Ways to help!

Hey everyone,

Volunteering comes in lots of different forms. Visiting the shelter and helping out with the animals is just one way to help (thanks to all of you who already do this). Here's a list of ways to make a difference:

• Because we're trying to save as many animals as we can, you'll notice that the shelter has been pretty full in recent months. We can only house so many animals at the shelter. To keep our euthanasia rates down, we need adopters and foster families! Fostering great because you can help socialize the animal and make it more adoptable. Who knows? You may even fall in love and adopt your furry foster (for all you foster failures far and wide). Consider becoming a foster mom or dad. The commitment is usually just a few weeks.

• For all you artistic people out there, we always need flyers for our events. If you're a graphic designer, considering donating your services to KCHA. 

• Data entry and filing. We're bringing KCHA into the 21st century with updated shelter software! If you have some time to help out, please do!

• If you have the means to donate items, please check out our Amazon Wishlist (right panel). As you'll see, a lot of the items are for improving and maintaining the health and well-being of the animals. With thousands and thousands of animals coming in the KCHA, we're always in need of food and items needed daily (like rabbit bedding and bird seed).

Thanks to Mrs. Burke and her students for their PAWsome donations!

• We really need someone to help DJ our Howl-o-ween event or at least supply us with some spooky tunes. It's going to be lots of fun! We'd love to see you there (in costume)!

• Like to drive? Sometimes we need volunteers to transport our animals to rescue. The fall foliage is in full effect and makes for scenic trips!

19 kitties were sent to a rescue in Philly on Friday!

• We're halfway to our goal of 120 Kuranda beds. You can donate by clicking here: http://kuranda.com/donate/1642. Let's keep our shelter dogs off the cold floor!

• Local businesses, we'd love to have your support and we'll be reaching out to you in the upcoming weeks. You can sponsor an animal or or host a fundraiser, among other things.

We need and want to be "your community shelter." Helping animals is a group effort, and we're looking forward to working with you as we continue to save animals in Kanawha County!

Chelesea Staley is the Executive Director of KCHA.

58 Kuranda Beds Needed to Reach Our Goal!

Kuranda beds are a great way to keep shelter dogs comfortable while they wait to join their furever homes. They're sturdy, cozy, and chewproof! They also reduce the laundry load and can be easily sanitized with bleach and disinfectant.  Let's keep KCHA dogs off the cold floor and onto a raised comfy Kuranda bed. Please donate one if you can!

Here's the donation link: http://kuranda.com/donate/1642.

This little guy is at KCHA waiting on his comfy Kuranda bed until you adopt him!

National Veterinary Technician Appreciation Week and Howl-o-ween Fun!

Hi all,

This week is National Veterinary Technician Appreciation Week, and we'd like to share our appreciation for KCHA's vet tech, Bethany. She just started at the shelter a few weeks ago and is working hard to ensure that the animals at KCHA are happy and healthy. Stop by and say hi to her on your next visit!

Howl-o-ween is right around corner! We're celebrating at the East End Dog Park on October 26th from 10-2pm. Be sure to come dressed in costume!

Lola, the Pugbee!

Let's make this year's Howl-o-ween Pet Purr-ade the best yet!

Hey everyone,

We can't tell you how excited we are for this year's pet parade and costumer contest. We're hoping to meet some of the area's most PAWsome pets and have a great time! The planning committee has been working hard on this, so come out and show your support for KCHA, your community shelter!

Thanks to Adrienne for sharing these photos of her festive dog, Dozer! What a costume! Can you guess who he is? Well... he's Dozer Lee Roth of Van Howlin! Hee hee. Good one, Adrienne.

Howl-o-ween Pet Purr-ade! October 26th, 10am to 2pm

Happy Sunday, everyone! Hope you are as excited as we are for our Annual Howl-o-ween Pet Purr-ade! This year, the event will be held at the Ruth Rafferty Peyton Dog Park on the East End. Mark your calendars for October 26th! HallowEast and FestivALL are also happening that weekend, so there'll be lots to do around Charleston!

BREAKING NEWS!

The annual KCHA Howl-o-ween Parade and Pet Costume Contest will be held on October 26th at the Ruth Raferty Peyton Dog Park (on the East End)!

Our event fits in nicely with FestivALL and HallowEast events already scheduled to occur that weekend. We're gearing up to promote the parade and contest, and we need your help!

CALLING ALL GRAPHIC ARTISTS! We need an awesome Halloween banner designed! Creativity encouraged!  We'll also need flyers. Just the layout; we'll take care of the text. The most creative flyer will be promoted on the FestivALL and HallowEast websites and around Charleston! For more information, contact KCHAcommunityevents@gmail.com.

We have three weeks to promote the event, so please send your work to us ASAP! The deadline for submission of FLYERS is this Sunday, OCTOBER 6th! The deadline for BANNER submissions is OCTOBER 9th!

Thanks in advance!

Cowdog from last year's pet parade!

Adopt a Shelter Dog Month + National Walk Your Dog Week = Take a KCHA Dog Home!

Thanks to everyone who made the commitment to adopt a shelter dog this week! We are still full of both dogs and cats. Even if you can commit to owning a pet right now, you can still become a foster! Fostering great because it frees up space at the shelter, allows the animal to become socialized, and lets it have the attention it deserves. Stop by KCHA today or this weekend and ask how you can help!

Today's photo submissiosn for "National Walk Your Dog Week" come from Joanette and Tommy.

This is Skittles. I got her at shelter just before she was 2 and now she is 14! She is a wonderful girl despite some medical issues. 3 yrs ago she had to have a cardiac pacemaker and takes a lot of medications, but she is still going strong!

Tommy says: This handsome devil is Lucifer, my 3 year old boxer. He's the hardest dog on earth to photograph...he just won't stay still! (It's probably because he's so happy that his human took him for a walk!)

 

Walk a Shelter Dog!

Hello, everyone!

KCHA is full, full, full with of dogs and cats. In honor of National Walk Your Dog Week, we encourage you to walk a dog (or cat) right on out of the shelter into your heart!

A special thanks to our committed volunteer, Anne, for walking this sweet girl. She's up for adoption and is waiting patiently for you to take her home!



National Walk Your Dog Week

Thanks to our two facebook followers who submitted photos of their dogs going for a walk. Please keep the submissions coming!



From Holly: Our vacation in the Florida Keys... Very dog friendly community and very lucky WV dogs to go on such a trip.

Here's Torre with her beagle on a hike in the woods in Cross Lanes. How beautiful!