Community Support - Featured Adoptable Pets of the Week

Communities all over the nation are pulling together to help animals in need. In a recent flood of the Louisville, KY area, shelter workers received assistance from the community to pull together and save most of the 600 residents of their animal shelter, both dogs and cats. The fatalities have been reported so far as only 1 dog and 12 cats. The whole story can be found here.

As heartwarming as it is to hear about the community pulling together to save animals in their time of need, similar things are happening right here in our own county. The animals pictured above were found in the basement of Donkey Coffee in Athens. Donkey Coffee was more than happy to pay for the spaying and neutering of these beautiful cats, as well as helped find a foster for the kittens Anna (left) and Andy (right) of the beautiful mama cat, Jolene, pictured center. Shelley Lieberman, our vice president, was there attending an event the night they were discovered, and was called in to help. Over the next few days, the cats were humanely trapped and given the health care they needed.

It's safe to say that not many companies or organizations would help out a cat, much less more than one cat, who had taken up residence in their basement. It's commendable not only that Donkey Coffee called the ACHS about these cats, who so desperately needed love, affection and attention, but fronted the cost for them to receive medical attention as well. On behalf of everyone at the ACHS, thank you, Donkey Coffee, for doing such a commendable and honorable thing.

Many people are also aware that there are often cats roaming around the Import House, another Athens fixture. These cats are often fostered from the Athens County Humane Society. Imagine being able to provide support, love, and care. If you are the owner of a local business and would like to get involved with us in some way, whether it's fostering adoptable animals or contributing financially to their upkeep, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Because of the amount of involvement and support from Donkey Coffee, this week's featured adoptable animals are Jolene, Anna, and Andy.


Jolene, a beautiful Russian Blue cat, is approximately 8 months old. She gave birth at a very young age, and came to us as a skittish kitten who would hardly trust a soul. She has been spayed and is quite healthy. She is fostered in a home that currently has two medium sized dogs (30 pounds) and two cats of it's own, and she has taken to all of them quite well, particularly the dogs! She has never met children, but we do not feel she would do well around them. She's independent and sassy, and prefers to seek affection out when she feels she would like it, rather than being constantly cuddled and picked up. She would make a wonderful companion to someone who is able to provide a quiet, calm environment for her, and didn't need constant cuddling!

Anna, or Anna Banana, her daughter, has very much the same spunk and sass as her mother. Anna is a dilute tortiseshell, with spots of the blue coloring her mother has. Anna is playful, and able to amuse herself for hours with anything that she finds be it string, puff balls and of course, toy mice. Anna is still a very young kitten, and has been spayed and is healthy.

Andy, Anna's brother and Jolene's son, has the sweetest, most mischievous look upon his face every time you meet him. And mischievous he is! The ACHS warns to put away your toilet paper, as he has quite the affinity for unwinding rolls of it! If you could use a little prankster, a joker, someone who will make you laugh and smile every time you see him, Andy may just be the kitten for you. He has been neutered and is healthy.

Andy and Anna can be visited on most days at White's Mill in Athens between the hours of 9am and 5pm. It's recommended to call first to see if they will be there. The number is (740) 592-1521.


Thinking about adopting any of these three? Here's a list of what to consider before adopting an animal from the Athens County Humane Society. If you're certain you'd like one of these three sweethearts in your home, filling out an adoption questionnaire is the first part of the process.

Andy, Anna or Jolene just not quite your speed? Check out our list of other adoptable animals to see if we have the right one for you.

If you own a business local to the Athens area, and would like to support our efforts, please call or email us. If you are an individual interested in helping with a time, monetary, or supply donation, please see our list of needs. Our contact information is, as always,

Athens County Humane Society
P.O. Box 765
Athens, OH 45701
info@athenshumane.org
740-592-6047 (voicemail only)

Help Without a Home

Shelley Leiberman is homeless. Well, she’s not technically homeless, but her passion is. Lieberman is the Vice President of the Athens County Humane Society, a completely volunteer organization without a building to call home. However, the group has managed to dig its claws in enough to remain an active player in the crusade for animal rights in the region by finding homes, both temporary and permanent, for animals and organizing mobile spay and neuter clinics to help cut back on overpopulation.

Now, there may be some starry-eyed idealists out there with the belief that there can never be too many kitties and puppies in the world, but unfortunately for animal lovers everywhere, that is simply not the case. When there are too many animals and not enough resources, the animals are abandoned and left to survive cold winters without shelter or food. In fact, one of the main reasons the actual shelter closed down in 2005 was because people began using the site as a kind of dumping ground for unwanted litters.

“They were putting down three to five hundred cats a month,” said Lieberman. “Instead of spaying or neutering their pets, they were letting them just have kittens and dropping them off.”

As if that isn’t bad enough, there was only one part-time staff member in charge of putting down animals.

“I don’t know how she is still sane,” Lieberman said. “Anyone working in a shelter is an animal lover. That’s not why she signed up to be in that field.”

Lieberman believes that closing the shelter did help lower the number of animals being put down, however, because it is harder for a pet owner to bring an animal to a veterinarian’s office to be put to sleep than to simply drop of a box of kittens and drive away.

To help encourage people to get their animals fixed, the organization – which assists both dogs and cats but focuses more on cats because it is the only group in the area that deals with felines – organizes mobile spay and neuter clinics. The society tries to hold clinics once a month, and because there is a two to three month waiting list, pet owners need to register and pay in advance to ensure they actually attend the event. The society also offers a subsidy program to qualified applicants who may not be able to afford the procedure. For information about the clinics and subsidy program, visit the ACHS Web site.

Foster Families and Satellite Sites

Because the organization does not have an actual building, the society uses its Web site and an online pet adoption service, petfinder.com, to find permanent placements. Meanwhile, the cats are placed in temporary homes or at satellite sites in the community. The society never officially takes ownership of the animals, however, and most of the time an animal rescuer is the one who takes the cat in until it is adopted. The society would like to organize a foster program, but there is one glaring problem with the idea – animals are just too darn cute.

“If I had to guess, I would say 90 percent of fosters want to keep the animal,” Lieberman said. “Then, we don’t have a foster anymore.”

Because the organization is entirely run on donations, funding also becomes an issue, and the group simply cannot afford to provide animal care necessities to foster families right now. Lieberman has hopes, though, to have a foster program running within six months.

Until then, the group also utilizes satellite sites to help place animals. Satellite sites are companies in the community that agree to keep animals and provide adoption information to interested customers. Currently, Import House, Lamborn’s Studio and Abfall’s Veterinary Clinic are the only satellite sites in town, but Lieberman hopes to get more within the next three months.

Karen McGuire, manager of Import House on Court Street, reached out to the humane society after seeing cats at Lamborn’s about two years ago. Since then, the business has assisted in getting around 40 cats adopted. “They don’t last too long,” she said. “I don’t think we’ve had a cat over six weeks.”

Karen McGuire, manager of Import House, cuddles with ACHS cat, Raven.

Currently, Import House is home to two black brother cats, Raven and Moon. Kari Eavenson, an employee at the business for three years, enjoys having the cats around and hopes they can be adopted as a set.

“Two cats are a lot more work than one, but they are so much better with each other,” she said while sporadically whipping a cat toy back and forth for Raven to chase. “They really do feed off of each other.”

Raven, Moon and their mother were kept in a cage in the garage of a woman whose newborn baby was very allergic to cats. Luckily, living in the cage did not impede the younger cats from developing physically, but living at Import House does give them the chance to run around and get exercise. They also have the opportunity to become socialized with people. Considering many orphaned pets come from abusive situations, living in a business with high traffic helps them adjust. They also have the opportunity to interact with other animals; McGuire often brings in her dogs, and patrons of the store are allowed to bring in their pets as well.

Raven and Moon chase their string toy as Import House employee Kari Eavenson sporadically whips it back and forth.

Eventually, the humane society would like to once again have a shelter, but Lieberman wants to wait until everything – timing, finances, community support – are all in place before beginning the endeavor.

“When we do open a shelter again, it needs to be done right. It needs to be done with a full-time staff, it needs to have a good facility and be supported by the community,” she said. “We’re just not there now.”