The following is information from the Cleveland Animal Protective League. Check out the deal you can get if you're looking to adopt a cat.

The Cleveland Animal Protective League wants the community to know
about the wonderful cats and kittens who are waiting for homes at the shelter.

Sure, many people think why get a cat or kitten from a humane society when I can get one for free from a friend, neighbor or family member? Well here’s why.

At the Cleveland APL, every cat and kitten has been spayed or
neutered, given their initial vaccines, treated for fleas and worms, and tested for feline leukemia, feline HIV, and heartworms, all of which will save an adopter nearly $300 in future care.


So, for two days only – Friday, Aug. 27 and Saturday, Aug. 28 – the Cleveland APL will match the price of that “free” cat and waive the adoption fee for all of our fabulous felines who are 1 year old and up.

Cats and kittens under 1 year of age will be
available for an adoption fee of $10. The adoption fee for any second cat or kitten will be $20.

"This issue is so critical that we are willing to do something drastic to raise awareness – and this is pretty drastic as it costs us an average of $200 to care for a cat at the APL. We bring in hundreds of cats and kittens each week. All healthy, friendly animals stay with us until we’ve found them a home – there is no limit on the time they may spend at the APL – but we can only keep doing that if animals are adopted as fast as new animals come in – that’s the only way we can keep saving every life possible,” said Cleveland APL Executive Director, Sharon Harvey.

While the APL is waiving the adoption fee over this two day period, it is not waiving the requirements for a good home.

A good home is one that has thoughtfully considered all aspects of what adopting a pet means and is willing to make the commitment to care for that pet through sickness and in health.

Call (216) 771-4616 for more information or visit www.clevelandapl.org if you would like to see photographs of animals who are available for adoption.

All cats will come with a collar, APL ID tag, travel box, helpful species-specific animal care information, 30 days of free health insurance, and a free initial veterinary exam. Regular adoption fees are $30 senior cats, $45 adult cats, $95 for kittens.

-- Robin Palmer

Remember that German shepherd who survived getting shot six times by his owner and another man while the dog was in a carrier? He's getting a new home. Read on...

TOLEDO (AP) -- A German shepherd who survived six gunshot wounds in Ohio soon will move to a no-kill animal shelter that took in 22 pit bulls seized from Michael Vick’s alleged dogfighting ring.

The Best Friends Animal Society says the German shepherd named Sarge will leave for his new home in southern Utah by the end of the month.

He’ll be with some 1,700 other animals, including pit bulls taken from Vick’s dogfighting ring.

Humane society workers in Toledo had said Sarge wouldn’t be put up for adoption after he bit two employees, but the Utah shelter has agreed to take him in.

Authorities say Sarge’s owner and another man took turns shooting the dog while he was in a cage.

-- Robin Palmer

I don't understand this, but I love it:



Sent to me by N-H Editorial Page Editor Michael C. Butz.


--Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com

Entertainment Editor Mark Meszoros sent this video my way today. He's not a fan of cat videos, but apparently several million other people are. Check out cnet's Top 5 cat videos:




-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com

If you've been considering adopting a dog, this could be a good week for you to do so.

Geauga Humane Society Rescue Village will offer a special adoption fee for dogs Aug. 15-22. All dogs will be 50 percent off.

Rescue Village is open from noon to 7 p.m. Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Sunday.

Adoptions stop 45 minutes before closing.

Rescue Village is at 15463 Chillicothe Road, Russell Township. For details, call 440-338-4819.


-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com

Lake Humane Society is inviting all animal lovers to come out to Penitentiary Glen Reservation in Kirtland on Aug. 21 for Mutt Strut 2010.

This is the 16th year for this annual pledge walk. Each walker is asked to register and ask for pledges, with proceeds going to the support of the Lake Humane Society.
Mutt Strut begins at 9:30 a.m., rain or shine. Participants will be walking with their dogs over a half-mile course.

Willing, happy shelter dogs will be available to accompany walkers who do not bring a dog of their own.

Following the walk will be games, contests, shopping, food and fun — all for the good of the Lake Humane Shelter animals.

Last year, 300 people participated and raised $15,000 for the shelter.

This year’s goal is to raise $20,000.

To register in advance or for more information, contact Lake Humane Society at 440-951-6122.

-- Robin Palmer

The death of a pet - any pet - is a gut-wrenching process; the penalty for becoming attached to a domesticated animal.

Today, just before noon and when I arrived at home for an early lunch prior to working an assignment, I watched as my Grover Cleveland died. And heard him go through the wretched death throes.

Grover wasn’t a dog or even a cat. He was a rabbit; a mini lobbed-eared rabbit, to be exact.

He was old as far as rabbits are concerned, being six or seven. Grover also never spent one night outdoors. He was a house rabbit, sharing space with Bev, my wife, our two Labrador retrievers along with our two rescue cats. We even referred to the room where he stayed as “Grover’s room.”

But I knew lately that death was lurking nearby. I even had made an appointment to take him to see veterinarian Debbie Ting at the Lakeshore Animal Hospital in Mentor-on-the-Lake. It was time for our good-byes.

The poor rabbit had been ill all week to the point where he was no longer eating or using his litter box. But he had exhibited similar symptoms before and recovered. So I (wrongly) hesitated.

In life, Grover was a hoot. As a young bunny he spent much of every evening running about the house, exploring. And occasionally getting into too much mischief.

Grover was a charmer, though. He often hop up into my lap when I was resting in my recliner. There he enjoyed a few minutes of ear scratching and gentle petting.

The rabbit also got along with the dogs. And that was surprising since they are Labradors used for hunting. Grover, however, would hop up to one of the dogs, place his front paws on the canine’s back and generally be full of himself.

And as a young bunny Grover loved to play with Bear, our laid-back, black-colored house cat. Bear would sit in the middle of the living room floor while Grover would hop in circles around the cat. I never could tell who had the most fun.

Our other cat, Hobbs, on the other hand, didn’t really warm up to Grover. Still the diplomat, Grover did his best to try.

In his cage, Grover was the master of his domain. At night, when Bev and I would try to fall asleep, Grover would loudly play with his ceramic food dish, noisily sliding it around the cage. He also loved to toss about discarded toilet tissue rolls.

For eats Grover was particularly partial to Buckeye-brand pellets. However, he never, ever, turned up his wrinkling nose at any various processed rabbit treats presented to him. And give Grover a chunk of banana and the rabbit was in Seventh Heaven.

That was until several days ago. Then he passed on everything, including his beloved bananas.

I know that I should have carried him to Ting sooner. Grover deserved to die peacefully, asleep. Just like we humans. But I didn’t and now my conscience is paying the awful price.

If you were to ask me, I’d say that I could easily acquire another rabbit. One with floppy ears and a long, sinfully silky coat.

Bev is not that inclined, however. She wants to whittle down the number of pets we have.

Pets are work, I’ll give you that. And they are expensive to maintain. Leave the house for a long weekend or a vacation and you’re forced to make arrangements with the neighbor boy to come over every day and care for the critter.

I guess in the long run Bev is correctly on track to insist on no more rabbits.

But I’ll you this, my life was made so much richer by my ownership of Grover. As good as his life was with us I still came out ahead. I guess that is why so many of us own pets of all stripes, including house rabbits.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com

We feature animals from area shelters and rescue groups that are in need of homes.

This is Caitlyn, available for adoption through Animal Rescue Center.

According to ARC, the calico, who is about 2 years old, was rescued from a shelter with her kittens.

She not only took care of her litter, but two orphan litters.

She is very affectionate and calm. She has been vet checked, received age-appropriate shots, deworming and flea prevention.

She is Felv negative and spayed. Adoption fee is $35. You can make an appointment to see Caitlyn by e-mailing animalrescuecenter@yahoo.com, or stopping to see her at Animal Rescue Center, 36370 Vine St., Eastlake, from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday.

-- Robin Palmer

Just when you thought you heard it all about abuse to animals there's this unbelievable story from The Associated Press. Read on...

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Police say a traffic stop led to animal cruelty charges after they found a live cat “marinating” in oil and peppers in the trunk of a car.

Buffalo police say officers heard the cat meowing when they stopped 51-year-old Gary Korkuc of Cheektowaga to ticket him for running a stop sign Sunday night.

They say they checked the trunk and found 4-year-old Navarro in a cage, his fur covered with oil, crushed red peppers and chili peppers.

Police say Korkuc told them he did it because Navarro was ill-tempered.

Korkuc was charged with cruelty and released.

Police say he told them he was going to cook Navarro.

Korkuc also told officers a number of things that didn’t make sense, including that his neutered male cat was pregnant.

Animal advocates have cleaned Navarro and put him up for adoption.

-- Robin Palmer

Caroline’s Kids Cat Sanctuary, home to 240 cats, has an urgent need for cleaning supplies.

The sanctuary, at 7395 Morley Road in Concord Township needs everyday supplies such as laundry detergent, bleach, dryer sheets, dishwasher liquid, paper towels, Fantasik, 409, Clorox wipes, and 13-33 gallon trash can liners.

The sanctuary is literally down to its last drop of dish soap, according to co-founder Judie Brown.

The sanctuary is also very low on canned cat food and dry food. The urgent need is for canned food, Brown says.

Scoopable litter is also needed.

Donations can be dropped off at the sanctuary, located at the corner of Morley and Hoose roads, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

For more information, call 440-449-3496.

-- Robin Palmer

Animal Rescue Center will present its second annual Pet Expo from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 8 at its Eastlake location, 36370 Vine St.

The free event will be held rain or shine.

The event will include cat, kitten, dog and puppy adoptions, local animal pet vendors with homemade and new items, food and refreshments, dog and puppy games (bring your canine), a rummage sale and raffles.

For more information or space rental, contact Diane at arcdianeg@yahoo.com or ARC at 440-942-1753.

-- Robin Palmer

Of all the dogs at the Geauga County Dog Warden's Office, Oban has been there the longest, and officials there don't know why because he is such a good dog.

Oban is a Rottie/mix available for adoption.

According to shelter officials, the young male likes other dogs and is good on a walk.

If you'd like to put an end to Oban's stay at the shelter, call 440-286-8135.

The shelter is at 12513 Merritt Road in Munson Township.

-- Robin Palmer