The Guilford County Animal Shelter Experience

The Guilford County Animal Shelter Experience

by Liv | Published on December 21st, 2006, 7:04 pm | Greensboro

Meet Savannah. Savannah is Greensboring's new mascot, and she was rescued from the Guilford County Animal Shelter Today.

The experience begins as you arrive at 8AM at the Guilford County Animal Shelter to only realize they don't even open till noon and then have to spend the rest of the morning shopping all over Wendover. It worked out well since I had to go over to Green Valley Grill at the O'Henry hotel to get gift certificates for mom and dad.

So eventually we made it back to the shelter around noon. I had never been to a shelter, nor purchased a pet in this manner, so it was new to me.

First you sign in, and then meet the happy little girl behind the desk. She points you down a deep dark hall that looks like a fallout shelter for Nuclear war.

You end up back in the Kennels to discover row after row of dogs of all different sorts. It's tough because in the back of your head you run through the statistics. Afterall, I had just written a piece in reference to the shelter several weeks ago on this very blog. But still I knew that for every adopted dog; hundreds, if not thousands of dogs are put to sleep weekly in this government facility. Even the dogs on display are hand chosen from those who exhibited "auto-fail" criteria such as aggressive behavior or medical conditions unlikely to allow them to live prosperous lives.

In the end, after several strolls through what was quickly being called death-row in my head we found Savannah. Savannah is about a 5 year old Black Lab, and was one of the staff's favorite. She was, also I believe near the end of her journey in which would have been ultimately her demise. According to the paperwork provided to Greensboring, her intake date was near the end of July, meaning she had been locked up in a small cell for almost 1/2 a year.

We petted, and walked her, and I checked to see about adopting her. It seemed obvious that if you could indicate a good home, adoption wouldn't be a problem. Obviously most homes are going to be better than death. So after a lengthy pile of papers, and a credit card signature, the staff explained everything to us and gave us a bag of bones, her leash, and some coupons for dog food.

Now here's where I want to inject the incredibly easy nature of adopting in Guilford County. Yes they do take credit cards, and two if you choose a "sponsored pet" than you benefit by someone whose chosen to help you financial purchase your little friend.

Savannah whose normal adoption fee would be about $90 dollars came only to about $50 because of some very kind animal lovers willing to carry the burden of adopting a pet.

This is the way to get an animal, as the Guilford County animal shelter spays or neuters, and provides all shots along with a rabies vaccination tag. More importantly all animals including Savannah are chipped with RF microchips capable of giving any dog catcher your name and address if they are to lose their path again.

All in all, it was a painless experience that left this dog as happy as a lark as she jumped in the back of the car and found my son's breakfast. 6 months of being locked in a cell, laying in your own pee, and than your riding down Wendover eating a leftover Biscuitville biscuit. Does it get any better than this?

Kudos to you Liv. I've gotten several pets from there over the years. You did the RIGHT thing rather than going to those pet stores.

Green Valley Grill! Yum. I'm going there on Tuesday...

i stumbled across your page while looking for information about the Devil's Stomping Ground, and I love it. I lived in Greensboro for four years and i wish I had found the page before I moved! Anyway, your bit about the animal shelter was great. i own a beautiful year old cat that I brought home from the shelter... I couldn't get a dog because of the apartment I was in, but the conditions are horrible and since going to the shelter, I've become preachy to people about the evils of buying from a breeder when there are tons of animals about to be put to sleep in those conditions. kudos to you for writing this article.

Ok... Savannah is a really good dog. The bad part? She wants to eat my cats. We've tried keeping them separated the best we can, but unavoidable when they do come together it results in some sort of high-speed chase, which Savannah won't let up until you physically remove her from the situation.

What bothers me is the animal shelter had her listed as being good with cats, and had previously been with them. This was in part one of the reasons I chose her. She seems to be great in every other form except for her appetite for my cats.

Any advice?

We got Barney from a shelter. He's less than one year old and we had cats before him.

There's not much you can do except just let them work it out. It took a good 3-4 months before they could walk by each other without a hissing or a chase.

Now Ruby, the one cat, lays on him when they are sleeping and Jem, the other cat, teases him until he chases her around.

That's good to hear... I've been a bit worried about the whole situation. I've never done this before, and I'm starting to regret my decision.... but if it works out, I'll be happy.

How do you handle it when the dog chases the cat?

You could replace the house cat with a leopard. That would change the dynamics pretty radically. :wink:

Liv wrote:How do you handle it when the dog chases the cat?

Pretty much let him. If the cat doesn't like it, it'll swat him.

We watched that it didn't get too violent or dangerous for either.

Liv wrote:What bothers me is the animal shelter had her listed as being good with cats, and had previously been with them.

You misread it. What they actually said was "Likes cats and children"

So, what's going on now? Does the dog still hate the cat? Is the cat still alive?

So far they are still alive. Basically the dog sees the cat, runs after him. He turns into a mean viscious cat who then hisses and tries to dig his claws into the dog. The dog learches toward him with his fangs out, and growling. Then we start yelling and hitting both of them with pillows until we can get them seperated. I'm hoping it gets better, although both of them seem hell bent on eating one another.

Try a spray bottle. Spray the dog and correct him with a stern voice anytime it does something you don't want him to do. Lots of times when you yell at a dog they think that you are actually on their side. That is pack herd mentality.

Got a dog zapper on the way... don't know if it works or not:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dog-TRAINER-Repeller-Ultrasonic-PROTECT-SELF-TRAIN-DOG_W0QQitemZ190065535151QQihZ009QQcategoryZ1283QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And you like this dog? Better than your cats?

I hate to be a wet towel, but what is it that you like about this dog? Do your cats deserve to have this stress?

A dog that chases cats and isn't dissuaded when a cat growls, hisses, claws and bites is not a beast that is sensitive to the signals of others. You included. You're dealing with primitive instinct that gets stimulated by movement. Movement away from it. It's like an attachment disorder. The more you or the cats reject and want to be away from it, the bigger the dog's anxiety gets and can't handle the rejection. It's the bully syndrome.

Congrats. You've brought the canine equivalent of George W. Bush into your home.

WHAT A SICK, DIRTY PLACE. NASTY LOOKING EMPLOYEES. NOISY, STINKS, TOO MANY ANIMALS. WE NEED TO GET SOME DECENT PEOPLE IN THERE. MAYBE THE HUMANE SOCIETY OR THE ASPCA. THEY ARE VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE FOLKS & CAN DO A BETTER JOB THAN THAT LADY & HER FAMILY THAT RUN IT. GUILFORD COUNTY SHOULD BE ASHAMED TO CLAIM CONNECTION TO THAT DUMP. LOOK AT FORSYTH COUNTY SHELTER. WE GOT THE BEST IN NC, & IT'S RUN BY PROFESSIONALS & CLEANER THAN YOUR OWN HOUSE. YAY WINSTON SALEM! YOUR COUNTY COMISSIONERS NEED TO GET ON THE BALL.

Every now and then I get emails asking about Savannah, our Guilford County Pound Rescue dog.... for the record, she's doing well... sometimes too well... and yes, apparently she has no shame.

You want to talk about a total lack of shame... our youngest cat just started her first heat. Cats in this condition are... impressive.

sick-a-poor-service wrote:WHAT A SICK, DIRTY PLACE. NASTY LOOKING EMPLOYEES. NOISY, STINKS, TOO MANY ANIMALS. WE NEED TO GET SOME DECENT PEOPLE IN THERE. MAYBE THE HUMANE SOCIETY OR THE ASPCA. THEY ARE VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE FOLKS & CAN DO A BETTER JOB THAN THAT LADY & HER FAMILY THAT RUN IT. GUILFORD COUNTY SHOULD BE ASHAMED TO CLAIM CONNECTION TO THAT DUMP. LOOK AT FORSYTH COUNTY SHELTER. WE GOT THE BEST IN NC, & IT'S RUN BY PROFESSIONALS & CLEANER THAN YOUR OWN HOUSE. YAY WINSTON SALEM! YOUR COUNTY COMISSIONERS NEED TO GET ON THE BALL.

YOU ARE A JERK! THE PEOPLE AT THE SHELTER ARE DOING A GREAT JOB. I DON'T SEE YOU THERE TRYING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. I HAVE BEEN AT THE SHELTER RECENTLY AND FROM MY EXPERIENCE YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALLKING ABOUT. IT IS A SHAME THAT SOME PEOPLE JUST WANT TO TALK ABOUT OTHERS AND PUT PEOPLE AND PLACES DOWN INSTEAD OF WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF ANIMALS.

Because they're stupid?

She loves to lay on the A/C vent, and then when the air cycles on, she jumps up with her dog tags stuck in the vent, and rips the vent out of the floor. Then she proceeds to walk around like an idiot with the vent hanging from her neck trying to figure out what the Hell just happened.

That's some interesting bling.

My two doggies (both mutts) came from the animal shelter. One was a stray puppy who I adopted in 1995. He was euthanized last year (thanks to cancer). The other was a one-year old who is still in the custody of my kids' other parent. She was very skittish and I'd believe she was tormented by children. She learned to trust my kids, but when going for walks, she would freak out if kids were out playing.

I would go to a shelter or a rescue group to adopt another dog. The rescues that I've been looking at have a lot of "special needs" doggies. Definitely can't take that on right now. Maybe later though.

I've gotten one cat from an animal rescue group, and she's turned out to be a terrific companion. Several of our cats are foundlings. And THEY are recognizably insane. We love them all.
:twisted:

Savannah has a bit of dislike for the (adult) male persuasion leaving me to believe she was beaten by men. It works out for her in our house... and she's grown to like my dad, but at first she was very fearful of him when he'd come to visit.

She's still a nutter.. but we love her.

Recently, me and my girlfriend found a stray cat around our apartment. He was very loving, and even followed us home. We didn't know if he was a stray, or lost. We took him in, and are keeping him in the bathroom with food, water, toys, bedding, litter, etc..., along with plenty of attention.

Here's the problem, I already own two cats, that I adopted from the Awareness Society in Randleman.
When I went to the Animal Shelter on West Wendover, it looked pretty grim. Since it is run by the local government, it didn't seem like the animals welfare was a top priority. The place did smell of death, and fire...

In the parking lot, a lot of the employees look down-right mental, providing us with awkward and bone-chilling grins. We made our way to the "Surrender Pets" trailer, and talked to a man about the process. It isn't a "no-kill" shelter. In certain circumstances, I understand this, but I don't feel that it would have been in this cat's best interested.

It was over-crowded, with an overall depressing atmosphere. We decided to hold onto the cat for a few more days in search for a better shelter, or a home. The man was able to see if the cat had a tracking chip, he did not.

I applaud the original poster for helping find a home for a loving animal, and I'm well aware that these shelters aren't all "candy and rainbows".

I'm hoping that the shelter I adopted my current cats from, will be able to take him in. If anyone is interested in a young, orange tabby, to bring into a loving home, please contact me at [email protected]. If you know of a good shelter for stray/lost cats, I'd love to hear your suggestions.

He his a very loving cat, and is litter-trained. I'd be more then happy in supplying pictures and video of him, and assist in veterinary costs. We want a good home for him, and we'd love to keep him, but we feel that it's in the best interest of ourselves, and the stray cat, to find another home.

Everytime we get a stray we call around, but most of the no-kill shelters are full. Try Happy Hills, they might take him/her.