By: Judy Hamontre, AVHS Vice-Chair The morning was perfect, cool with a slight breeze and Colorado blue skies. The Arkansas, sparkling in the sunshine was bubbling with rafters. This was the setting for the Ark-Valley Humane Society’s Tails on the Trail 5K walk/run on May 18. The participants were eager to race and included people of all ages and levels of fitness, most with their furry friends. Some humans were running to win, some wanted their dogs to win, some wanted to achieve a personal best, including a few seniors aided by......

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By: Judy Lore, AVHS Volunteer Columnist A copy of PawPrint magazine arrived recently and I will borrow from it liberally. This issue includes articles on planning ahead for pet emergencies that will be costly, your aging dog and what to look for and how to help, pets with special needs, highlighting the Bombay cat, a pup who “talks,” and a kitty who acts as a hearing aid. However, I am going to concentrate on a fun article to see if we can remember or know the breed of celebrity dogs and cats. I’m......

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By: Judy Hamontre, AVHS Vice-chair Our pets are joys any time of year, but that feeling seems even stronger in June, as summer in the mountains settles in. Smiling humans are out walking and biking with their tail-wagging dogs, dog parks are alive with canine energy, cats are intently watching birds, pondering how to get to one, and neighborhood cats are contentedly watching and roaming. “June is bustin’ out all over” with happy pets and pet owners celebrating life to its fullest. Perhaps that is one reason there are so many pet......

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By: Judy Hamontre, AVHS Vice-chair A pup named Bundy escaped from his home on Halloween. The family contacted authorities and searched, but Bundy was not found. The family was heart broken. Several weeks later a pup matching his description was spotted perched on a slab at the edge of a highway. His collar with ID tag was gone, but he was microchipped and joyfully reunited with his family. A pug named Chato was stolen from his family. As time passed, they lost hope of ever seeing him again. Eight years later a truck......

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By: Judy Hamontre, AVHS Vice-chair The Humane Society of the United States estimates there are 30 to 40 million “community” cats living throughout the U.S. Community cats are the feral cats and strays who have no human home. Over the years a friend of mine has trapped-neutered-returned seven of these community adult cats, roaming in her neighborhood. Two cats relocated themselves, and two remained outdoors, usually in her backyard with one of them occasionally coming a few feet away from her but no closer. Over time, the other three entered her house and stayed. The two......

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By: Judy Hamontre, AVHS Vice-chair Near the end of February, four pit bull pups were born at the Ark-Valley Humane Society. Their mother was super sweet, but, for reasons that cannot be known for certain, she refused to nurse one of her newborns and a few days later refused a second. This is one of those unexpected situations that can happen, even with the most loving mom. The AVHS staff went into action with bottle feeding and lots of TLC, which even included staff members taking the two puppies home at night......

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By: Judy Hamontre, AVHS Vice-chair This past month I had the pleasure to be part of the Ark-Valley Humane Society volunteer and foster appreciation event. It was so much fun to meet everyone and share our favorite animal stories. Although we do not run into each other often as we donate our time, we quickly discovered, we have a special bond which is helping out and caring for the animals at AVHS. The event also gave me the opportunity, as an AVHS board member to thank all our amazing volunteers and fosters......

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By: Judy Hamontre, AVHS Vice-chair One of Ark-Valley Humane Society’s most heartwarming events is our “Good Pet/Bad Portrait” fundraiser. Held this year from February 26 though March 10, there were 100 participants and 73 artists, the highest numbers compared to those from past years. The event is pretty straight forward. Participants make a donation to AVHS and send in a few photos of their beloved pet in order to receive a portrait which is created by volunteer artists. Participants know that the age and talent of artists vary, meaning the quality of......

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By: Nikki Ritter, AVHS Executive Director  Spring presents an ideal time to reflect on the number of animals helped through our community retention and shelter services in 2023. Last year, our team of eleven staff members, eight board members, and 70 volunteers, helped 1,546 animals through our sheltering, spay/neuter, microchipping, safety net, and adoption programs. In doing so, the average length of stay for animals was only 18 days and our Asilomar Live Release Rate was 97.1%. Of the 621 animals sheltered, 67% of cats and 82% of dogs originated in Chaffee......

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By: Judy Hamontre, AVHS Vice-chair In my article titled “You Can Teach an Old Cat New Tricks,” published March 22, I quoted Katenna Jones, a certified animal behaviorist, writing: “The benefits of cat training are vast. Training provides mental and physical stimulation as well as positive social contact. Just the act of training in and of itself is incredibly valuable for frustrated, bored, shy, and fearful cats.” Several domestic cats who come to shelters, including our own Ark-Valley Humane Society, are shy and fearful.  Great care is taken to assess, treat them gently, and......

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