Columbus Dog Connection

Save the date! If you missed it last year, here’s your chance to have fun and support a good cause!

For information, please visit our website at:

https://www.columbusdogconnection.com/fall-fundraiser.html

We’re still working to try to get the situation with the poisoned cats under control.
We trapped 6. Four of these were 4 adult TNR, and 2 kittens are still in our possession. One of the cats was pregnant but we were able to spay/abort. We’re not sure if these kittens are going to be tnr also as we just don’t have foster homes available and these kittens need socialization. Tonight we found out there’s three more kittens under a car. This is so exhausting.

If you’re seriously interested in fostering, please email Mirna at [email protected]

is here! and are matching donations weekly, and we need your support! Donate now to help us save as many pets as possible at: https://donate.clearthesheltersfund.org/.../columbus-dog...

ADOPTION ANNOUNCEMENT

This spring and summer I fostered 3 kittens from the situation where we took in 19 kittens!

I ended up with the last three kittens left after the others were picked - “Denmark the tuxedo, Scotland the very shy boy, and Sweden the shy girl”. All three were the cutest (of course I’m bias) and so much fun and rewarding watching them grow and blossom. I really enjoyed fostering them. One day I looked at them and it hit me that I needed to find their forever homes. Ugh, I didn’t want to separate them but I knew I had to, no one in their right mind would adopt all three…..until Cindy and Jeff came along. They came to meet Denmark and were planning on adopting two. But once they met all three and couldn’t separate the trio, they decided to adopt them!

I did try to talk them out of taking all three but they were pretty set with their decision, and have never wavered.

My three babies are doing great and live in a big beautiful home with a bizillion windows with trees and wildlife surrounding it. Cindy has been wonderful in keeping me updated which I truly appreciate.

I could not have asked for a better outcome. When I left them at their forever home, I knew they were in competent and caring hands. In this line of work, there is no better feeling than knowing you made a difference in the life of a rescued soul, this time in the lives of three souls.

Thank you Cindy and Jeff, on a selfish level, you have given me peace of mind .

Hallelujah! That’s my first th*****me, lol! And another first, the adopters took a pic of me at adoption!

Have a great life babies, you are loved!

Fetty Wap has a crisis!

He refuses to take his daily medication unless it is in a pill pocket layered with Temptations creamy pure treats. And he also likes to share with his friends.

For your consideration:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1UE5SZNM3Z5B3/ref=bnav_topnav_lists_2?

Preventing unwanted litters!

is here! and are matching donations weekly, and we need your support! Donate now to help us save as many pets as possible at: https://donate.clearthesheltersfund.org/page/columbus-dog-connection

Our main man Royce has found his forever home!

Royce came to us from the Muskingum County K-9 Adoption Center where he had been there 1 year without getting interest. Royce stayed with our friends at Top Dog Daycare & Boarding and he instantly became a favorite of their staff, which was not a suprise since all of the staff and volunteers from the shelter continued to follow his social media posts once he was transferred to our care.

Royce received the royal treatment at Top Dog, where he got to play with in the mornings with Camden and Denali while they were there, and then would get an afternoon break to sit on the couch and kiddie chair in the office and watch westerns and soap operas with the owner's mom in the afternoon. He also received some training sessions from Andrew with BOOP K9 where he learned leash and toy manners.

Royce also found love with Layla even if it was for a fleeting moment when he came to our office and also when she was transferred to Top Dog. He was also the DJ at the Top Dog club.

Royce immediately stole the heart of Jackie who was looking for a second dog for her home. Her other pet had passed away and it just didn't seem like a full house with only one dog, and poor Bentley needed a furry friend to play with.

Now Royce has a brother and a big backyard to play in. He gets all the best spots in the living room to watch his programs while his mom works from home. He even gets to continue some training sessions with his friend Andrew!

Please follow his journey in the pictures. We love you Royce!

Congrats to Royce, Jackie and Bentley!

A recap of our week!

PLEASE, PLEASE HELP US FIND BECKHAM A FOREVER HOME!

Beckham is a beautiful medium/long hair cat. He was dumped at our office and it took us about a month to trap him. He was shy at first but quickly wanted some love.

He is very friendly with people but does NOT like most other cats and for that reason he is kept separated from the rest. We do our very best to make sure he is not lonely. He spends a few hours in our catio. We have a divided section where he is able to run and see our other cats on the other side, and watch the birds and get fresh air. Then he spends 2-3 hours in a cat condo and then the rest of the time in an office. He does have windows and toys in the office.

But he is a people cat and when we get ready to leave, he wants to go home with us. It is heartbreaking to leave him in the office day in and out when he longs for his human.

He is an office favorite. We all love him very much (especially Mirna). He doesn't have any litter box issues, he loves to be pet, he makes biscuits on his bed in the office. He's not particularly picky about his food. But his favorite thing is being around people.

His ideal home would be a home without other pets and lots of windows and someone that is going to let him sleep with them and talk to him.

If you are not able to provide him with a foster or forever home, please, please SHARE!

If you’re interested in adoption or fostering, please email Mirna at [email protected]

And/or visit his profile at:
https://www.petfinder.com/cat/beckham-70632856/oh/columbus/columbus-dog-connection-oh123/

It’s a beautiful evening, we hope everyone is enjoying it.

Our cats would be so grateful if you could provide them with their favorite recreational activity. Their supplier “plug” is currently incarcerated for being a thug and not sharing the last stash and they need you to help them deal with life.

For your consideration:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1UE5SZNM3Z5B3/ref=bnav_topnav_lists_2?

Most of you have seen pictures of Missy in different posts.

Well let us tell you how lucky we are to have her as one of our CDC family members.

We met Missy a few years ago when she adopted two of our black kittens. She then fostered another black kitten and that baby never left, making that number 3 adoption!

Then Missy started responding to our appeals for this or that donation. Missy has continuously donated to CDC.

We quickly recruited her to help with transports, cat care, and other projects when we are shorthanded. She always says yes and she always helps on holidays!

Missy is currently fostering Roberta, one of our senior cats as well as two kittens - England and Germany.

And she does everything with a smile on her face!

Please help us thank her for being so kind and wonderful to CDC! We love you Missy!

How about this handsome guy?

Denzel has been in foster care for a bit and we don’t understand why because he’s pretty perfect!

If interested in learning more about him, please visit his profile at:

https://www.petfinder.com/cat/denzel-70568300/oh/columbus/columbus-dog-connection-oh123/

Or email Mirna at [email protected]

This tuxedo brother and sister duo are adorable. They are about 4.5 months old and fully vetted!

If you’re interested in Mork and Mindy, please email Mirna at [email protected]

Their profiles can be viewed at:

Adopt Brandy's kittens on Petfinder Brandy's kittens is an adoptable Cat - Tuxedo searching for a forever family near Columbus, OH. Use Petfinder to find adoptable pets in your area.

Salz, the last of the litter that was left on our front door in a box, was adopted!

Thank you to her foster mom, Sally, for taking such good care of her.

Her new family are prior adopters and wanted a playmate for the other kitty they adopted from CDC (Moose).

Salz has settled right in and is already friends with every critter in the house.

On International Cat Day we could feature one of our many available wonderful cats (and we have all ages, colors, and personalities), but instead we’d like to make an appeal for you to support rescue groups and shelters that have cats in their programs with some actual HANDS-ON volunteering. We understand that most people want to help but can’t adopt or are not in a position to donate. The next best way to help is by volunteering.

You can help with cleaning; organizing; doing laundry; transporting; feeding colonies; holding food drives; taking cats to vet appointments. Commit to promoting one cat per week on all social media venues; share posts; foster.

Rescues and shelters are struggling with the overwhelming number of animals in their care and those waiting to enter their facility. They are understaffed and do not have enough volunteers. All the ways you can help listed above are time savers, morale boosters, and allow staff to tend to the animals in their care, fundraise, get the dreaded admin work done.

Just help. It doesn’t have to be every week, but commit to helping out. Cats like Stormi, pictured, are counting on you.

If interested in learning more about Stormi:

https://www.petfinder.com/cat/stormi-70567883/oh/columbus/columbus-dog-connection-oh123/

If interested in volunteering for Columbus Dog Connection please visit our website at

https://www.columbusdogconnection.com/volunteer.html

Or send email to:
[email protected]

If interested in promoting our available cats, please click on the following link, scroll past the text and take your pick of any of the profiles to share on your social media.

https://www.columbusdogconnection.com/cdc-dogs--cats.html

THANK YOU For YOUR CONSIDERATION😻😻😻

Thanks to Anthony Rothman and his program Hockey and Hounds for supporting our foster program recently. Anthony has showcased adoptable animals through his program and 100% of merchandise sales support rescues and shelters like ours. You can catch his show, Rothman and Ice on 97.1 The Fan on the radio or by website here:
https://www.971thefan.com/hockeyandhounds/

You can also order some great Ohio and sports merchandise to support his efforts here: https://whereimfrom.com/product-category/collections/hockey-hounds-columbus/

Hockey and Hounds 100% of proceeds from merch sales goes to Ohio animal shelters and rescues. Hockey and Hounds was founded by Anthony Rothman in 2016 to showcase adoptable animals. It has been amazing to see the impact it has

When we hear of so many pets that are given up because they’re not perfect, the letter that we received from prior adopters makes our hearts melt!

Good evening!

My husband and I adopted George from your shelter October of 2021 and I just wanted to say I am beyond grateful for finding your organization, Kellie D. and George. Before meeting George, we had to say goodbye to our rescue pit bull of 12 years to bladder cancer. It was a difficult loss to everyone in our family, including our two other dogs, but I promised I would honor his life by rescuing another dog. Upon meeting George, we knew he was going to be a great fit but I didn’t realize just how great it was going to be. Several months after taking George in, my mother passed away, 3 months after that we found out we were pregnant with our first child and a year after that we had to put down our other elderly dog. There was a lot of change, heartbreak and excitement going on. George has been my support system every step of the way. He isn’t perfect with separation anxiety, scaring easily, leash aggression and trying to chase people, but we work on it with love, training (and a new fence 🤣🫠💵). Our son is now 19 months old and the two of them are best friends along with our wheaten terrier. George is still not always sure of our son and his sticky hands, but overall he’s just been amazing for us and I wanted to say thank you so much for doing what you do.

Ashley and Trent

And now, for the moment, we have all been waiting for over a year. We are proud to announce.......... HUGO HAS BEEN ADOPTED!!!!

As you may recall, Hugo came to us in February of 2023 through a veterinarian referral. His owners had adopted him from the shelter 5 years ago and decided for multiple reasons (COUGH..COUGH.. EXCUSES), that he needed to be euthanized. They stated that he was in a lot of pain in his hind legs and all he did was lay around on the couch in pain. He was excitedly jumping up and down in the exam room with the vet so they knew that was not the issue. Next they said that he was actually their son's dog but he moved away to college.... meaning that the son was 18 now and would have been 13yrs old when they adopted Hugo. Then they said it was due to the return of his skin cancer and they didn't want to put him through surgery since he already had poor quality of life in his legs. After we said that we would take him into our foster program they told us that he doesn't do well with other dogs, he hated their two new french bulldog puppies.

So once we took him into our foster program. we found out that he had previously torn both acl's on his hind legs and had severe muscle mass waste due to lack of activity. He was not in any pain but walks a little weirdly with his hind legs splayed out. He had a total of three small masses removed from his flanks near his armpit area. They were cancerous but were completely removed so there is little to no chance of it returning. His breed is disposed to making more of the Mast Cell Tumors but only time will tell if he develops any more. He made a full recovery from surgery at a staff members home with 3 other dogs and he did just fine with them. Clearly all of the reasons were excuses to not take care of an older, bigger dog so that they could focus their time and money towards their new puppies.

After his recovery, he stayed with our friends Pet Palace until Terrance came along and wanted to foster for us. Terrance had previously fostered for the shelter but was interested in assisting a private rescue this time around. Terrance met Hugo at one of our adoption events and felt they were a good match. Hugo remained in Terrance's home for just over a year before the adopters came along.

We received an inquiry for Hugo from a family interested in adopting an older dog as a companion to their other older dog who needed a friend. Amelia liked playing with some of the calmer neighborhood dogs, and seemed lonely when the family was out of the house. They saw Hugo's profile and thought they may be a match. After they came to meet Hugo with Amelia they saw that the two had the same energy level and while they did not cuddle up and become best friends immediately, they both seemed to enjoy sharing the same space and getting love from the humans together which is what they had been looking for in a second dog. The home visit went well, Hugo was a little excited about the cat but mostly he just wanted to whine at her. They kept Hugo for an overnight and decided he needed to stay there permanently. He sleeps in the bed with the kids and even cuddles with Amelia. He is a dream to walk on the leash Sara says and he just fits right into the family perfectly.

Congrats to Hugo and his amazing forever family.

LOTS OF CATS MEANS LOTS OF P*E AND P**P!

For your consideration:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1UE5SZNM3Z5B3/ref=bnav_topnav_lists_2?

https://www.chewy.com/g/columbus-dog-connection_b106864107

UPDATE:

THANK YOU to everyone that has donated. We could not be more grateful for your support. We continue to monitor and trap more cats at this location. It is indeed heartbreaking to see this.

Please continue to share to bring awareness to this situation. It happens more frequently than you know in many of our communities.

******************************

We have been dealing with a very sad and heartbreaking situation for about a month now.

We need to tell you about it because it is a real problem in our communities. Rescue is not always pretty and situations like this need to be addressed.

We were alerted about a large number of stray/feral cats and kittens in a residential neighborhood.

We looked into it and it was the same situation that we hear about all the time - people with good intentions feeding cats but not fixing them. And guess what happened? A large population of feral cats (many adult females all with litters) resulting from the original cats breeding over a period of about a year.

The homeowner/feeder felt overwhelmed with not only the cost of feeding so many strays but also not having the means to fix them. He said he reached out to several agencies but could not get help. That is not surprising. All of us receive so MANY requests daily. With limited resources we all do what we can, but as we say all the time, it is now in your backyard and we all need to help. Here’s the reality- people do not connect with the concept that “if you feed them, you must fix them”. We can guarantee that it will be cheaper to fix two or four than to feed 30. It’s simple math. Then there’s the next argument we hear all of the time - “they’re not my cats and not my responsibility”. You can convince yourself of that, but meanwhile, while you are in denial, ON YOUR PROPERTY, they will multiply having about three or more litters in a year and those litters also reproducing starting when they’re 4-5 months old, OR or you can address the issue. There are many low cost options in our community.

Back to the situation-
After talking to this homeowner, we agreed to help him fix the cats inside his home first before that got out of hand. So far we have fixed 7. We also learned that another neighbor was also feeding strays. After speaking with her, she gave us permission to trap in her yard.

Sounded like a good plan, until…..

The first homeowner found poison outside in his front and backyard. When we arrived to assess the situation to begin trapping for TNR, we found the first kitten barely alive and gasping for air. We rushed him to the vet for euthanasia, then we found a second in poor shape as well and he too was euthanized. When we started looking for more sick cats, we found 4 bowls in the neighbors front yard with cat food and poison most of which had been consumed. The next day another kitten was found almost dead and he too was euthanized. Two more dead the following day.

Another adult cat was found very sick and dying but he crawled under a deck. The deck planks were removed to look for him and he was found deceased.

We approached the person that set out the poison but he denies doing it. We received some information about another neighbor also being involved with the poisoning as well.

Before anyone says anything, we have looked into the laws and talked to Columbus Humane, who told us that stray and feral cats were not in their jurisdiction and all they could do was “talk” to the person that set out the poison only if we had 100% proof that they set it out (even though it was out in their front yard), that the ill or dead cat was tested and we could prove that it was the poison in the bowls that caused their death! They also told us that stray cats were an issue that rescue groups had to deal with and not them. We are not done seeking options to end this.

In the days that followed, we trapped two kittens, five adults and caught one. We tnr’d the adult feral cats and we really struggled with that decision because we didn’t want them to return to the same location to potentially be poisoned but it was that or euthanasia. Please don’t tell us that there are places that take ferals because the one place that would take them had over 300 cats and did not get back to us in time. And relocating cats is extremely difficult even in the best of circumstances, which are not easily accessible. Dealing with ferals is an urgent situation and there is no time to wait or they will continue to produce litter after litter which needs to be stopped and once you trap you cannot keep them in cages. The homeowner assured us they had not seen any more poison - can we guarantee that ? No. Call it taking a leap of faith. We made what we thought was the best decision given the circumstances.

Two more very young kittens were found which we took in to our foster program. One died after a few days even with medical intervention. He was not poisoned but likely just didn’t have a great start being born in that environment. The other one (only a few days old) is thriving. Last week, we found another very sick adult which we were able to grab and quickly help him with humane euthanasia. He was in really, really bad shape, probably hours from dying.

We are slowly chipping away with trapping and spaying/neutering; euthanasia when needed; and taking in the kittens that have a chance at being socialized. (Socializing kittens is a lot of work. And they don’t always turn around. If you’ve never done it, please don’t comment on how it can be done).

There are still some momma cats out there that have moved their babies and we will trap as we find them.

As you can imagine, this takes a lot of our time and other resources. Most people say they will help but when we ask them to help us with fostering, donating, etc, we either get no response or attitude. This is a community problem. And it is in every community. Just get on fb and it is down right alarming at the number of stray cats. We must all help however we can.

If you saw cats dying from being poisoned you would do anything not to.

Spay/Neuter.

This situation touches on many areas that we all are not going to agree on. You have to look at the overall picture and not just one certain aspect. As always, there are other factors that we are not at liberty to discuss in this forum that contribute to the decisions made. We are doing the best we can ALWAYS and FOREMOST with the animals welfare being our first priority.

Thank you to all of our supporters.

If you’d like to assist us with a donation to help cover the costs, we would appreciate it.

WARNING: the pictures are GRAPHIC. Most of these are of the poisoned cats, but also the ones TNR’D and the kittens taken into our foster program.

This boy here is so special.

Val had such a rough past. He was the last cat that was rescued from the trailer hoarding situation. And he barely survived that. But that is in the past and he has moved on.

He is such a happy boy. He loves to play with toys. And his favorite is a little fuzzy ball. And when he sleeps, he is in another universe. He will sleep on any surface and he seems to be so comfortable. He always sleeps on his back in the most relaxed positions.

For the most part he is good with other cats but he doesn’t really know how to play, so things can escalate quickly.

And he definitely knows his name, especially when we call out to him right when he’s being a little naughty. He quickly runs in the other direction. He is such a stitch!

If you are looking for a fun, sweet cat, Val is your guy!

If interested, please email Mirna at [email protected]

Or check out his profile at

https://www.petfinder.com/cat/val-kilmer-71721531/oh/columbus/columbus-dog-connection-oh123/

SHARING SAVES LIVES-

How? By sharing our cats and dogs and asking your friends to do the same, together we can find homes for them and then be able to take those in shelters and strays.

These two girls, Morgan (tabby) and Matilda (white and black) are about five months old and just wonderful.

They are loving, playful, and completely vetted.

They don’t need to be placed together but they do need to go to a home with another young cat.

If interested, please email Mirna at [email protected]

You can visit their profile at:

https://www.petfinder.com/cat/melindas-kittens-71834792/oh/columbus/columbus-dog-connection-oh123/