Adoption Diaries: Love Shack, Baby, Love Shack

Elyse’s Adoption Diary

I think after reading my ode to mama cats last week, the animal gods rewarded me with a litter of one-day-old kittens at the ASPCA Adoption Center. I hadn’t seen kittens that young since I was a kid myself. The mommy, Rain, exhausted as she obviously was, stood in full protection mode. As her babies nursed, she hissed at strangers who passed by. An Animal Care Technician briefly removed the kittens from the cage so she could clean it and give the tired mama a much-needed meal. But poor Rain couldn’t take her eyes off her kittens and was unable to eat a bite until they were safely returned. (And then she chowed down!)






Happy birthday, babies!

















"I’m one day old!”















You can see the worry on Mama Rain’s face as we humans play with her kittens.









Here they are. A little pile of rats, they are. I say that lovingly.
I happen to think rats are cute.


Guess who got one of his casts off? Ghost! One down, one to go. Sweet and not-at-all scary Ghost is well loved by our volunteers, and it will be an emotional day when he finds a home. I attribute his quick recovery to his positive attitude!




Jeb is a golden Lab who took a liking to my library bag. A shy three-year-old, it takes him a little while to warm up to people. He must secretly be a bookworm. Looks and brains? You go, Jeb!








You may have read about the 33 surrendered poodles, who range in age from two months to six years, had never been walked outside and are not well-socialized to strangers and new environments. While they are all timid and fearful, the majority of the dogs are in relatively good health. After being evaluated, spayed/neutered, microchipped and groomed, most of the puppies and healthy adults were placed in loving new homes. That’s putting it mildly—you wonderful people flooded in to adopt the poodles (working our adoptions staff to the bone, but that’s OK, we like that around here)! Those still available for adoption are “special needs” dogs who must be placed in quiet homes with parents who are willing to work with their ongoing medical and behavioral requirements.


They’re so cute all hangin’ together in their cages and ignoring the ample kennel space around them! Still a bit shy around people, they are a band of brothers.









Here’s Macy, caught in the act of stalking…urm…stalking nothing at all. Stalking the air. Silly Macy. Look for her as Pet of the Week tomorrow.







** Be sure to check out my Flickr page to see all the photos from my visits to the adoption center.
** View available animals at our adoption center.