Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 3, 1994 TAG: 9401030010
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Hodges and Eakin, volunteers at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter in Roanoke, were making an adoption video to be sent to Hodges' father in Atlanta.
"My father wants a dog, and this is a nice one," she said.
The 1 1/2-year-old male mixed-breed retriever appeared to be obedience-trained, Hodges said.
The dog is up for adoption because its owner never came to claim it after it was picked up running loose by Roanoke animal control officers.
Hodges planned to send the tape by overnight delivery, so she could get her dad's answer as soon as possible.
The retriever's future depends on its being adopted.
No adoption, no life.
The only hope for three grown Shar-peis and one chow housed in an area for aggressive dogs depends on their acceptance into the Shar-pei Rescue League program in Richmond. The league retrains and resocializes dogs to make them adoptable.
Nowhere has the season's combination of glad tidings and sadness been more clearly demonstrated than in the cluster of cinder-block buildings on Eastern Avenue in Northeast Roanoke.
The place is not only the SPCA shelter, but also functions as the pound for several communities. Many animals brought in as strays are reunited with owners, but even more are not.
As usual, the place is chock-full of abandoned and lost animals. The population includes three puppies that staff members believe were abandoned Dec. 27 as unwanted Christmas gifts. There also are seven 4-week-old puppies brought in by their owners because the mother dog was killed. They find the mother-warmth they need by piling into a small plastic dishpan.
Housed just down from the barely independent puppies are a mother dog and two puppies dumped along the road just out of sight of the shelter and found after a motorist reported that a third pup had been killed by a car.
On Dec. 27, 15 animals were brought in; seven found homes. On Tuesday, six animals came in; one went to a new home. Wednesday, it was five animals in, two out.
But this season, along with the unwanted animals, the place is nearly filled with donations of food and other supplies.
Shoppers left more than 6,000 pounds of dog and cat food under "Claws & Paws" Christmas trees at nine Kroger Co. grocery stores for several weeks before Christmas.
Gifts also included 2,168 pounds of cat litter, 200 boxes of dog biscuits, toys, chew bones and $1,300 in cash.
"We usually have to buy kitten food," said Philip Settle, animal attendant, as he gave a tour of the stored goodies. "This is impressive."
Cabinets are filled with canned food. Five 32-gallon garbage pails of dog food are stored in a metal shed on the property. An overhead shelf in the Botetourt County pound enclosure is stacked high with bags of chow.
However, the shelter/pound operation can go through 500 pounds of food a week, and so is constantly needing more donations. Also, some of the gifts on its holiday "wish list" didn't show up.
The shelter still needs litter, blankets, newspapers, empty spray or squirt bottles, Pine-Sol cleaner, Tide, bleach, the cardboard boxes used to hold canned drinks (for litter boxes), paper towels, copy machine paper, office supplies, a postal scale and a heavy-duty three-hole paper punch.
The shelter is open noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
by CNB