Chipotle: On Dec. 15, 2016, show this flyer (printed or on your smartphone) to the cashier at any Portland or SW Washington Chipotle restaurant or tell the cashier you’re supporting OHS. 50% of proceeds from this day will help the pets at OHS. This is a great day to buy lunch for the office, bring dinner […]
Category: Blog
Blog posts from OHS staff and volunteers
Friends Forever Finds Clyde a New Home
Contributed by Kathryn Karr, Legacy Gifts Manager OHS Friends Forever™ – Planning for Your Pets Art contacted OHS a few years ago, worried about his two beagles, Bonnie and Clyde. The two dogs were healthy, but Art was worried about their future. What if there came a time when he was unable to care for them? He had […]
Foster Fails: Forever Homes for Foster Graduates
Contributed by Peggy Quentin, OHS Foster Care Volunteer What is a “foster failure” or “foster fail,” exactly? Though “failure” might sound negative, these are terms used to describe a happy, though unexpected, ending. A “foster failure” is when the foster caregiver falls in love with the pet and adopts him/her into their home to stay. […]
Silky the Hairless Hamster Gets a Tiny Sweater
What do you do if you notice a hairless animal who seems to be chilly? In the case of Silky the hairless hamster, an OHS employee decided to crochet her a tiny sweater to help her stay warm. *Oct. 24 update below – Silky has been adopted!* Silky came to OHS when her family found they […]
Practicing to Save Lives
Contributed by Cecil Reniche-Smith, OHS Volunteer & OHSTAR team member It’s an old joke: a tourist in New York City asks a passerby, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” and is told “Practice, practice, practice.” For the OHS Technical Animal Rescue Team (OHSTAR), however, “practice” is no joke. When a life is literally on the […]
Protecting Animals: Justice for Bella
A former legal intern recounts his experience working with the Investigations Department at OHS. Contributed by John Hopkinson, Investigations Program Assistant. On an average Saturday, around 700 people walk through the doors at OHS to meet pets for adoption. However, most people do not realize that many of our available animals come from abuse and neglect cases […]
Behind the Scenes with Second Chance
Follow along with an OHS volunteer as she welcomes Mr. Beefy, a Boston terrier mix, to OHS as part of a recent Second Chance transfer from a shelter in need of assistance. Mr. Beefy slowly steps out of his crate, blinks his eyes and buries his head in the back of my leg. He looks around […]
Babu’s Big Adventure
OHS found homes for more than 5,500 cats last year, but not all of them had an easy time adjusting to their stay at OHS. We work hard to make the shelter as cat-friendly as possible, but some cats needed help overcoming fearful behaviors before being offered for adoption. In 2015, OHS created a special […]
Meet the Dog Path Crew!
Candace and Bill Bailey are two exceptional OHS volunteers who donate many hours of their time each month to helping the shelter animals. One of their many contributions is starting and running the Dog Path Crew, which maintains our natural area where shelter dogs get daily walks. The Dog Path Crew (DPC) began as an […]
The Rewards of Patience
Two OHS volunteers share their story of adopting an adult cat who needed some time to settle in and show her true purrsonality. Patience has its rewards! I first saw Hannah in one of the cat colony rooms at OHS. She was one of those cats who would find a dark and quiet corner so […]
