Bella Blue Completes Family

The Johnson family had been a two-dog family for several years, until one of their dogs passed away.

Bella Blue at the Shelter

“One of our dogs passed away about a year and a half ago, leaving us with our 5-year-old ’coon hound mix, Hunter,” said Sandy Johnson. “He seemed to be doing pretty well as an ’only child’ at first, but gradually became less active and didn’t seem as interested in hanging around with my husband and me.
“We started thinking about looking for a companion, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we weren’t able to do that until this past fall.”

Though Hunter is a large dog – about 80 pounds – he’s scared of small dogs and does better with females. So the Johnson family began looking for a medium- to large-breed dog.
“We also knew we wanted a dog that was younger than Hunter, but not a puppy,” Sandy said.
“I started looking at the humane society in Wichita and also various rescue groups in the Wichita vicinity, but wasn’t finding just the right one for us and for Hunter. It finally occurred to me to look at humane societies outside of Sedgwick County.”

The first website Sandy looked at was the Cowley County Humane Society website.
“There was this adorable Bella Blue that I kept going back to. Although I knew nothing about her at the time, I just felt like I needed to meet her,” she said. “As luck would have it, a friend of mine has a friend, Dovie, who volunteers for CCHS and contacted her.”

The CCHS adoption crew brought Bella to an adoption event the following weekend at PetSmart.
“My husband was ready to adopt her the minute he saw her. We adopted her that morning and immediately started spoiling her, and Hunter, with new beds and toys,” Sandy said.
“Hunter was so excited when he saw her. They immediately started running and playing, and they haven’t stopped. She follows her big brother almost everywhere, and if she’s not by his side, he comes to get her if there’s something important going on.”
Once a week, Bella and Hunter go to a doggy day care.
“She is so exhausted that she’s asleep in the car within two blocks of leaving,” Sandy said.

Bella Blue With Her New Family

Other than helping herself to a few Christmas tree ornaments, there hasn’t been any unexpected young dog “bad” behavior from Bella.
“Some of the things she has helped herself to have been our fault for not putting out of reach,” Sandy said. “She seems to learn pretty quickly and she tends to follow Hunter’s lead on a lot of things – although he’s been known to get them into some trouble.”

When asked how life has changed since adopting Bella, Sandy said, “Our life is back to normal. The house is a racetrack again for two dogs to chase each other, there are dog toys all over again, and Hunter is so much more active and happy.

Two Dogs, One Happy Family

Stella at the shelter

Stella, a precocious American blue heeler mix, turned two in March. She came to the shelter with her mother and four siblings in April, 2014. This entire canine family was struck with tragedy. The mother, Simone, was heart worm positive. She was treated and was transferred to a rescue who found her a home. However, four of her five pups contracted parvo virus and died. Little Stella was the lone survivor of the litter

Dags, a cheerful American pit bull terrier, came to us in July of 2016 with two other dogs. They had been found, abandoned, by the Cowley County Sheriff’s Department. All three were very underweight, crawling with fleas, and dehydrated. They were held on a “cruelty hold” while the sheriff’s department attempted to find the owner. They were unsuccessful.

Dags at the shelter

Stella with a dog bed her mom knit

What do these two dogs have in common? Both were adopted by Dotti and Karl Call, and their children Kaya and Magnolia, of Oklahoma City, OK. They adopted Stella as a puppy. Fostering first, they introduced her to their senior dog. There were some concerns about how the relationship would go as Stella’s new big sister, Scooby, had been the Queen of the Castle for some time. The goofy puppy, however, stole Scooby’s heart (and food and toys) in no time.

Two years later, after Scooby had passed, the family wasn’t really looking for a new pet. However, Dotti’s sister works at the CCHS and was completely smitten with the sweet tempered Dags. Knowing what a soft touch Dotti and Karl are she broached the subject of just fostering Dags for a couple of weeks to see how things went. Stella, after all, needed a playmate, right? Within half an hour of the family meeting Dags, it was clear that she had found her furever home.

 

Dotti says, “When Dags first came to us, she really didn't seem to know how to ‘dog’. We think this may be due to her having been kept in a small cage or enclosure during much of her early life. We would take her for rides in the car and she didn't know what to do with an open window. We got her a nice soft bed, she laid on the floor beside it. We got her toys and chewies, she just looked at them, no idea what she was meant to do. In the short time she's been with us, all of this has changed. She now has the most joyous playful nature. She jumps in the car and immediately paws to have the window rolled down so she can stick her whole head out of the car.”

These two wonderful girls are now living the dream and making the Call family happy every day. They love to go hiking, take rides in the convertible, and play endlessly with each other. This summer the two pooches went on a road trip to Colorado where they ran around in the woods, made new friends at dog parks, and went to restaurants all over Denver. 

Dags, Stella, and Karl in Colorado

Sometimes the most tragic beginnings lead to the 

happiest endings.

Stella & Dags hitting the restaurant scene

November Adoption Special

Senior pets still have so much love to give--will you give them a chance?

From The Rubble

Tornado (front) with one of his siblings

On July 9^th of this year Kristi Powers of Winfield, her husband, and others with Operation BBQ Relief were in Eureka, KS feeding the victims of the tornado that had hit there just two days prior. They were surprised when two men pulled up and said, “We just found some kittens in the rubble. Can you feed them?” 

Kindergartner, Alyssa, promptly replied, “Yes!” Committed by this little girl, Kristi agreed as well expecting older kittens that they could take to live with them in their country home. However, the four tiny babies that were pulled from the debris didn’t have their eyes open yet and still had their umbilical cords attached. They couldn’t have been more than a day or two old.

The group took the wee kittens to local vet, Dr. Dan Droge, who supplied them with formula, bottles, and instructions on bottle feeding kittens. The group fed the kittens every couple of hours during the weekend. Once home, Kristi called on her friend Marlene Mayfield as she knew Marlene has raised bottle-fed kittens in the past. In fact, Marlene has hand raised several kittens for the CCHS. Marlene readily agreed to take over the care of the tiny tabbies. Sadly, three of the little ones did not survive. Ever the fighter, Tornado, so named by Alyssa, not only survived but thrived.

Once he was two months old, Tornado was vetted and ready to go to his furever

Tornado on his vet day

home! The tiny Tornado is unique not only because of his beginnings but he’s also a polydactyl. Polydactyl cats have extra toes making them look like they are wearing mittens. This genetic mutation is harmless and actually quite adorable. Tornado has not one but two bonus toes on each foot. Kristi and her husband adopted him, bringing him full circle back to his saviors. She says, “Tornado is a symbol of how resilient Kansans can be. We cannot thank Marlene Mayfield and the Cowley County Humane Society enough for the time, effort, love and resources that have gotten us to the point of a happy playful kitten.”

We would like to give our thanks to Marlene for fostering this boy with love and devotion and to the Powers family for giving him a home!

Tornado and Cruiser, another one of Marlene's foster cats. 

May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor!

Huge raffle and bake sale on Sep 10th, Walmart Winfield 9-4 (drawing at 3)! You do not have to be present to win! All proceeds benefit the shelter. Rex and Janice Harrington, their daughter Rachael Ray and her sons Nick, John, and Alex decided to collect items in the community and have a raffle to benefit us! 

Tickets are $2 each, 3 for $5, 7 for $10,or 15 for $20. Receive a free raffle ticket for every new item you bring for the shelter (paper towels, bedding, or stuffed animals). Tickets available on location or in advance by FB messaging Rachael Harrington-ray or texting Rachael at 620-218-9551 or Rex at 620-229-8100. 

There will be large totes filled with incredible items you can specifically buy tickets for. Items such as gift cards to local restaurants and businesses, haircuts, tools, tool box, cash, pedicures, manicures, jewelry, clothing, movie tickets, oil changes - too much to mention! Come check it out-the Aaron's Dog will be there in the afternoon! 

Thank you to all who donated and to the Harringtons and Rays for their hard work!

Check our Facebook page this coming week for a link listing the contents of the prize totes!

Petpalooza Right Around the Corner!

Cowley County’s party animals are at it again! For one day only, on Sep 10^th at Black Creek Park in Winfield, baseball diamonds will be transformed into dog parks, the pavilion will house a cake walk and the lawn will be the site of many canine-friendly activities, contests, vendors, silent auction, raffle, hotdog bar, and an adoption event.

Our third annual Petpalooza will be kicked off at 10:00 a.m. with a 1-mile leisurely dog walk through the beautiful Fleetwood neighborhood. At 10:45, special guests Lynda Symes and Tammi Harris will introduce their miniature horses who are sure to enchant visitors with their tricks - a first at Petpalooza! We will honor our volunteers at 11:30 and at 11:45 it’s contest time! The categories are best dog costume, best dog kiss, and most photogenic dog. Dogs of similar height can compete against each other in the noon dog races and show off their secret greyhound skills! The event ends at 2 p.m.

Bring your family and have lots of fun at the only festival in Cowley County to celebrate our furry friends!  Dogs must be current on rabies vaccination to attend. Admission is free! Like us on Facebook for updated information.

Our vendors this year:

- CCHS Doggie Boutique: all things pet-related
- CCHS Hot Dog Bar: vegetarian/vegan chili available
- Face painting by Sarah Martin
- Pampered Pet: hand-made soaps for pets and humans
- Dawson Monument: pet memorial items
- Matsufoto: pet photography
- Scentsy: wickless candles and warmers
- Salon 5th Avenue: "doggie tattoos" with stencils and human-
grade hair paint, colorful tails
- Crafts: wooden signs, chalk-painted furniture, crocheted items
- CHARG: Cowley Health Assistance Resource Group; info
info material
- South Central Kansas Kennel Club: info material
- Girls On the Go: pet/house-sitting, errand service

A huge thank you to our sponsors: American Family Insurance-Jonathan Leeper Agency in Winfield, Winfield Chiropractic, RCB Bank, and Wheat State Telephone!

Hope for Hondo

Hondo’s journey with the shelter started out, like so many animals, somewhat tragically. Hondo escaped his yard and was hit by a car. Injured, he was taken to a local vet and his owner contacted. Unfortunately, the owner did not have the resources to be able to pay a potentially large vet bill. After some heart wrenching thought, the decision was made to surrender him to the humane society so that he could be cared for. And so Hondo’s extensive treatment process began.

CCHS veterinarian Dr. Lindsay Gehring cleaned and flushed Hondo’s wound. There was also a fair amount of dead tissue that had to be removed. His wound was cleaned of that and sutured. He had bruising to his abdomen as well and we feared possible internal bleeding. Luckily, this was not the case. Hondo was placed on antibiotics to prevent infection and was taken in by shelter employee Dovie Browning to be fostered while he healed.

Unfortunately, Hondo had to come back in a week later to have more tissue removed. Once again, he was sutured and sent back to his foster home. Another week later and his sutures had opened and he had to be stitched up a third time. Yet again the wound tried to reopen. We were beginning to fear for this big, lovable dog but were not willing to give up on him!

In April, retired veterinary wound specialist, Dr. Swaim, volunteered his time and assisted Dr. Gehring in a skin graft on the area that refused to heal. Hondo’s activity was severely restricted to give the graft time to adhere and begin to grow to the healthy flesh. For weeks Hondo had to be kept in a crate when not on a leash so that he would move the healing hip as little as possible.

Through all of this, Hondo has remained a cheerful and loving dog. This big shepherd just doesn’t give up! Dovie says, “He’s a very good dog! He just loves to be loved.”

Nearly three months after his medical journey began, Hondo was finally declared well on the way, if not completely, recovered! He is currently in a foster-to-adopt home. His current foster mom reports that he loves to play and, if his foster brother won’t play with him, he’ll throw a ball up in the air and chase it by himself. It’s this “won’t give up” attitude that has seen him through months of repeated medical treatments. We’re holding out high hopes that this precious boy finds his furever home soon! He deserves it.