Owner of Pipes Dreams in Helotes Fosters a Rescued Dog for HHS
On April 8, 2011, Joe Paciencia, owner of Pipes Dreams at 12340 Bandera Road #103, in Helotes (www.pipesdreams.com), found Sweetie, a 10-month old yellow lab, at the front door of his business. Joe, being a dog lover and adopter of two dogs from the Helotes Humane Society, took the dog home with him and immediately called to see if the HHS could take the dog in and/or help find its owner.
Unfortunately, the HHS did not have a foster available for Sweetie, so Joe agreed to foster her for the organization.
Sweetie had not been microchipped and efforts to find her owner were unsuccessful. She was spayed, vaccinated, and placed up for adoption. Joe and his wife, Diane, continued to foster her, and through word of mouth, an adopter was found. The Paciencia family was happy to find a good home for her but immediately felt the loss of Sweetie in their home.
An important thing to learn from this story is to microchip your animals. Your local veterinarian can do this for you. Then if you pet does get lost, it can be returned to you. Returning animals to their loving families is a goal of the HHS.
Another thing to keep in mind is the importance of spaying and neutering your pets. The consequences of strays can be staggering. In 7 years, one unspayed cat and her offspring can produce hundreds of thousands of kittens, and an unspayed dog and her offspring can produce close to 100,000 in the same amount of time.
The Helotes Humane Society is in dire need of fosters, good folks like Joe and Diane, who are willing to open their homes to strays and assist in getting them adopted.
Kitten season is upon us, and we can’t take in all the strays we find. It’s a daily quest to find more foster homes. If this is something you would consider doing, HHS will provide everything you need, including kennels, food, medical services, and spaying/neutering.
All you need to provide is love and help in getting the animal to adoption events. HHS holds adoption events on the second and fourth weekends of each month at the Petco at Bandera Oaks, as well as events at other locations, and advertising on the HHS website (www.hhsanimals.org), Petfinder.com, and several other websites.
There is tremendous gratification when the animal is placed in a good home, in their FOREVER home. Just stop by Pipes Dreams and ask Joe.
Go to the Helotes Humane Society website, www.hhsanimals.org, to sign up to volunteer, foster, become a member, donate, or look for a new family pet.