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The Fur (& Feather!) Flyer
Established in 1965, HAWS assists over 6,000 animals and welcomes more than 31,000 human visitors annually. As an “open admissions” shelter we lead the community in animal welfare and assure sanctuary for all animals in need, regardless of age, health or temperament. HAWS is a non-profit, entirely donor-fund organization with an active humane education program, and both wildlife and companion animal rescue services for Waukesha County.
April 2008 - Posts
By Humane Animal Welfare Society
Tuesday, Apr 29 2008, 02:51 PM
 Chris was a young human full of enthusiasm for life. A newly-minted adult with stable employment and living alone, Chris decided to bring home a pet. Chris looked in the paper, got a new pet named Buddy, and all was good.
Except Chris didn't have the amount of time needed to spend with Buddy. Buddy spent lots of hours home alone, and when Chris was home, they didn't work together on learning proper pet behaviors. Chris decided that, living alone, these otherwise unacceptable behaviors were fine, cute actually, and left Buddy to grow up into an adult pet, not knowing any better.
Sometime later, enter Pat. Pat and Chris fell in love. Even though Pat wasn't crazy about the way Buddy acted, Pat put up with Buddy because Pat loved Chris. Besides, now that there were the 2 of them, Chris and Pat could work with Buddy together. What a great way to bond!
But Buddy's bad behaviors were now learned behaviors and ingrained habits - hard habits to break  after so much time. Despite working with Buddy when Chris and Pat weren't at work or doing Chris and Pat together things, Buddy's behavior didn't improve much. Chris and Pat forgot they could call us at HAWS for help. (We even have a staff trainer/behaviorist that does 1-on-1 sessions!)
More time passed, and Chris and Pat decided to have a family. Buddy didn't realize that humans and animals are different, and tried to treat the new little human, Jamie, like a littermate. Chris and Pat decided that Buddy and Jamie couldn't co-exist, and Buddy would have to go.
Buddy came to HAWS with this profile: "Buddy is wonderful and an awesome pet...but doesn't know how to act properly around humans. Buddy needs work on this and that. Buddy may have to live in a home with only adult humans." Chris and Pat pleaded with the staff not to put Buddy to sleep, ever, and the HAWS staff promised to try their best! But with Buddy's profile, they couldn't make any guarantees. Immediately Buddy started working with HAWS' trainers and socializers, in hopes of making Buddy more adoptable. Buddy joined the other available pets in the shelter looking for homes.
Chris, Pat, Jamie and Buddy's situation isn't unique. A very common reason given for relinquishing a pet to us at HAWS is "not enough time." When there's not enough time to train, care for, or work the pet into a busy life, the pet most often is the one that loses out.
Actually, Chris could have done a few things from the beginning to change this scenario. A pet is a commitment for a lifetime - and with many pets living 12-18 years and longer, the pet owner needs to think about where life might take them over that time. Going to get married? Have a family? Move to a different place? Start working different hours? Thinking logically now may avert the trauma later. And take the time early on in your relationship with your pet to train and set guidelines. A little hard work now can really pay off later on.
By the way - Buddy wonders what happened to Chris, Pat and Jamie. Our hope is that every Buddy will find a new Chris, Pat and Jamie, and live happily ever after. And we have seminars and classes galore at HAWS to help make your relationship work, so YOUR Buddy hopefully doesn't have to end up in a shelter.
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By Humane Animal Welfare Society
Tuesday, Apr 22 2008, 03:13 PM
“I have every confidence that there will be a revival of activity in the spring, and that during this coming year the country will make steady progress." - Andrew Mellon (1855 - 1937) financier, philanthropist
We’ll leave the steady progress of the country to other blogs, but at HAWS we can certainly vouch for the “revival of activity” part!
Spring in the animal welfare business means several things, notably kittens, increased foot traffic from the winter hermits venturing back out into the world, kittens, more stray dogs who’ve gone out to see what’s changed since the snow melted, kittens, and increased wildlife encounters. Spring is a time of rebirth and renewal – for almost every species.
This time of year, our phone calls increase dramatically regarding what should be done with wildlife that is found. Here’s the short answer:
Don’t touch! No, really, leave them alone.
Most wildlife that is thought to be “abandoned” is actually being very closely watched, and there is a mother hiding nearby. Wildlife youngsters of all kinds need to learn to be on their own – and they get to practice, with guidance from adults. (Hmmm, sounds familiar...)
Parent animals RARELY abandon healthy offspring. They will leave their youth hidden while foraging for food, sometimes only returning at dawn and dusk. They stay away so as not to advertise the presence of their young to any predators that might be wandering by - smart!
Some myths/hints: it is not true that parents will reject their young because a human has touched it, but you should still resist the urge to handle wildlife. A feathered, young bird may or may not be able to fly, but unless it is obviously ill or injured the parent bird will continue to care for it. Most important rule of thumb: Keep kids and pets away. 
If your dog - or lawn mower – does find a nest of cottontails, young birds, or other species, before doing anything contact us at HAWS. Or you can speak with our friends at the Wildlife in Need Center – they have licensed rehabilitators available to step in if needed.
By the way – wildlife do NOT make good housepets. Don’t even go there. We’re bursting at the seams with appropriate companion pets at HAWS – stop by ASAP!
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By Humane Animal Welfare Society
Tuesday, Apr 15 2008, 04:30 PM
 “If we start at the beginning and limit the breeding, we can change the equation in hopes to balance it.”
That’s a quote from a presentation created by the Lead to Succeed Program at Waukesha North High School. Lead to Succeed is a student interactive program which helps direct students to a better future, and assist in their community while doing so. The program is produced by Community Connections Consulting and funded by UW-Waukesha.
This group of students is working to make a difference in the pet overpopulation problem in Waukesha County. Through a pilot project with us at HAWS, they are doing presentations to community leaders (one in particular on Wednesday, April 16th, at the HAWS shelter) about HAWS’ Owned Outdoor Cat Program: our SNIP clinic provides free spay or neuter surgeries for the cats in Waukesha County that are part of outdoor/barn or feral cat populations.
The students are hoping to promote awareness of what pet overpopulation can truly mean – more euthanasia as a result of there not being enough room in shelters for all the cats that are being born.
That reality was tough for the students to swallow at first! So, the group was asked to develop a program to help get the word out. Their campaign is titled “Don’t Let the Cat Out of the Bag.” Some of their main points include:
· As our community changes from rural to urban, many cats are left homeless. The cats that live in the rural areas are forced to move into our growing developments, thus making them a nuisance. This causes problems for the cats as well, since many are suffering from lack of nourishment.
· Community involvement in stemming pet overpopulation makes our area a brighter and better place - knowing that we are that much closer to solving this problem.
Lead to Succeed students, you rock! And we can tell you understand our mission at HAWS, too, since this quote is also from your presentation:
“Without humane education there is little hope in changing the future.”
By the way: anyone can help with curbing pet overpopulation! Spay and neuter, or just spread the word about how important it is - you'll save lives, and your pet will be happier and healthier.
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By Humane Animal Welfare Society
Thursday, Apr 3 2008, 02:54 PM
Today it is exactly one month until HAWS’ Annual Pet Walkathon – which is on May 3rd, from 9am until 3pm at Waukesha’s Minooka Park.
 The Walk is always a special event for us – we call it our “celebration of pets and their people.” It is a day full of fun with our pets - dogs mostly, although we have one donor that brings his turtle and they do an amazing job of fundraising together! We walk, play, shop and socialize, all in support of HAWS.
The event started as a dog walk, with no tent and just a handful of picnic tables (check out the historical pix in our most recent newsletter). It has grown to a full-fledged festival with vendors, pet competitions and demos, a lure course, celebrity guests, special recognition ceremonies, a Parade of HAWS’ Adoptable Pets and much more. This year our Walk is celebrating a special anniversary – it is our 25th year of walking, and our paws STILL aren’t tired!
Speaking of tired, tire-LESS is the best word to describe the organizers of this event – all of whom are volunteers, too. Nancy is our event chair/goddess who keeps it all together, Chris zooms around in a golf cart keeping everyone happy as our day-of-the-event-captain, Sandy Z. and Zona make sure everyone is fed! Martha and Roger keep the registration area running smoothly, Fred and Sandy H. corral and coordinate the day-of volunteers, Maria will show you where to park…I’m forgetting someone, I’m sure, because this event takes many, many, MANY hands…
A neat highlight also this year is the German Shepherd Club of Wisconsin - one group that has been with  us almost since the beginning. In 2008 they are celebrating their 20th year of participation in the HAWS walk, and we couldn’t be happier to have them with us! This group alone has raised over $66,000 during their years of Walking. Known local animal welfare supporter Marilynn Mee, from 96.5 WKLH middays, is recruiting team members and raising funds for us. Today’s TMJ4 Weather Plus meteorologist, Brian Gotter will be joining the fun and emceeing several of our competitions…including a lunchtime mini-race by the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club’s Famous Racing Sausages! And, if that weren’t enough, everyone’s favorite sea dog, Roscoe from the Milwaukee Admirals, will also be on hand in the afternoon.  We’d love it if YOU’D join us, too! Come and celebrate our love of pets and what they mean to us. By the way – our chief blogger is out until 4/15, presumably collecting Walkathon pledges. Pace yourself with this entry – or join in (on foot or online!) and fundraise along with us! See you on May 3rd at Minooka.
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