Check out the website here.
Living the Good Life
We’ve been chronicling Van Winkle’s story of recovery over the past year as he made it from his original state as a “mummified dog” to happy, healthy love bug. His adopters couldn’t be more thrilled with how adorable he is, and we think you’ll agree. You can read his adoption storyhere. His new family sent us these recent pictures of how well he’s doing. We are so happy this kind gentle guy has such a wonderful new home.
OAS Closed Friday 4/13
Looking For The Perfect Home
This sweet puppy came in this week to OAS, just about 8 weeks old with what was suspected very limited sight, due to one eye being completely shut. Upon further inspection, we realized that the dog is completely blind, but he doesn’t let that stop him. He is full of puppy playfulness and couldn’t be more excited to get visits and pets from staff and volunteers at the shelter.
This puppy will be transferred to a rescue group who can find a home appropriate for a blind dog, where special accommodations can be made for him to have a happy life just like every other dog we adopt.
Happy Easter!
OAS volunteers attended the annual Dunsmuir Hellman Estate Easter Egg Hunt. Our animals were the stars of the show! If you weren’t able to make it out, you can relive the gorgeous day through these wonderful photos. Katy Perry, our longest term dog at OAS (featured below in the first 3 pictures) is available for adoption, and as you can see, is GREAT with kids!
OAS goes to Brazil
One of our highly dedicated veterinarians, Dr. Jyothi Robertson, recently worked with a team of vets from Brazil, showing them the best practices we employ here at OAS that make us so successful in caring for animals. Stories about our work here and the training she provided them were recently published in Brazil’s most widely distributed veterinary journal, as seen below. We are proud to be sharing the work we do to help animals all over the world.
A Happy Ending for All
We love pit bulls here at Oakland Animal Services, but sometimes, the negative portrayal of the breed in the media makes it difficult for them to find homes. It’s even harder when a pit bull has had its ears cropped. Many people assume that it means that the dog was used for fighting, which is rarely the case. In fact, some of the sweetest-tempered dogs that we’ve seen at the shelter have been pit bulls with cropped ears. One of them was Babe, who was at the shelter for four months before finding a home. We can’t say it any better than Babe’s adopters:
“We adopted Babe from Oakland Animal Services in January 2012. We have three children: Qiqi (15), Mike (10), and Rosie (6). We have never owned a dog before but our children have been pleading for one for quite some time. We started our search and were immediately drawn to pit bulls. After much research I determined that unscrupulous owners are much more of a problem than the breed. Our friends thought we were crazy, though. We met Babe at your shelter and it was love at first sight. All the dogs around Babe were barking and she was calm and had the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. We met Babe several times and the entire family was enchanted. In fact, I was very surprised to learn that Babe had been found on the streets and had been at the shelter for more than four months. Some say that her cropped ears make her look mean; however, her wagging tail and instant ability to roll over to have her belly rubbed puts that impression to rest. In fact, when I take her on walks the compliments we get about her “beauty” and demeanor are astounding. Babe is a great Pit Ambassador!
Babe acclimated beautifully into the family and if feels as though she’s been part of the family forever. As a pit bull, Babe needs her daily dose of exercise. A long walk with some training and “bird watching” calms her beautifully and by 7 pm she’s ready for snuggle time on the couch with the family. Her temperament with my children is superb. She has endless patience, is remarkably gentle, and is exceptionally loving towards them. This affection is clearly reciprocated. The attached pictures tell the real story.
Babe is smart, resourceful, and easy to train. I have found that she plays very well with other dogs provided that there is adequate warm up time. Finally, I’d like to thank the terrific staff of Oakland Animal Services for providing us with great guidance and letting us adopt this most magnificent creature.”
We have another wonderful dog with cropped ears at OAS who is waiting patiently for her home: Katy Perry. Make sure you check out her fabulous video in which Katy goes looking for her missing ears!
FREE Pit Bull 101 Class:
Oakland Animal Services and Our Pack Pit Bull Rescue is offering a Pit Bull 101 class. Join us on Saturday March 24th at 2:30pm, to learn from the experts at Our Pack. All your basic questions about pit bull behavior and ownership will be answered!
Please RSVP to Stephanie@ourpack.org
Power of Teamwork
Every month, Oakland Animal Services takes in an average of 500 cats, dogs, rabbits, and other animals from the city of Oakland. These include strays, owner surrenders, and seized animals . One of the key factors that strengthens our ability to help these animals is the growth of our relationships with partner rescue groups. Our partner groups assist us by our taking animals to adopt out from their own facilities or foster homes. Sometimes a change of location is all that it takes to get an animal noticed and adopted.
In February, we transferred 161 animals to 25 different groups. Some groups are very small and can only take a few at a time; others are larger and take many more. Regardless of size, each group contributes to our efforts to help as many animals as possible. Thank you to everyone who gives so much to help so many deserving animals find their forever homes. We couldn’t do this work without your support and hard work.
A Lucky Reunion
In late February, a woman took her Bichon frise, Snowbie, out for a walk. She tied him to a parking meter outside a café while she ran inside to get a cup of coffee. Although she was only gone a moment, when she came out, the dog was gone. Snowbie’s owner went to OAS to look for him and posted on Craigslist hoping to be reunited with her dog.
A week later, several of the Oakland Animal Services (OAS) animal control officers responded to a call that took them to a vacant apartment with the front door wide open. Inside, the officers found a little Bichon Frise, sitting in filth, with no food or water. The dog, they discovered, was microchipped, but the phone number registered with the chip was disconnected. Determined, one of the animal control officers, Tanya Strong, checked Craigslist, scouring the “lost and found animal” section, and found an ad for a missing dog that matched the description of the Bichon that was now at the shelter. Officer Strong contacted the dog owner who had placed the ad, the woman came to OAS, and she was delighted to identify the dog as hers. We were able to reunite one very happy Snowbie with his family!
This story emphasizes the importance of not leaving your dog unattended in public places—not even for a few minutes. It also points out how important it is to have your animal microchipped and to keep that information up to date. If you do lose your animal, a microchip is the surest way for it to be found and returned to you. We microchip Oakland dogs and cats at OAS for just $10.