Summer Newsletter August 2020 On behalf of the Humane Society of the Lakes Board of Directors, staff, and felines and canines in residence, we are pleased to bring you this summer 2020 edition of our newsletter. We would like to encourage you to become a member or renew your membership for 2020. Become an important part of our mission, to provide services for abandoned, stray, or unwanted animals while they await lifelong homes. Thank you! ~Candace Rastedt, Shelby Rasmussen & Alyssa Cahoon, Membership & Marketing Committee The faces of HSL: adopt today! While we are facing uncertain times, one thing is for sure–our furry residents still need to find their furever homes! At HSL, we proudly give our animals the best life possible while they await new owners who will love them as much as we do. Even though our doors may be closed for appointments only, we still have a variety of animals up for adoption. Please visit our website: https://humanesocietyofthelakes.org to view our adoptable animals. Our animals look forward to meeting their new best friends and furever family. See you at the shelter! Save the date Due to recent health and safety concerns, events may change dates or locations. Additionally, our volunteer program is undergoing some changes so please call the shelter for an updated schedule. August 30 12pm-4pm Shelter Fest TJ’s Bistro on Lake Eunice August 31 (tentative) Volunteer orientation Call the shelter to schedule April TBD Tuxes & Tails Stay tuned for updates!
Greetings from our Board President! I’m often asked, “What do you need there at the shelter?” “Would you want my used towels?” [Yes, thank you], “Will you take a used bag of dog food my dog didn’t like?” [Yes, as long as it’s not past 6-months expired], and “Can I volunteer?” [Yes, but due to the COVID situation, only adults can volunteer, and you must participate in our orientation]. But do you know what we really need, more than almost anything? We need Board Members and Committee Members willing to volunteer their time to help make our shelter the best it can possibly be. Come January 2021, we will be looking to add at least four new Board Members. We are especially in need of diversity and expertise in finance, capital campaigns, and/or construction. The commitment involves one meeting a month (3rd Monday, 5:30pm) plus participation in at least one committee, which currently includes: Operations; Membership & Marketing; Human Resources; Finance; Fundraising & Events; Charitable Gaming; and our Building Committee. For those not looking for the commitment of a 2-year term on the Board, you may be interested in serving on a Committee. We are always looking to add new animal-loving community members with enthusiasm and experience to our team. Maybe the current pandemic has given you extra time for reflection, or maybe you’ve turned a certain age and decided to try something new. If you want to help in a real, substantial way through service on our Board and/or a Committee, please consider sending me an email or giving me a call to find out more. I am forever grateful for the Board Members of our past, our present, and our future for ensuring that the Humane Society of the Lakes is here to serve the fur-babies and adoptive families in need. All the Best, Alissa Mork hslpresident@gmail.com 218-844-7486 Shelter spotlight Meet Tank! Hello, my name is Tank! I found my way into the shelter as a stray. I was roaming around all by myself going up to people looking for some food! I am a very friendly boy. I just love to be near you so I can soak up all of the attention that I can. I am a very happy boy when I have toys to throw up in the air and catch. I just love squeaky toys & I will squeak them like crazy! I get along with some other dogs, I do like to jump up to greet people so I may be a bit much for younger kids, and I haven’t been around cats so I would need supervision around any that may be in my new home. I do a really good job of keeping my kennel clean and waiting to go outside to go potty. Every once and a while I forget to use my manners so I could use some training. I can get pretty rambunctious if I don’t get some exercise so it would be nice to go out for walks or play a game of fetch so I get all tired out! I am looking for a new place to rest my paws. I would really like to meet you to see if I could be the boy for you! What are you waiting for? Volunteer update We greatly appreciate all of our amazing volunteers and look forward to meeting new volunteers in the coming months! Due to COVID-19, we are unable to guarantee set dates for upcoming volunteer orientations. Currently, there are tentative volunteer orientations set for the last Monday of each month. We will ask those interested in volunteering to call the shelter at 218-847-0511 or send an email to hslsheltermanager@gmail.com to sign up for the orientation so we may contact you for changes, updates, or COVID-19 guidelines for the orientation. Please watch our website as well for any other changes or updates. 2
Do you recycle? If you are looking for a place to take your recycled goods, you can help out the Humane Society of the Lakes by bringing them to MinnKota Enviroservices! HSL will receive a cash donation from all of the material recycled by our supporters. Drop off your separated aluminum cans, steel and tin cans, glass, plastics (labeled #1 & 2), newspapers, magazines, corrugated cardboard, and office paper at MinnKota, located on Highway 59 North, about a mile south of the shelter. They are open M-F 9am-5pm & Saturday 8am-noon. Let the attendant know you’d like to donate your recycling proceeds to us. Call 218-847-4790 with questions. The resident animals thank you for your contributions! Foster spotlight Why I foster By Janelle Anderson 30 years ago I was president of the Becker County Humane Society, the predecessor to the HSL. Back then we had just organized and we didn’t have a shelter; that wouldn’t come for many more years. But we developed a great network of foster homes that were willing to open their hearts and homes to a homeless pet. Fostering was one of the most rewarding experiences of my 17 years as a volunteer with the BCHS. I fostered cats and dogs, but mostly pregnant cats. I had a separate room in my house set up for it since I had my own pets. I would foster the mom, help with the birth (I really wasn’t much help), then socialize the kittens until they were ready for adoption. It was so much fun having kittens around. It was very rewarding seeing them get adopted into loving homes. Some people asked me how could I foster and then let them go; they say they would want to keep them all. Well, I enjoyed helping these pets find permanent homes knowing that I could then take the next homeless pet in until that one, too, could find a loving forever home. Oh, yes, I had a few “foster fails,” but I knew I couldn’t save them all. So fostering was a way to meet many pets in need of help, and meet the wonderful adopters who would give them a loving home. Congratulations! Congratulations to our staff that have assumed new positions in the last month! Sarah Bachleitner was hired as a shelter attendant nearly five years ago and has always had a special interest in veterinary medicine. When the position of Animal Technician became available, she applied and was selected to take on this very important role. “I am very excited to have been accepted for the position. It is something I have always been interested in doing so being able to do it with HSL is even better!” Please join us in congratulating her on this new role! Congratulations also goes to Rachel Nolan, who has recently been promoted from Animal Coordinator to Assistant Manager. Rachel was hired in March of 2009, making her the shelter’s longest-serving employee. As Assistant Manager, she takes on new responsibilities and plays an even larger role in shelter operations as a whole. Rachel has adopted several “furbabies” from HSL and is very invested in the success of the shelter and finding loving homes for all the cats and dogs we serve. Next time you see Rachel, congratulate her on her promotion and thank her for her continued dedication to HSL! 3
A pawsitive update By Alyssa Cahoon, Shelter Manager We at the shelter have some exciting new updates for our community, including a whole new look and new options for our adopters and supporters in our gift shop area. We have repainted our reception area for a fresh, welcoming new look. We have updated our gift shop to provide more options for new and returning adopters; such as carriers, litter boxes, and other needs. I would like to extend a warm thank you to Becker Pet and Garden for donating bags of litter [cat adoptions only] and $10 gift cards for all new adopters. I would also like to thank Tuffy’s Pet Food’s Inc for donating 5 lbs bags of Nutrisource pet foods for each pet adoption. It is wonderful to see the generosity of our community with helping our adopters, and our animals, settle into their new homes with style. I believe we can continue to learn and grow with our animals and community, making their transition to a new home and lives more loving. Additionally, we are proud to present new artwork of our animals designed by artists from Fargo, ND and other surrounding areas for our community in our gift shop. These works of art display previously adopted and current adoptees and can be purchased for $15 per piece. All proceeds directly support the shelter and help our animals continue to find homes. The artwork also supports these local artists; contact information can be given upon request so our community can continue to support them through personal commissions of your own pets or art. If you are a local artist and would like to support our shelter by creating artwork of our animals, please contact me at 218-847-0511 or by my email hslsheltermanager@gmail.com for more information. Thank you again for all of your dedication and support to the Humane Society of the Lakes! Lastly, as we move foward with COVID-19 procedures, we will continue to ask all supporters and adopters to comply with preventative measures. These measures include wearing a face mask at all times (in compliance with the MN governor mandatory mask order), wearing hand gloves and utilizing hand sanitizer as requested, and communicating with staff if you have experienced any symptoms of COVID-19 or have potential exposure to COVID-19 symptoms within two weeks prior to entering the shelter. These measures help keep our staff and adopters safe, which continues to help our animals find new homes. We deeply appreciate donations of hand sanitizer, hand soap, disinfectant wipes, and other forms of cleaner which we will utilize within the shelter to help keep all people and animals safe. If you have any questions or concerns regarding our protective measures and COVID-19 response, please contact hslsheltermanager@gmail.com. Than you again to everyone who has continued to support us through these uncertain times. We greatly appreciate all of your time, effort, and consideration in keeping our animal residents as comfortable as possible. We would not be here without your support and are overjoyed by the generosity we have seen through donations, phone calls, letters of support, and other forms of contributions. Thank you! Adoption update April Dogs: 2 Cats: 1 Total adoptions: 3 May Dogs: 3 Cats: 10 Total adoptions: 13 June Dogs: 1 Cats: 8 Total adoptions: 9 July Dogs: 1 Cats: 4 *Total adoptions: 5 *July numbers were taken from July 1-20. Updated numbers will be given in the next newsletter edition. Additionally, please note that adoption numbers are lower than usual due to the impact the Coronavirus has had on our shelter. Our adoption partner Petsmart in Fargo, ND has resumed their adoption center starting early June! Previously, the adoption center was closed due to COVID-19 precautions. We are overjoyed to continue our Petsmart adoptions and find new homes for our cats. The adoption center will function at half the previous capacity, hosting 1-2 cats in their center at one time rather than full kennels due to COVID-19 procedures still in place. In the month of June, a total of four cats were adopted! This is a great start to our cats finding new homes with our Petsmart partners again despite COVID-19. 4
HSL logo wear Have you seen our NEW summer collection?! Thanks to Brittany from Shirts from Fargo we are able to offer a large selection of logo wear! Even better, every order gives a percentage to HSL so we can continue our mission of helping animals find their forever homes. Below are a few of our favorite items, but if you would like to shop the whole collection, please use this link: https://shirtsfromfargo.com/shop/nonprofits/humane-society-of-the-lakes/ I just want all the cats tank $22 Cat Slider Mug $25 HSL Tye Dye $27 Adopt Crew Neck $50 Happy tails Loki & Layla We renamed these two kitties Loki and Layla. They explored and made themselves at home about 10 minutes after we got them home. No issues adjusting at all for them. They have both been super sweet since day one. They love snuggling and I haven’t heard them hiss once. Loki is definitely a good brother and is always helps Layla clean herself. Here’s a picture of them cuddling! Layla is on the left and Loki on the right. Selkie We renamed her Selkie day one and she’s the happiest dog in the world; she had an adjustment period which has long past. She put on 15lbs within the first 30 days and grew quite a bit; she gets to run free and knows our home property now and stays on it. She loves hunting gophers and being outside running and she hardly uses her voice and definitely is spoiled. She’s the best dog I’ve ever owned behavior-wise and her spirit. Selkie is trained well and it’s clear when people meet her. I’m thankful everyday for her. Shelter wish list HSL relies on donations of items needed to operate the shelter and feed and care for the animals. Please consider making an in-kind donation from the list below: • Adult Dog Food • Puppy Chow • Batteries (Assorted sizes) • Bleach • Soft Dog Treats • Canned Kitten Food • Dryer Sheets • Clorox Wipes • Powdered Laundry Detergent • Small Paper Plates • Disposable Rubber Gloves Donations can be brought to the shelter Tuesday-Friday from 12:00pm to 6:00pm and Saturdays from 10:00am to 4:00pm. There is a drop box at the front door for afterhours donations. If you would like to donate online, please visit: https://givemn.org/organization/hsofthelakes or try scanning our QR code! 5
Thank you! A big THANK YOU to our in-kind sponsors during Shelter Fest: SpaceMan Storage - LakeShirts - Central Market & Tyler King (Mouse). Each of you helped us make our Shelter Days Garage Sale absolutely fantastic! We sincerely appreciate your dedication and support to HSL. SPACEMAN Portable Storage 6
Have you heard the good news? We updated our website! Check it out today at: www.humanesocietyofthelakes.org. Fundraisers During the last few weeks HSL has been overwhelmed by the kindness shown by two different groups who have each held a fundraiser in our honor. The first fundraiser was Paws for a Cause and was hosted by Corwin Automotive Group. A special thank you goes to Mr. Tim Corwin & Corwin Automotive Group who, with their generous help, were able to raise $14,817.00 for HSL. The second fundraiser was Cookies for Canines & Cats which was hosted by Beth Pridday. Thank you so much for helping us raise another $1,550.00 for the shelter. These fundraiser donations will go so far and will help so many animals. The winner of the yard cart and goodies was Jim Buus and the cookies/cookie jar donors were: #1 Jar - Patty Mastel - white choc macadamia nut cookies #2 Jar - Donna Sauvageau - monster cookies #3 Jar - Robin Friendshuh - old fashioned molasses cookies #4 Jar - Beth Pridday - 4th of July shape frosted sugar cookies #5 Jar - Anne-Marye Hastad Hoban - her famous biscotti #6 Jar - Patty Mastel - peanut butter choc dipped cookies #7 Jar - Beth Pridday - oatmeal raisin cookies #8 Jar - Kara DeVries Schumann - chocolate chip cookies #9 Jar - Linda Pudwill - old fashioned iced oatmeal #10 Jar - Barb Zahasky- rosemary sea salt shortbread cookies #11 Jar - Terry Kalil - gingersnaps #12 Jar - Ice Cream Truck Package from the DL Ice Cream Truck Paws for a Cause June 12-14 ADVERTISE IN OUR NEWSLETTER! License #: 31973 Thank you for your conTinued supporT Through These uncerTain Times. iT’s exTremely helpful and appreciaTed by our siTes and chariTy - noT To menTion so imporTanT for Theirs and our business! - sTay happy, healThy and safe - We want ot thank these amazing establishments for allowing us to conduct Charitable Gambling Heisler’s Campground & Pub Voyager Lanes Learn more about our sites at hslgaming.org 7
Humane Society of the Lakes 19665 US Highway 59 Detroit Lakes, Minnesota 56501 218-847-0511 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED The Humane Society is dedicated to providing services for stray, abandoned and unwanted animals while they await lifelong homes. The shelter relies 100% upon donations for its operation. If you are interested in adopting a pet, making a donation, or volunteering your time, please visit our website: www.humanesocietyofthelakes.org/ or you can stop by the shelter at: 19665 US Hwy 59, three miles north of Detroit Lakes, MN Awaiting furever homes All of the animals featured below are now available for adoption, along with many others. Please check our website and Facebook page for more photos and information, or stop out to the shelter during business hours. Thank you! Guiness–1 year Jinxy–1 year www.facebook.com/HumaneSocietyoftheLakes/ Sorrell–7 months Harley Quinn–2 years Questions? Please call: 218-847-0511 or email: info@humanesocietyofthelakes.org
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