This week’s featured pet from the Seattle Animal Shelter is Ginger, a gentle and beautiful girl who’s been through an awful lot in her four years of life. Despite a long period of neglect, being hit by a car, and then surgery to repair old injuries, she remains upbeat, well behaved, and very loving. 

Ginger is mellow with awesome house manners. She’s crate trained, but hasn’t gotten into any mischief when left alone uncrated. She seldom barks, likes regular walks and she has good leash manners. She plays very gently, and especially likes tennis balls. She’s a good sleeper and an expert cuddler. 

Ginger was previously in foster care along with a litter of 11 puppies, and a few other adult dogs.  Ginger would let a few of the pups snuggle up and sleep with her.  She is good with most other dogs as shown in this photo but she’d do best in a cat-free home. She’ll politely ‘sit’, lay‘down’, or ‘shake’ when asked.

After her most recent surgery, the vet says that she may always have some hip issues, and may need life long medication to help her feel her best. Ginger needs a very special and compassionate family, couple, or single guardian.  She is up-to-date with routine shots, house trained and spayed.

If you don’t have Pit Bull breed experience, please do some research before inquiring. Info here. Pit Bulls do best as either an only dog or with a compatible dog of the opposite sex.  

Click here for adoption information. If you have general questions about Ginger call the foster care voicemail line at 206-684-0685. 

This week we are featuring these amazing minuscule dwarf hamsters, ranging from 2 weeks old–to 5 weeks old–to full-grown adults.  They find themselves at the shelter due to a prior owner who allowed his pets to breed, then abandoned them when he moved out of his apartment. 

These tiny sweeties will become solo pets, adopted out as individuals.  They don’t take up a lot of space and will grow to be just about the size of a golf ball.  Dwarf hamsters make nice apartment pets for working people who can’t quite take on a dog, but want some ‘fuzz therapy’ after a hard day. Their needs include a cage with a hammie-safe running wheel (no metal bars to trap feet!), soft bedding and daily gentle handling from their humans. Hamsters are nocturnal and have a high-activity period in the evening. 

Come down to the shelter and visit these little cuties today!  Check out the shelter’s website at www.seattleanimalshelter.org to see these and other pets available for adoption. 

Magnolia Voice started featuring animals available for adoption at the Interbay Animal Shelter in May.  We wanted to let you know what has happened to the animals since we first posted their stories.

Of the four cats featured so far, three – Cupcake, Petey and Blackie – have been adopted and Maxine (seen below) is getting a break from the shelter in a foster home.  Dante the bunny was adopted into a great home.

Zoey (seen below) is still looking for a good home.

So is Emma (seen below).

Fred the guinea pig is still waiting patiently at the shelter with his friend Mickey.

Thanks for our readers who have been able to open their homes to these animals.  We know that not everyone can adopt a pet so we also want to let you know about the Seattle Animal Shelter Cat Foster Program.  They are now recruiting new foster parents.  It is kitten season and the shelter is overflowing with friendly but mildly sick and stressed adult cats who have nowhere to go to recover and be adoptable.

Even if you could only keep a cat for a short period it will be of great help. Foster parents host a cat in their home and receive support with food, vet care, and adoption promotion.  Foster parents do not have to attend the general volunteer orientation, but must attend a foster parent class held at the shelter before fostering. Upcoming classes will be held at the shelter on the following dates:

Cat Foster Orientation is on Sunday, July 12 from 12 – 1:30 pm.  Kitten Foster Orientation has two upcoming classes on July 6th from 5:30 to 7 pm and again on July 12th from 2 pm to 3:30 pm.  You need to sign up for the kitten class in advance.  

For more information on the program, please call (206) 615-0737 or go online.   You may also contact the Cat Foster Program directly by email at sasfostercats@gmail.com.

Our featured pet this week is Emma.  She has been in and out of the Seattle Animal Shelter for 2 years now, and the folks that work there love her so much they refuse to give up on her.

Emma would make a wonderful  companion.  She does have some anxiety, and does not like to be away from her caretakers, likely as a result of being shuffled around as much as she has. 

Emma is about 4 years old, a stellar athlete, very intelligent, a bit of a clown, affectionate, and housebroken.  She loves people, excursions to Discovery Park, Tiger Mountain, and just about any place to  walk or hike. She also loves to play tug-of-war with her favorite toy. She is spayed, micro-chipped, and had all her shots.

Emma’s ideal family would be patient, completely dedicated, have prior dog and/or pit bull terrier experience, enjoy exercising her twice daily, be at home a lot, and/or have the ability to take her almost everywhere with them. A cat-free home is best, but she may be fine living with a mellow, male dog. Emma is ready to put roots down with a family that will love her as much as she will love them.  Timeis running out for Emma and she needs a hero to save her life. 

Emma is temporarily staying in one of the shelter’s foster homes and is not at the shelter.  If you would like to meet and possibly adopt this wonderful dog, fill out a Dog Adoption Application (download here)  and email it to the Seattle Animal Shelter Foster Dog Program. You can also fax it to 206-386-4285 or drop it off at the shelter.  

For details on how to adopt Emma and other animals available at the shelter, visit the website.

The Seattle Animal Shelter in Interbay is full of animals looking for homes.   To help place them, Magnolia Voice wants to introduce you to some of the pets living at the shelter.  

This week we want you to meet Maxine.  Shelter workers say Maxine is the kind of cat that is often overlooked by visitors to the shelter, especially during kitten season. She has been at the shelter since April 4. Like most adult cats, she has much to offer and would make a great companion. She is thought to be about four to six years old and has a beautiful grey-blue coat and stunning green eyes.

Maxine came to the shelter as a stray but it is clear she had a loving and indulgent owner in the recent past and was probably not on the street for long. The first thing you notice about Maxine when you visit her is that she’s right up in front of the cage wanting attention and in particular wanting physical contact. She leans in to your hand and purrs loudly when rubbed under her chin and scratched between the ears. She loves to play. 

Maxine is the type of cat who will greet you at the door when you return from work each day and make you feel loved! If you want a gentle, affectionate, loyal and low-maintenance companion, come visit the shelter and meet her. Maxine is spayed and has been vaccinated and tested for feline leukemia and FIV.  Her adoption fee will also include pet license and microchip, and she will come with a coupon for a free health exam at a local vet. Visit the shelter’s website for more photos and get information on how to adopt Maxine or one of the other pets at the shelter.

The Seattle Animal Shelter on 15th Ave West suffered damages from a fire contained in a commercial clothes dryer in the food preparation area. The fire on Sunday afternoon closed 15th Ave West for a short time.

No animals or people were injured and the animals housed in a room near the dryer were evacuated to a local veterinary clinic and will be placed in foster care. All other animals remain at the shelter. The fire did leave the shelter with lots of clean up and the need for supplies.

“We’re fortunate that there were no injuries. We did, however, lose our commercial dryer and all of the supplies in the laundry room and would greatly appreciate donations of blankets, towels and cat and dog toys,” said Shelter Director Don Jordan.

The shelter was closed today so they could clean up after the fire but it will reopen on Tuesday for adoptions and licensing.   Donations may be taken directly to the shelter.

We got some great pictures from the Seattle Animal Shelter Santa Claws event last weekend.  (Thanks Christy!)  This was a chance for animals and their owners to have their photos taken with Santa.

The event raised $2,397 for the shelter’s Help the Animals Fund.  The fund provides veterinary care, toys blankets and beds to the animals at the shelter.

If you did not make it to the event but would like to donate to the Help the Animals fund, visit their website at www.seattleanimalshelter.org, then choose the “donate” link on the left.

The good looking dog in the picture above is looking for a new home and is available for adoption at the shelter.