with shelter pets, and “that’s why they’re there.” But more often than not, their present location has nothing to do with them.
“That’s not the reason why: more than half of our shelter animals are either surrendered due to a death in the family or finances or personal problems,” Golberg said.
Besides the extra appreciation and love—in addition to saving a life that could otherwise have been lost — shelter pets are often enough more carefully treated, evaluated and paired with new owners in a better manner than breeders and stores could ever offer, as Suzi Gilbert, president of Hope for Hannah Dog Rescue, pointed out.
That process usually takes a few weeks at a time, but it ensures that all the rescues from their organization are free of medical issues that often afflict them: fleas, worms, giardia, coccidia and other conditions that are persistently present in puppies.
Gilbert said that this extended process also gives the staff time to suss out the dogs’ personalities, allowing them to be paired perfectly with the perfect pet parent.
“Normally with puppies, it’s not an issue. You might have one that’s a little bossier than another, but, you know, they’re all nice. But if I do know one is more quiet and one is a little bit more rowdy, I can then tell the person who’s interested in that puppy exactly what their personality is,” Gilbert said. “Most rescues cannot do that, and that’s why we’re so popular.”
That special attention to detail draws potential pet parents from just about everywhere, Gilbert said. People come from across the commonwealth and beyond for their dogs — including an unnamed country-blues singer from California who flew in to adopt a puppy from them.
These distinctions set great shelters apart from backyard breeders, puppy mill operations or other problematic pet suppliers that are usually only focused upon financial gain, Gilbert said.
“Mass breeders are in it for the money,” Gilbert said. “Trust me, we’re all volunteers: I work about 18 or 20 hours a day, the two weeks before transport, and I get paid nothing. But satisfaction comes from saving the beautiful puppies that we do. Because when I see a picture (from) when they come in, and they’re almost dead, and then they come up here to me, they’re just so beautiful.”
And while puppies and kittens are just about always in demand — Goldberg noted that she expects CCFA’s cat population to double or triple in the upcoming breeding season— shelter officials encourage potential adopters to consider other options, including the oft-neglected elderly animals.
“People don’t want to come and rescue an older cat or an older dog because they think that ‘I’m not going to have much time with them.’ But they don’t understand how the animal feels ,being a senior and being here and being unwanted. So I like to encourage people to give those senior animals a chance,” Fritz said.
Golberg emphasized that older special needs animals are every bit as deserving of a home as the younger crowd, though “it is a lifetime commitment” that could involve some serious dedication to care, including extra vet visits and medications. Nevertheless, those pets are the ones who often appear to appreciate their new homes more than anyone else.
“My cats all seem to be very affectionate and loving. And just seeing them happy, you know, laying on my bed, or doing things that they can’t normally do in a shelter.. I just love them, I can’t tell you enough. Every one of them is different in their own way. And every time I look at them and their story behind them, that’s rewarding enough for me to know that I gave them a second chance,” Goldberg said.
Gilbert said that even when money is tight, her rescue will do all they can to help save a life — even if other operations would have already given up, such as the case of a beagle whose owner had abandoned her with a large rupture that led to her uterus and intestines hanging down into her belly. After $2,200 in surgery, her life was saved.
“We saved a 12-year-old girl, she’s now in a very healthy home, and we’re hoping that she will have five or six good years after being treated so poorly in the first part of her life,” Gilbert said. “So even though it may be foolish in some people’s eyes to put that kind of money in such an old dog, everybody’s life is worthwhile if they could make it, if we can get them a year to where they know love, and they know attention, and they have a good home, we’re gonna do it, we’ll figure out how to get the money later.”
Being that running a shelter and caring for so many animals is time consuming and costly, these life-saving operations are always on the lookout for help, even if you can’t necessarily adopt a pet from them. CCFA, Hope for Hannah and AWSOM all take online monetary donations, in addition to accepting pet food and other supplies like blankets, litter boxes, and so on.
For those that have time to volunteer, opportunities abound, even if it’s as simple as engaging with those rescues online.
“We completely rely on the public to help us to help these animals, so if you can’t adopt, then you can sponsor a pet, you can pay their adoption fee, you can make a donation,” Fritz said. “We do take volunteers, or even just sharing our (online) posts, that’s incredibly helpful as well.”
“We have a volunteer program that people can come in and volunteer their services,” Golberg said. “We’re open seven days a week from nine to five. They can come in the morning they can help us clean and they can interact with the cats in the afternoon by giving them attention.”
Hope for Hannah always welcomes locals to help foster dogs that are brought into the area, stressing that these stays are routinely just a few nights before the pup can be placed in a new home.
“We just need people that will help us out for the most week, but it’s usually only a couple of nights,” Gilbert said.So if you happen to find yourself contemplating adding to your family this National Pet Day, consider looking to your local shelters: not only are you saving a life and making space for another rescue, but you’re also forming a lifelong bond with a dedicated furry friend.
“People send us updates, picture updates, you know, email updates, all that kind of stuff. And you can just see how much they’re thriving, and that they’re just so incredibly happy. Of course we do what we can for them while they’re here to make them happy and make them comfortable, but there’s nothing like having a home of your own,” Fritz said.
Want to see some of our staff’s furry friends? Check out our new TikTok account @poconorecord.

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