'Home for the Holidays'

Saturday was filled with furry, fuzzy bundles of love during the Rockingham County Animal Shelter’s first big event, “Home for the Holidays.”

From noon until 8 p.m., guests got the chance to hold puppies, buy Christmas presents and get photos of their animals and loved ones with Santa Claus. Photos were provided by Don Frederick Photography. 

An adoption special on dogs and cats ran for the entire week leading up to the event, and Science Diet donated 80 pounds of dog food and 60 pounds of cat food, which was raffled off in a fundraising event for the shelter.

Director Kevin Baughn said 88 animals received rabies vaccinations and 18 animals were adopted on Saturday.

“I think it turned out to be a great event, and everybody seemed really pleased with the results,” he said. “We got lots of animals to good homes...on Saturday, and we’re hoping to have a bigger and better event next year.”

Baughn said many people worked hard and volunteered to get the word out about the event and stayed to help on Saturday. He said many people still don’t know about the Rockingham County Animal Shelter or they get the building confused with other veterinarians or animal welfare groups across the county.

“This event was mainly for public awareness to let people know we’re here,” he said. “We also wanted to get the word out about our upcoming spay-and-neuter program starting up next year. That’s the main thing that’s going to help keep the pet population down and keep our costs down here at the shelter.”

Megan Fagge, a volunteer for the Animal Protection Society of Rockingham County, said she’s done rescue and rehab work with the animal welfare society since she was 14. She helped Baughn organize the vendors, book Santa and get the word out.

“Most people don’t know where to find the shelter – some people still look on Harrison Street where the old Reidsville vet office was,” she said. “We need to get the word out, and today was the perfect place to do that. Everyone was free to shop, adopt and learn more about the animal shelter.”

People were lining up before the event was underway, according to Brittany Antunez, supervisor of the animal shelter. She said the first adoption came from a family looking for a lap dog to keep their grandfather company. They went straight to the puppies and picked out a Chihuahua, she said.

“This is the fullest our parking lot has ever been,” Antunez said. “We have also received so many generous donations of people sponsoring animals, which makes them cheaper for people to adopt.”

In addition to adoptions, the shelter also offers a foster program where possible owners can get better acquainted with pets before taking them home indefinitely.

“We just started the fostering program…where people can come in who aren’t completely sure about the animal and take them home for a one-month basis,” she said. “All veterinarian work is done through the shelter during that month and we give the foster family 40 pounds of dog food, because the animal still belongs to the shelter.”

She said the family can teach the animal social skills and leash skills, which are things that can’t be taught in the shelter.

“It gets the animals out there so maybe if the foster family can’t take the dog after a month, a family member can take it or someone else in their community will be interested,” she said.

Herbie, a five-year-old schnauzer, was one of many animals adopted on Saturday. His owner Ashley Meeks had him for several weeks prior as part of the fostering program.

“He’s been an excellent pet,” she said. “He’s calm, potty-trained and he loves going to the dog park. I decided to foster because my roommate has allergies and we wanted to make sure he would be safe for her. I also wanted to make sure his personality worked with mine and that I could handle the work, time and financial obligations of owning a pet.”

Meeks said it’s a great program and she was excited to officially adopt Herbie on Saturday afternoon.

The Rockingham County Animal Shelter, located at 250 Cherokee Road next to the Business and Technology Center, is open Monday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. Call (336) 394-0075 for additional information on donations or pet adoptions.