Everything You Need To Know For Maddie's Pet Adoption Days.

Our amazing animals want to make sure you're here and ready to take them home so they're going to talk you through everything you need to know for free adoptions during Maddie's Pet Adoption Days this Saturday and Sunday.

Box Kitties Say "Know Who Is Going To Be Where!"

Our Animal Community Center in Milpitas will have dogs, cats and rabbits. Our location at Petco in Saratoga will have cats, rabbits, pocket pets and all our foster care dogs. Our location at the Petco in Sunnyvale will have cats, rabbits, and pocket pets. 

Wendy says "You're Great....."

"But We Need The Whole Family, Two and Four Legged".

DO:

• Bring the whole family - we need everyone who lives in the house to meet the family.
• Bring the other dog(s) that live with you - we need to make sure everyone's going to get along.
• Know if you're allowed to have another pet. For certain animals we'll ask for proof that the landlord is okay with it. 

DON'T: 

• Bring the cat - we love kitties but we don't do dog-to-cat or cat-to-cat introductions. 
• Worry about buying food, treats or supplies. Our matchmakers will tell you what your new pet has been eating and our pet store stocks it!

Jimmy says "No one leaves naked"

All kitties need to leave in a carrier and all dogs need to leave on a collar and leash. These aren't provided with adoption so if you don't want to buy one at the pet store make sure you bring one with you. All animals do come with a free engraved name tag.

Holly says "Get Really, Really Excited! And Get Here Early!"

Adoptions are done on a first come, first served basis and we won't be doing any holds. If there's a specific animal you're interested in, you'll want to get here early.

Hours for the event are 10 AM - 7 PM at all locations.

Adopt for Free

The 4th annual Maddie's Pet Adoption Days are almost here!

What:  FREE adoptions for all of our shelter animals

When:  June 1 & 2

Where:  all three of our HSSV locations and more!

HSSV is one of 200 shelters and rescues across the nation participating in this adopt-a-thon weekend with the goal of finding all of our animals forever homes.  For every adoption finalized during Maddie's weekend, HSSV will receive a grant from the Maddie's Foundation to help us continue to care for future shelter animals.  So come save a life and support your local shelter!

Find out more about Maddie's Pet Adoption Days here!  See you this weekend!

 

K9 Class of 2013: Our Most Likely To's....

Most Likely To Make Roger Federer Cry.

Beautiful Ganda has wow-ed all of HSSV with her tireless tennis ball retrieval skills. This five-years-young missy definitely has a biiiiiiig future as a ball girl if only Wimbledon would accept her. Keep hitting them - she'll keep bringing them back.

Most Likely To Blossom Into A Party Girl.

Sweet Rose comes across as so shy - new people can be scary to her. But once she's comfortable with you, watch out! This crazy little girl goes nuts with a squeaky toy. Class vote is that once she's getting some TLC from a loving family she's going to be a party on paws.

Most Likely To Be Elected President. Or Possibly Just First Dog.

What doesn't Milton do? He's a perfect gentleman, knows all his commands, loves the water and is even willing to wear silly costumes. He's patient, gentle and kind. Currently recovering from a sports injury, he's looking for a home that can love a diplomatic fellow like himself. Who wouldn't want to see that smiling face every day?

Most Likely To Take Over The Planet

Little big dog Holly is a girl who knows what she wants. She wants a home, preferably one with a big-dog buddy. She wants us to stop referring to her as a small dog - she might weigh seventeen pounds but she's got a hundred pound personality. She also would like a pigs ear. And she'd like all of that RIGHT NOW. If we don't get on it, don't put it past this funny, brilliant dog to stage a coup and get it for herself.

Most Likely To Warm Your Lap And Scare The Bejeebus Out Of A Burglar.

Cuddly little man Dante doesn't believe in barking just for the sake of barking but if someone is near your door he's going to let you know. The security thing is just an added bonus - Dante's main occupation is cuddling, kissing, and keeping you company. Did we mention he's already housebroken as well? He'll keep your lap warm, your house clean and safe and you well loved. Who could say  no?

Want to be Most Likely To Have an Awesome New Family Member? 

The school year maybe over but the summer is just beginning. Help these dogs graduate to alumni status by adopting them for free this weekend!

Cat Class of 2013: Su-purrr-latives

Some of our Adoption Scholarship graduates who are eagerly awaiting homes pose for their yearbook photos and show off their personalities for this year's "Best Of" list!

Best Dressed:

Charlie

Most Likely to Enjoy Long Grooming Sessions:

Joey Ramoney Baloney

 
Prettiest Eyes:

Qtpie

Best Conversationalist:

Kitty the Cat

Class Clown:

Bates

Most Likely To Get What She Wants:

Sigourney

Best Lap-Sitter:

Princess Muriel

Most Cat-Savvy Cat:

Jake

Best Hair: 

Bella

Most Valuable Mouse Toy Catcher:

Annabelle

and because who can resist...

Most Likely To Be Adopted Within the Hour:

Marshmallow

Help one of these kitties graduate to being your new pet!  Visit HSSV today!

Garden Guardians

There is something I must confess, procrastination is my middle name when it comes to landscaping my 7,000 square foot back yard, especially in 90 degree weather.  But last weekend, I finally put my big girl pants on and got to work.


As I put sweat, blisters and tears into every inch of my yard and garden I found a surprise.  Mice! Yes, I said mice! These little guys had been tearing up my garden, flower beds and made a home in my shed. Pesky little critters!

Mice were a new problem for me but my work at HSSV lead me straight to the solution.  I could bring another kind of four-legged furry friend home that they might not be so comfortable meeting face to face - a working cat!


A couple weeks ago we adopted out 4 working cats. Icicle and Monsieur Chocolat went to one open "position" while Earl Grey and Zoey were "hired" by another family.  These kitties got a new start providing rodent security sweeps in exchange for food and board.  These outside cats were spayed or nuetered, microchipped, tested, and vaccinated before starting "work". They are behaviorally tested to be suitable
 for this kind of placement, so you know you can trust them with us as a "reference". 

I always thought that a working cat wasn’t an option for me because I thought of these types of cats as “Barn Cats”. But it makes sense that if mice live here, so can cats.   My small garden could use a guardian too!  So, I got myself signed up to be called to adopt the next garden cat that becomes available.   Goodbye mice, hello summer of BBQs!

To sign up to get a garden cat of your own, 

call us at 408-262-2133 x 150 or email at adoptions@hssv.org.

Cuánto cuesta tener una mascota

¿Te preguntas cuánto cuesta para tener una mascota?
HSSV se sentó con El Mensajero para averiguar! 

 

The Kittens are Coming!

Are you tired?

Rundown?

Listless?

Is your life lacking in fluffy cuteness?

The answer to all your problems lies in one of our HSSV kittens!

We've got hundreds of kittens of every size, shape, and color in foster care waiting for their two month old birthday so they can go home with you.

Contact us today to get yourself on our Kitten Registry list and we'll find the perfect kitten for you!  Our representatives are standing by.

You can reach our adoptions team at adoptions@hssv.org or 408-262-2133 ext. 150

Holly and Inky: A Love Letter

Dear Inky,

It's been six days since you left and don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you. I think it's great you found a nice family. I just miss you. I miss our play dates, running together in the field, wrestling together. Most people look at me and they think eh, small dog. You understood that I'm not small dog. I might weigh seventeen pounds but inside this smallish frame beats the heart of a lion. I run with the big dogs. I wrestle with the big dogs. I bark like a big dog and I herd like the great flock guardian breeds of the Middle East.

Yet they call me a schipperke mix. Sigh.

You & the 49-ers broke my heart.

But Inky, mi amour, I digress. Since you've been gone I've been trying everything to forget you. First I tried burying myself in televised sports. I got into it but it wasn't enough. You know me. I have to be playing myself - chasing big dogs or fetching or running. I don't mind hanging out in front of television but I need to my exercise.

After my brief dalliance with team jerseys, sports bars and betting pools (I lost seven biscuits to Speedy, the slick little beast) I decided that being outside made me feel closer to you. So I decided to take up gardening.

Where do you want the next hole?

As you can imagine, this was a failure. Paws are great for running, for digging, for walking, for wrestling with your big dog friends. When it comes to detail work like weeding and pruning, they're less than optimal. I excelled at digging and watering the flowers (in my own way) but that was the beginning and end of my skills.

After that debacle I'm embarrassed to say I tried to comfort myself with food. Biscuits, bully sticks, bits of cheese filched from volunteers, whatever I could get. It didn't make me miss you any less, my beloved bully dog buddy. It just made me a little portly. Luckily with my energy level I'll burn it off quickly. 

Nom nom nom. Inky. Nom.

Obviously I needed to channel my energy into more athletic, healthy pursuits. Like extreme outdoor hiking. I have a lot of volunteer friends here and they've been great about taking me on some of the trails. No one will take me skydiving or else I'd try that, too. I'm fearless, you know that.

I won't lie, the hiking is great. I love being outside, love burning off some energy and it keeps my mind off you.

Keep up!

But here I still am, Inky darling. And though it pains me to say this, with you gone it's time for me to seriously start thinking about moving on. Finding a family of my own. Maybe one with a big dog to play with. Their big dog won't replace with you, my friend. But perhaps I could be a good companion to a lonely dog. With a nice family that understands me and won't mistake me for a delicate flower.

I've been meeting some new people and I really feel like it's my time. That any day now those perfect people are going to come in and say  "hey, that zippy little black dog we saw online, the one that's like a 100 lb border collie in a 17 lb package, we want to meet that one!". That day is coming, Inky. I'm going to have my own people soon, just like you. But trust me, I'll never forget you.

All My Love,

Holly

PS - If you get to missing me, you can always see me in my video on youtube.

June Bug Needs To Have A Serious Talk With You.

Hey there. Thanks for coming. Sit down, we need to have a chat. This won't take long but it's important. Look, I've been here a while. It's time you think about taking me home. I know I was a hot mess when I came in:

 

I'd been living at a construction site with two friends for quite a while. It wasn't the easiest life and from the looks of us the shelter staff guessed we'd been out there for some time. The nice construction guys were feeding all of us but we were a little too scared to make friends with them. When the construction company finished the building they were working on they brought us here so we'd be safe. I looked horrible, I know. And I was super scared of people. We all were.

My friends got adopted but I'm still here. I'm still a bit scared of people but after I meet you once or twice I warm up. I've made a lot of friends since I've been here. Like Greg:

And Denny:

My world has gotten a lot bigger since I got here. I've learned how to enjoy the pool - we didn't have one of these out at the construction site:

I have a working relationship with doggy playground equipment now:

I even know how to shop. I'd like one or two of these. But with peanut butter:

So seriously, what's the deal? Why haven't come in to adopt me yet? Sure I'm a little shy but I'm active and fun:

I'm very zen about nature:

I play well with others:

So explain to me exactly what the issue is. I'm here, you're there, let's get this show on the road. Just get yourself down here and let's meet:

C'mon. Get off the computer. We have a date.

Update! June Bug was adopted yesterday (5/15), check out her pin board to see family photos from her time at HSSV and her new parents.