Summer camp starts next week, two afternoon camps added

Greeting Sonoma!

Our ninth annual Summer Camp starts on Monday, June 9, and we are very excited to welcome the children into the shelter for the summer.

I love camp days, especially watching 12-to-15 complete strangers sitting around the picnic table at 9 a.m. Monday who become pals for life by Friday at noon.

They bond over specific animals or experiences during camp or what they are doing next in their summer vacation. Some even rendezvous for another week of camp later in the summer.

Our partner and wildlife animal aficionado, Lynette Lyon of Lyon Ranch, is here every Wednesday with her collection of wildlife. We look forward to seeing Quillamina, the hedgehog, Chewy, the fennic fox and Kiara, the servil cat, to name just a few. I understand from reliable sources she has some new animals to share with us this year.

If you have not signed your child up for camp, please do as soon as possible. We have limited spaces available and they are going fast. We are also offering two afternoon camps this year from 1 to 4 p.m., the week of June 23, and the week of July 7. So if the morning is too challenging for your schedule, try one of the afternoon camps.

We have taken in more than 40 kittens so far since April 1 – more than 15 neo-natal kitties and the rest ranging from 3 to 7 weeks old. We will have kittens in the community kitten room this weekend, so come check them out.

Have you seen any kittens in your neighborhood lately? Please help us get these babies into the shelter so we can get them vaccinated, socialized and spay/neutered for adoption.

We are happy to train you on the use of our humane traps and share great ideas how to kindly capture the little darlings.

In the meantime we have our Spring Fling special of $10 for all adult cats until Saturday, June 21. We have some awesome adult cats that are in need of that special human if a little ankle magnet is not what you are looking for.

By the end of June or before, Pets Lifeline will be able issue dog licenses to all dogs adopted to residents within the city limits. The police department and Pets Lifeline are partnering to have another option for licensing dogs in the city and Pets Lifeline will receive a portion of the licensing fee.

This is great news and will be one stop shopping for folks who live in the city to adopt a dog and get it licensed at the adoption.

What a great way to talk about the dogs in the shelter. We still have Bessie here, ladies and gents, and it’s breaking my heart. We are calling her Cassie now and she is the sweetest of dogs with people, unlike her son Doc (my dog) who needs time to warm up to people.

If you know anyone who is fond of Labs, has no other animals in the home or that come to their home, either works from home or is retired, we’ve got the perfect dog for them. It gets easier to distract her from her issues with other animals, but anyone who would adopt her definitely needs to be extremely vigilant about their surroundings.

It sounds like a lot of limitations, but she is definitely worth every bit of it. She is the most loving dog I’ve ever met. And if you live in Sonoma or close by, you have one built in buddy with Doc.

The current cute canines at the shelter are Chip, the giant Boston terrier, Quincy, a bubbly mutt with a reddish coat, Blanca, a sweet white and fawn chihuahua, Toby, the most adorable and sweet 3-month-old terrier pup and Macho, a sweet terrier mix who looks like miniature yellow Lab.

All our adorable adoptables are spayed/neutered, vaccinated and have been handled, trained and socialized by our awesome canine corps of volunteers. We love our volunteers and they are so devoted to the animals. Anyone who has adopted a dog from us can testify to that.

See you round the ranch! Peace, love and paws.