Friends’ Connection is published each February, June, and October.Contact us at 479-738-1505 OR at www.thepetshelter.org,

OR Anne Greene, editor, at mcpsfriends@gmail.comOR at Friends of the Shelter, Paws and Claws Pet Shelter, 2075 Madison 6555, PO Box 364, Huntsville 72740

Paws and Claws Pet Shelter, Huntsville AR February through May 2016

Big-hearted Huntsville Students

Mobile Spay-Neuter Clinic Scheduled for February 20 $20 for dogs $20 for cats

Ourmission…

…is to act onbehalf ofunwanted andabandonedpets in orderto achieve thefollowing:provide a safecleanenvironment,provideneededmedicaltreatment, andgive healthypets theopportunity tobe adopted.We alsoencouragesterilizationby providinga portion ofthe cost whenpossible tolow-income,current petowners, andwe educateyoung peopleabout thesatisfactionassociatedwithresponsiblepet treatment.

Shelter receives award

Carla Taylor’s 4th-grade class collected items for the petshelter instead of exchanging Christmas presents inDecember. These are some big-hearted kids. All thedoggies and kitties at the shelter said Thank you, thankyou!

Photo courtesy of the Madison County Record

The Huntsville Area Chamber ofCommerce presented Paws & ClawsPet Shelter with a Star Award at theirJan. 28 awards banquet. That award isfor each of you, too, because we can’thelp the homeless dogs and catswithout you. Thank you!

Through the generosity of the Humane Society of the Ozarks and SpayNWA, Paws & Claws PetShelter is able to offer its second one-day, mobile spay-neuter clinic for the pets of qualifyingMadison County pet owners.

Surgeries will be done Saturday, Feb. 20, at Studio 407, 444 N. Parrott in Huntsville (next toGaribaldi’s). The cost is $20 for both cats and dogs, whether spayed or neutered. The surgerymust be paid for at Paws and Claws Pet Shelter on or before Wednesday, Feb. 17. Optionalservices are available, too, at $10 each. They include microchipping, rabies vaccinations,parvo/distemper vaccinations for dogs, and FVRCP for cats. Call 479-738-1505 to schedule.

Page 2 February through May 2016 Friends’ Connection

Raffle Winners,And a big Thank You to all

participants!

Top to bottom: Rugar winnerRachel Ritchie; YETI Roadiewinner Jason Cook; YETI Tundrawinner Lea Anne Johnson.Congratulations to the winners.Everyone who bought a tickethelped the dogs and cats. Thankyou!

Spay AR HelpsPaws & Claws

Spay Arkansas is our region'spremier low-cost spay-neuterclinic, located at 1909 HuntsvilleAve. in Springdale.

In January, the Spay Arkansasboard generously voted tosubsidize through 2016 the spay-neuter surgeries of Paws &Claws Pet Shelter’s dogs andcats.

Spay AR’s generositywill also allow us to presentspecial offers to Madison Countypet owners. Watch our websiteand Facebook page.

SpayAR serves petowners in our region. Most, butnot all, services of SpayAR areincome-sensitive. Income limitsstart at $33,350 for a householdof 1 person. To learn if youqualify or to learn of specialprograms available to everyone,go to spayarkansas.org or call479-756-1100.

The Chase FamilyFoundation ofSpringdale—established in 2008by Susan Chase tohonor her parents Rexand Glada Chase—made a generous gift of $2,000 inDecember. Many thanks to them!

Paws & Claws’Wish List

We can always use these things atthe shelter:

BleachPaper towelsKitty litterLeashes

Dog collarsTowels

BlanketsSheets

30- and 13-gallon garbage bagsSandwich & gal. sized Ziploc bagsHigh-efficiency laundry detergent

Dryer sheets

P&C Amazon Wish ListDonations to Paws and Clawsthrough Amazon’s Wish ListRegistry are always welcome, too.Visit:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist

In the Find a Wish List or Registrybox, type paws & claws pet shelteror mcpshelter1@gmail.com andship to the shelter at 2075 Madison6555, Huntsville AR 72740.

Support P&C throughAmazon Smile

When you sign up to shop onAmazon through Amazon Smile(smile.amazon.com), you shopas usual, and Amazon gives0.5% of the price of youreligible purchases to thecharitable organization of yourchoice.

Please select us as yourchoice. Search for either Paws andClaws Pet Shelter or MadisonCounty Pet Shelter, Huntsville AR,for an easy way to help us help thehomeless dogs and cats.

Page 3 February through May 2016 Friends’ Connection

Dogs help our healthHere’s the summary of a new publication by HarvardMedical School. It’s always nice when researchconfirms what we already know.

There are many reasons why dogs are called humans'best friends: not only do they offer unparalleledcompanionship, but a growing body of research showsthey also boost human health. Owning a dog canprompt you to be more physically active — haveleash, will walk. It can also:

help you be calmer, more mindful, and morepresent in your life

make kids more active, secure, andresponsible

improve the lives of older individuals make you more social and less isolated

Just petting a dog can reduce the petter's bloodpressure and heart rate (while having a positive effecton the dog as well).

Get Healthy, Get a Dog, a new Special Health Reportfrom Harvard Medical School, details the many waysthat dogs can improve the lives of humans.

The health connection is often a two-way street.People who are overweight and sedentary tend to havedogs that are overweight and sedentary. In fact,obesity has reached epidemic proportions in thecanine community — affecting more than half of dogs— just as it has among humans. So if you have anunhealthy, overweight dog, that may be a red flag thatyou’re unhealthy yourself.

Get Healthy, Get a Dog offers healthy lifestylechanges for both you and your dog to further boost thebenefits described above. If the two of you alreadyexercise together, it offers ways to expand youractivities.

If you don’t own a dog but would like to adopt one,Get Healthy, Get a Dog guides you in choosing acompanion that will suit your lifestyle. It also coversthe role of service dogs in the lives of humans andways to benefit from contact with canines if you don’town a dog. It also includes a special section onoptimal dog nutrition, plus a chapter on exercise, so

you know exactly what your dog needs to stay healthyand fit.

Although dogs are wonderful motivators for gettingmoving, they are not just a means to a healthier end.Adopting a dog is a commitment that will last formany years, and you must be ready and willing to takeon that responsibility. If you do, it’s likely you will berichly rewarded with one of the most satisfying,loving, and active relationships you’ll everexperience.http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/get-healthy-get-a-dog

Gracie’s odyssey, a happy tailIn early 2015, Gracie’s owner moved and abandonedher. This tough little dog took to the highways and by-ways and lived on her own for 7 or 8 months. She wasseen by many but could be touched by none. During herodyssey she appeared to have had pups, she lost weight,and she lost her right rear foot. And she kept on going.

Shonna and a crew of persistent volunteers decided tocapture her. Some said, “No way that’ll happen.” But,guess what? It did, and it’s one very happy tail. Here’sher very abbreviated odyssey in pictures. (Clockwise fromtop left: on her own, 3-legged; trap being readied; recoveringat shelter; and finally at home, adopted Jan. 11.)

Generous donations to our special-needs fund helped ushelp Gracie. Thank you!

Page 4 February through May 2016 Friends’ Connection

Tommy and Karen Suggs with theirbeagles Sami (in foreground) andEddie, after our May 2015 Fun Run.

Suggs estate planning includes pets

We have some big-hearted donors, and weappreciate every one of them. But Tommy andKaren Suggs are unique because their philanthropicplanning extends not just to our shelter before andafter their passing, but it also extends to their pets.

As part of aplanned estategift to Pawsand Claws PetShelter, theSugges haveensured thefuture care oftheir pets,whichcurrentlyincludes threecats and twoelderlybeagles,Samantha

(Sami) andEddie.

When the timecomes that neither Tommy nor Karen can care fortheir animals, the dogs and cats will be transportedto our no-kill shelter. Our shelter will match themwith the best possible home. These guys will bemissing their people, no doubt, but they will beliving is a safe, loving environment.

Our companion animals give us loyalty andattention for years, but few of us who are elderlyourselves think about providing for the welfare ofour pets when we are not there for them. TheSugges gift to the shelter and to their pets is thoughtprovoking. It shows a unique compassion andserves as an example to all of us.

The Cats’ ChampionMark Twain was a great fan of cats. Hewrote, “When a man loves cats, I am hisfriend and comrade, without furtherintroduction.”

Valentine’s Day Special

Visit us Feb. 11 and Feb. 13 to find the nextlove of your life. All adoptions on the 11th

and the 13th are $14. You won’t regret it! ♥

An artist’s touch

Joana, above, donated her artistic talent and time inDecember to freshen the look and atmosphere at theshelter. Come by and see her work. It’s fun! Thankyou, Joana.

Page 5 February through May 2016 Friends’ Connection

They’re all special, but Jim was a Wonder Dog by Abby Burnett

All towns should be blessedwith a famous dog, living orotherwise. Marshall, Mo., hasboth a park and a museum tohonor its most famous canineresident, Jim the Wonder Dog.This Llewellin Setter (1925 –1937), famed for his psychicabilities, was a tourist attractionin his day and continues to drawvisitors to an annual WonderDog Day each May, and toJim’s grave in Marshall’s RidgePark Cemetery.

Quail hunter and hotelmanager Sam VanArsdalebought Jim, as a pup, for $12and discovered the dog’suncanny abilities on a hot day.“Let’s go over and rest a bitunder that hickory tree,” hesaid, conversationally, to hisdog – and was amazed whenJim trotted straight over to thehickory. With furtherquestioning, the dog went to awalnut, a cedar, a stump, andeven a tin can on demand. Thiswas the beginning of big things.

Jim is credited withhaving correctly predicted thewinner of the Kentucky derbyseven times in a row, and thewinner of the World Series in1936. He could be sent out tothe street to identify a car by itsmake, color or even licensenumber, and was said tocorrectly follow commands inforeign languages – even inMorse code.

Such abilities got theattention of psychologists, thedirector of the state’s School ofVeterinary Medicine (whopronounced Jim “possessed

with occult power”), even ajoint session of the Missourilegislature which convened justto see a demonstration of thedog’s powers. He was writtenabout in numerous magazines,and was featured in a Ripley’sBelieve It Or Not column.

When Jim died, hisowner sought to have himburied in the VanArsdale familyplot, but was denied. Jim(embalmed and buried in aspecially made casket) wasinterred outside the cemeteryfence but, in later years, anexpansion meant that the fencewas moved. Today Jim’s gravelies inside the cemetery, and hisis the most-visited burial there.School children have worn apath to the spot, where theyleave coins and small gifts onthe dog’s headstone.

Jim’s home at the RuffHotel (yes, really) waseventually demolished; todayJim the Wonder Dog MemorialGarden stands on the spot. Itincludes beautiful plantings, awater feature, and a life-sizedbronze statue of the dog, createdby Andy Davis in 1999 thatprovides a shady

napping place for local cats.The Marshall Welcome Centerand Jim the Wonder DogMuseum are next door to thispark.

Every town should havea famous, celebrity pet.Marshall, Mo., has one – and atown motto to go with it:“Come. Sit. Stay.”Information about Jim’s life, May’s WonderDog Day (with balloon dogs for children and adog adoption event), and merchandisecontaining Jim’s picture may be found at:www.jimthewonderdog.org

Pet CemeteriesIf a visit to the grave of Jim the Wonder Dogleaves you interested in seeing where otherpets are buried, there are a lot of cemeteriesto explore. Animal lovers should be warned,however: the inscriptions on some of themarkers are guaranteed to cause tears. “Youleft paw prints on my heart,” and “Whorescued who?” are only the beginning.

America’s first pet cemetery wascreated in Hartsdale, N.Y., in 1896, the workof a sympathetic veterinarian whose clientwas not allowed to bury her beloved dog in acemetery with humans. Now such placesexist across the country. Some, like the KenUnderwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard(aka the Coon Dog Cemetery), established in1937, have even made it onto the big screen,serving as the location for a pivotal scenebetween Reece Witherspoon and Josh Lucasin Sweet Home Alabama.

Springfield, Mo., has two large petburial grounds. Friends of the Family PetMemorial Gardens is located on 1900 N.County Road 123; across town is LakelandPet Cemetery, on 4500 S. Lone Pine. Closerto home is Rest Haven, at 3800 W. Walnut inBentonville. All three use markers that areflush with the ground which, though small,still leave room for heart-felt inscriptions andeven photographs of the deceased pet.

To see large, elaborate memorials toby-gone pets, visit Mount Auburn, outsideBoston, Mass. Though historians for thishistoric cemetery maintain that no animalswere ever buried there, family plots sportlife-sized marble statues of long-lost Irishsetters and bull dogs, and cameo portraits ofother beloved pets are to be found on theirowners’ stones.

Page 6 February through May 2016 Friends’ Connection

Join Friends of the Shelter, ensure your receipt ofFriends’ Connection, and help us help them. Thank you!

Supporters receive this newsletter each June, October, and February. Your yearly donation helps us care forand find homes for homeless Madison County dogs and cats.

Yes, please count me (or us) in as a Friend of the Shelter:

Name: ________________________________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________________

City: _________________________________________________________________________

Phone: _______________________ Email address? ___________________________________(Send newsletter via email? Y___ N___ )

We ask that you send at least $12 a year. Your ongoing support touches not only the dogs and cats we care for, but many families.$12 _____ $20 _____ $50 _____ $100 ____ Other ________

Please make checks payable to PCPS Friends of the Shelter and mail to POB 364 Huntsville 72740Please encourage all pet owners to spay or neuter their pets. Thank you for your support!

See us on Facebook – Visit our webpage: www.thepetshelter.org

Donate your old vehicle toPaws & Claws Pet Shelter

Call the Center forCar Donations

today!Our partner, the Center for CarDonations, will pick up yourvehicle, sell it, send the shelter acheck, and send you an IRS 1098or acknowledgement. Your vehicledoesn’t even have to be running,though you must be the legal titleholder.

Give them a call at 877-411-3662 or visit their website:www.centerforcardonations.com/paws-claws-pet-shelter.htm

$ Upcoming Online Fundraiser $April 7, 2016

Arkansas Gives Day, where your gift grows

On April 7, Arkansas Gives Day, from 8AM to 8PM, donations given toPaws & Claws Pet Shelter through this effort will be partially matched bythe Arkansas Community Foundation. Your gift will be enhanced and willhelp us help them even more.

Watch our website (www.thepetshelter.org) and Facebook page for detailsas April 7 approaches.

A unique link will be available. Paws & Claws Pet Shelter will be listedas a participating nonprofit, so when you choose us, your gift will beincreased.

Caring for hundreds of living, breathing, eating, and etc. animals costsmoney. We are solid in our conviction that it is money well spent for boththe animals and for Madison County. We think you agree and hope you cantake advantage of this 1-day chance for your donation to receive theArkansas Community Foundation match. Thank you!