We Have A Website! - FriendsofBCAS.org

We have a website now,
so this blog will no longer be kept up to date.

Visit us on the web at:

FriendsofBCAS.org

New Pet Preparations

The article below was submitted by guest-writer Su Jin Kim as a helpful guide to introducing a new cat or dog to your home.

Visit our website at FriendsofBCAS.org/gg-before-you-adopt for more useful information on bringing home a new pet.

---

Welcoming a pet into your home after it has adapted to the shelter is a gradual process; from the papers to the shots, to spreading the news and pet proofing your home, it can become hectic trying to accumulate a steady check list of what has and hasn’t been done. Do the neighbors know? Is the bed completely ready? Is the food brand the same as the shelter’s, and is there a collar and leash ready? Who’s in charge of feeding it and walking it? Although at times it may seem overwhelming, helping a pet into a new environment is easier than most people think.

Friends of BCAS - Weekly Email 12/15/11

Below is the contents of the weekly Adoptions & Newsletter email sent out on 12/15/11.

---

Hello, fellow Friends of BCAS volunteers!

Please spare a moment to read the following announcements:

• DOG HANDLING CLASS: Animal Advocate John will be holding his next Yellow Dog Handling Class on Thursday, December 22nd at 6 PM. Volunteers, come learn about handling potentially difficult dogs, and become approved to walk Yellow-rated shelter dogs!

• CATS THIS MONDAY: The conference room may not be available to cat volunteers on Monday the 19th. If the room isn't available, volunteers can still cuddle the kitties in the cat room!

• THANKS FOR PARTYING WITH US! Last Monday's volunteer holiday party was a hit, and we want to thank everybody who attended for coming! Nearly $200 was donated to Friends of BCAS by you generous folks, and a tidy pile of goodies were donated to the shelter (as well as a whole lot of leftover food donated to the hungry shelter staff :) ). Special thanks to Freeholder O'Brien for making a special guest appearance!

Donations to the shelter from our volunteers

Friends of BCAS - Weekly Email 12/08/11

Below is the contents of the weekly Adoptions & Newsletter email sent out on 12/08/11.

---

Hello, fellow Friends of BCAS volunteers!

Volunteer Stats for November 2011:

- Volunteer hours: 415.75 (-15% from October)

- Volunteer visits: 231 (+34% from October)

- Total volunteer participation: 45.3%

Note: The shelter had four holidays in November, so our stats are very good, considering.

Giant thanks to the following volunteers:

- Andrea Cassidy, Dave Caceres, Tammy Grant, Katrina Kates, Betty Konrad, Steve Lease, Justin Oram, Brian Skelly & Jean Stone for dedicating more than 15 hours of your time at the shelter in November. Every animal you touched felt your kindness.

- Steve Marinoff joined our group in November as the 'video guy' and what a GREAT JOB he is doing! Check out the recent videos he created of our dogs (Tweeter, Angel, Jet, Woody) and cats (Tina, Cameron, Katie, Ash) on our Youtube page: Youtube.com/FriendsofBCAS

Thanks to all our volunteers;

Friends of BCAS has reached our one-year anniversary on 11/10/11!

We are very proud of our progress in only a year. We know our second year will be even better!!

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." ~ Anatole France"

Friends of BCAS - Weekly Email 12/01/11

Below is the contents of the weekly Adoptions & Newsletter email sent out on 12/01/11.

---

Hello, fellow Friends of BCAS volunteers!

Please spare a moment to read the following announcements:

• DOG HANDLING CLASS: Animal Advocate John will be holding his next Yellow Dog Handling Class on Thursday, December 8th at 6 PM. Volunteers, come learn about handling potentially difficult dogs, and become approved to walk Yellow-rated shelter dogs!

• SHELTER CATS AT CRITICAL MASS: The shelter is once again approaching its maximum capacity for cats. Cat intake is far heavier than our current ability to house cats, and without adoptions and rescues, there can only be one conclusion. Please help us prevent our cats from being put to sleep by spreading the word about the need for cats to be adopted or rescued! Rescues, we need you now! Contact John at jrichardson@co.burlington.nj.us or 609-265-5842/3.

C-43476 Serafina, C-44484 Farrah, C-43958 Tucker, C-43712 Ariel, C-44095 Handsome, C-44699 Lottie

These sweet cats might be the next to be at risk. Please come help us make cage space so we're not forced to act!

(And please, spay or neuter your pets, people!)

• BADGE ALTERNATIVE: Tired of your standard lanyard-style volunteer badge getting in your way? We've got an alternative now-- stickers! The color-coded stickers are by the sign-in sheet. Take the appropriate color and write 'volunteer' or your name on it and stick it somewhere visible to others. Voila! No annoying lanyard badge.

• DOG ACTIVITY LOGS: Yellow dog walkers, please remember to check the orange activity logs and walk dogs who've not been out in a while. We know everybody has their favorite pups, but all dogs deserve a good walk and some Yellow-rated dogs are falling behind more than others.

Friends of BCAS - Weekly Email 11/24/11

Below is the contents of the weekly Adoptions & Newsletter email sent out on 11/24/11.

---

Hello, fellow Friends of BCAS volunteers!

Please spare a moment to read the following announcements:

• GIVING THANKS: I'm thankful for everybody who volunteers their time and heart to a worthy cause. You make the world a better place, and you should be proud. I hope everybody had a Happy Thanksgiving!

• HOLIDAY PARTY TIME! On Monday, December 12th from 5-7 PM we'll be having a volunteer get-together at the shelter! All volunteers and shelter staff are invited to come partake of the holiday munchies and hang out with your fellow shelter-frequenters :) Show up whenever you like. Since the holidays are a time for generosity, we ask that you please bring a donation, large or small, for the shelter. The shelter can always especially use cat and dog food, treats, towels, blankets, cat toys, or cat litter. We hope to see you there!

• SHELTER CATS REACHING CRITICAL MASS: The shelter is once again approaching its maximum capacity for cats and will have to be euthanizing some to make space soon-- please help us prevent our cats from being put to sleep by spreading the word about the need for adoptions, or rescues to come and pull animals! Rescues, we need you now! The shelter's contact info can be found here: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/NJ148.html

• ARE YOU A PEOPLE-PERSON?/VOLUNTEER OPPS.: We have two awesome new volunteer opportunities now available! Contact Penny at fobcas@yahoo.com if you're interested in helping out with either (or both), or want more details.

1. Tour Guide: Give tours around the shelter for groups, often children's groups such as the Girlscouts, usually who come with substantial donations to the shelter! Tours would be given on your own schedule.

2. Volunteer Greeter: We know many of you enjoy hanging out at the shelter, chatting with potential adopters and answering their questions to the best of your knowledge, so why not make it official and become a Volunteer Greeter?

Friends of BCAS - Weekly Email 11/17/11

Below is the contents of the weekly Adoptions & Newsletter email sent out on 11/17/11.

---

Hello, fellow Friends of BCAS volunteers!

Please spare a moment to read the following announcements:

• ADORABLE SHELTER CAT: Everybody who's been online for ten seconds can tell that the internet's full of cat videos, but this one's different: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRjEc0vpR7Y -- because it's done by our fellow volunteer, Steve, and it features the second-longest feline resident of our shelter, Ash! Take a look! (I dare you not to say "awww".)

• SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT KITTIES: Our fellow volunteer, Meike, is sponsoring several cats for adoption and has a flyer she'd like you to print out and post somewhere to help spread the word! You can find the flyer here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/73079098/Catposter-Kitty-Pairs (sign in with a Scribd or Facebook account to print it) - The shelter is almost always overcrowded with cats. Overcrowding without relief inevitably ends badly for many shelter cats, so just about any small effort, such as printing out a simple poster, can save lives!

• DOG TOYS LEFT BEHIND: Volunteers, please don't leave dog toys in the dog yard. Recently, at least two dozen tennis balls were strewn about in the yard and had to be collected! No dog needs that many chew toys :)

• SURVEY RESULTS: Back a few months ago we surveyed our volunteers, as we were curious about why volunteers join and what gets them to stay, among other things. Here's a brief summary of our findings:

1. Where did you hear about us? (29%) Newspaper, (24%) Word of mouth, (18%) Shelter or website, (18%) Other

2. Why start volunteering? (47%) Love of animals, (35%) Wanted to help, (17%) Other

3. What might make you volunteer more? (37%) Better shelter hours, (14%) More opportunities with animals, (10%) More guidance with handling, (20%) Already doing as much as possible.

• HOLIDAY CLOSINGS: The shelter will be closed to the public and volunteers on Thanksgiving and the day after (Thursday the 24^th and Friday the 25^th, respectively). Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everybody!

Friends of BCAS - Weekly Email 11/10/11

Below is the contents of the weekly Adoptions & Newsletter email sent out on 11/10/11.

---

Hello, fellow Friends of BCAS volunteers!

Please spare a moment to read the following announcements:

• LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! We need a yellow dog handler and a cat handler who would like to work with our new videographer, Steve. You will be prominently featured in our videos working with the animals to do any little tricks they know, i.e. sit, paw, stay, cuddle, fetch, etc, and just make them look their best. You'll also be collaborating creatively with Steve to present a 'story' of the animal. We are very excited about our new video endeavor and believe it will further help our shelter animals find homes. The yellow dog handler should be available Friday or Saturday mornings from 10:30am - 12:00pm. The cat handler should be available Mondays 4:30pm - 7:00pm. Please contact Penny at fobcas@yahoo.com or Jenn at jennak87@yahoo.com, if interested.

• VOLUNTEERS TO THE RESCUE! This week, a few volunteers got advance notice of the subject none of us like to think about -- cats who were scheduled to be euthanized due to a lack of space. As volunteers at an open-admission shelter, we must find ways to deal with this hard fact that not all adoptable animals will find homes. Most of the time we hear about it after the fact, but this time we, and the cats, got lucky. In only 36 hours, all four cats were saved and will now get a second chance thanks to our volunteers, our shelter, and BCAA and Animal Sanctuary: Angel, an older Siamese mix; Tinkerbell, an older overweight calico; Patty, a tubby adult black & white; and Wyatt, a shy but sweet young tabby boy. Without cooperation and teamwork between volunteers, our shelter, and rescues, these kitties would have become just another statistic.

• VOLUNTEER SWAG: You can now get our cute Friends of BCAS logo on more than just a t-shirt ($10)! Your options have expanded to: Crew neck shirt ($15) and hoodie ($17), or you can choose your own top for us to stencil ($5). You can also get "Want to Volunteer?" on the back of a volunteer shirt ($5). We have a whole rainbow of colors available. Email Barbara at barbaramoosathome@yahoo.com for details or to place an order!

Friends of BCAS - Weekly Email 11/3/11

Below is the contents of the weekly Adoptions & Newsletter email sent out on 11/3/11.

---

Hello, fellow Friends of BCAS volunteers!

Volunteer Stats for October 2011:

- Volunteer hours: 487.75 (+66% from September)

- Volunteer visits: 172 (+75% from September)

- Total volunteer participation: 45.8%

Note: Our cat socialization program was reinstated 10/3/11 and you can tell by the HUGE increase in our stats!!

Giant thanks to the following volunteers:

- Katrina Kates (Jenn's mom) for spending 21 hours in October playing with the cats. And thanks to Jenn for recruiting her as a volunteer. Word of mouth is our best advertising :o)

- Andrea Cassidy became a volunteer in the middle of October. She has visited the shelter numerous times to handle cats & dogs. She does even more away from the shelter by posting our longer resident animals to a very popular Facebook page (Pet Pardons) in an effort to help find them a home.

- Betty Konrad spent over 21 hours at the shelter with the dogs in October. Betty has become a big part of our dog pic/posting team which means she spends hours away from the shelter uploading dog pictures to the internet. Betty also volunteers weekly with a couple other organizations in our community and has a part-time job. And oh by the way, she is retired. Betty, you are a true INSPIRATION!!

"The road to success is not crowded. Because while most are looking for ways to take, the truly successful people are finding ways to give. With a giving attitude, every situation is an opportunity for success."

- Unknown

---

Please spare a moment to read the following announcements:

• DAYLIGHT SAVINGS ends this weekend. All you Monday & Thursday night dog walkers, please make sure you are easily visible to the passing cars. Wear sneakers with reflective strips, light colored jacket/pants, reflective tape on your clothing, etc. We don't want any volunteer or dog to get run over!!

• CLOTHESPINS!: We're running out of them! Every volunteer uses a clothespin as a placemarker when they take animals out to play, and it seems like they're left behind and lost every day. But no worries, if everybody donates some clothespins, we'll be fine and dandy :) If you'd like to help out, please leave your clothespin donations in the conference room cabinet or in the volunteer bin next to the sign-in sheet!

• VOLUNTEER FROM HOME: Don't give up on your passion to help the animals. We know the shelter environment is difficult for us animal lovers, but there are plenty of ways you can help without stepping a foot into the shelter. We need folks involved in fund raising or you could volunteer with our rescue partner BCAA (BCAAofNJ.org). The only impact you make by sitting at home is to your sofa!!

Animals of the Month!! and More!

Please check out these great pets at the Burlington County Animal Shelter. These wonderful animals have been at the shelter the longest! Please, Please pass their information along so they can find a home soon!!


Katie is our Cat Of The Month! The lucky adopter will get $10 off the adoption fee and a kitty goody bag! Please come and take Katie home. She has been waiting since May!! Katie is a gorgeous, small, tan and black-striped tabby lady who's still under 2 years old. She was pregnant when she was surrendered to the shelter, and now that all her kittens have been taken care of she's ready to find her very own happy forever home! Katie is a calm and curious girl who can sometimes be shy, but still likes to play and be given lots of love from friendly people. Please give this lovely girl a chance and come visit Katie soon! Katie's ID # is 41324.


Ash is a very energetic and friendly young boy, still under a year old. He LOVES to play with toys and is very interested in playing with other cats. Ash likes to be petted and does not mind being held, but he's too energetic to want to sit still in your lap for too long! This cutie is still looking for his forever home, so please visit him soon and consider making an addition of a goofball to your family! Ash's ID # is 42194.





Angel is a sweet black lab mix who is about 3 years old and weighs 61 pounds. She was adopted from the shelter before, but was unfortunately returned when her former owner took a job with lots of travel hours. This wasn't fair to Angel, so this great girl is up for adoption again! Angel's former owner says she's crate trained and had started on obedience training. Angel knows 'sit' and 'down', and likes playing with tennis balls and going for walks. Angel should go to a home without children or other animals, but she'd make a wonderful pet for an adult home. Please visit Angel soon and see if you're a match! Angel's ID # is 39944.



All these great pets are waiting at the Burlington County Animal Shelter.
County Facilities Complex - Woodlane Road
35 Academy Drive
Westampton, NJ 08060
Phone for adoption info: 609-265-5073
http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/NJ148.html