#DailyDoseOfIndependence: Great Plains SPCA

Many of you have heard us talk about the dire straits of one of the shelters we support.
Here's the back-story:

Great Plains SPCA "crossed the line" last April - the state line, that is.

You see, the Kansas City metro area straddles the border of Kansas and Missouri, and last year, this Kansas-based No-Kill shelter took over management of the city shelter in Independence, Missouri.

And the Great Plains Independence Campus was born.

It's being run by many of the fabulous people we have known for years at Wayside Waifs, Allie's Alma Mater. And we couldn't be prouder of what they have sought to accomplish: turning a kill shelter into No Kill. Sometimes, we even refer to it as Wayside 2.0 - simply because we don't want you to think we've casually switched loyalties. Both shelters are No Kill, and both deserve our appreciation and support for jobs well done.

But lately, our focus has been on Great Plains, because quite frankly, right now their need is greater.

By the end of the first three months of operation, the shelter had already taken in the equivalent of a full year's worth of cats. And this is a shelter whose numbers had held steady for years and years and years, so this phenomenon was completely unexpected.

At their peak two weeks ago, they had well over 700 cats and the trend looked to top 800.

These little guys are lined up in hallways, stacked in offices - basically every available nook and cranny!

There is speculation as to what might be behind this, but no definitive answers. And to be honest, though the "why" behind the situation is important, especially for shelter management going forward, it doesn't do much to help the situation right now.

No, the only thing that'll help is adoption - and transfers to partner shelters.

We're trying to do our small part by following in the footsteps of the blog, Sebastian the Sensitive Soul, whose owner, Amy Palmer, instituted the #DailyDoseOfIndependence tradition on Facebook.

We're posting there, too. But we'll also be reposting about these eminently adoptable cats right here on A Tonk's Tail, as well.

So without further ado, we present to you today's Daily Dose of Independence: Harvey Dent.

Blog Carnival: Our 'Gotcha' Day, Part 1

(This post is my entry into the BlogPaws Blog Carnival Contest sponsored by BISSELL Homecare, Inc.)

Since I'm oldest, I get to go first. (Before the Brats slime all over the keyboard.)

dramatic pause 

I chose Mother and Daddy out of simply tons of potential families --

 *HAAAACK*KOFF*  excuuuuuse me, TONS?   *CHOKE*KOFF*

*disdainful sniff* 

Ignore the Furry Slimeball!! (grabs camera with pink toenails) I'm over HERE... (pats fur, smiles at camera)

There, that's better, now where was I...

oh yes! ...out of simply tons of potential adoring families, when they arrived at my Alma Mater, Wayside Waifs.

You see, Mother wanted to find out if they were participating in this wonderful promotion that Hallmark, Petfinder and CBS had created in conjunction with their 2009 Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, called "Foster a Lonely Pet for the Holidays."

Of course, the hope was that if they got people to foster a pet, it would become love at first sight, and the fostering would become permanent....

(BRILLIANT, simply BRILLIANT! Okay, so Mother works for Hallmark and I might be a teensy bit prejudiced... *giggle!*) But I digress.

So there I was, wandering the aisles, sizing up potential humans, when they walked in. Mother was nice and all, but I immediately realized Daddy was The Perfect Candidate for my pink-nailed manipula-- err, that is to say, I could see immediately that I would be his Daddy's Girl. (was I right or what?)

They signed up for the Foster a Lonely Pet program, but I knew I had this family in the bag.

And the rest, as they say, is history.... *dreamy eyes*

uhhhhhh.... My turn? *taps microphone with paw* is this thing on?

*eyeroll* MAXIE! Just talk!

 uh, yeah, well... 

Um, I found Momma a few weeks after she lost Ryker. Papa told her one day that she had been crying herself to sleep for too many nights and her arms were empty. She needed a baby boy again. 

That very next day, a nice lady from Siamese Rescue called her an' told her they had the perfect boy for her. (That'd be me, just in case you were wondering.) 

Momma didn't think she was ready and told the lady she had her doubts but she'd come out the next day anyways.

Here's the picture they took the first time she met me. She just started crying and crying. (I got kinda wet cuz she's a sloppy cryer yanno)

That first night, I slept right next to her, exactly like Ryker used to do. And I've never slept there since. (I had to let her know I could feel her pain, and that was my way of telling her...)

The next day they had to take me to the emergency vet cuz I had kennel cough. They found out I was totally deaf, but that was okay they said, cuz they were gonna love me no matter what. (of course, I had to lip-read at the time...)

Five months of ear treatments and a surgery later and I can hear - sorta. 

Enough to hear Momma tell me she loves her baby boy. 

*sigh* That's music to my ears....

_____________

Mommy sez we'll tell Ryker's and my "gotcha" stories next time - 

it'll be the Tonk-a-thon Post! Woooo