HAWS announces activities, seminars…and the coming of the Valentine’s Puppies to the shelter’s adoption ward this April!

HAWS’ Valentine’s Puppies, the 15 mixed-breed pups born to mom Champagne in February, will soon be ready to leave the nest! Those interested in adopting one of the pups should call 262-542-8851 or stop at the shelter to fill out an application. Read all about the pups at their blog at thevalentinepups.wordpress.com.

The Friends of HAWS present the 29th Annual HAWS Pet Walkathon on May 5th from 9am – 3pm. Pets and their people will “high tail it” to Sussex Village Park for a day of fun for the entire family. Participants are encouraged to collect pledges or set up a personalized fund-raising webpage to help – 100% of donations raised at the Walkathon are used for animal care and programs at HAWS. All the details are available at the special Walkathon webpage of www.hawspets.org.

Highlights from HAWS’ April Calendar include:
- "Keep Your Puppy & Your Sanity” on April 1st and “Solve Common Canine Behavior Problems” on April 2nd – both are FREE seminars! Call Khris at 262-542-8851, x118 to register.
- 2 First Aid for Pets sessions will be offered, April 14th & 28th. Register at 262-879-0165.

Details, times and registration for all HAWS events are available at hawspets.org. Support the HAWS cause!

HAWS announces CAGED, a spay/neuter awareness rally for local students, from 1 – 6pm this Wednesday, March 28 at the shelter.

The rally is designed to bring greater awareness to the still very relevant message of spaying/neutering as a successful method of combating pet overpopulation. Students will sign up for ½ hour slots to sit in one of HAWS’ cat condos for “socialization.” The condo windows will be covered in statistics and facts on spay-neuter, along with Project Guardian, HAWS’ free barn/outdoor cat spay-neuter program.

For a $5 donation or for “checking in” and mentioning HAWS on any social network (Facebook, Twitter) students will gain access to the CAGED “VIP lounge” – for pizza, refreshments, interaction with shelter pets, and a trivia contest to test their knowledge on the stats posted throughout the shelter. The first 50 students will receive a special “CAGED at HAWS” t-shirt.

HAWS’ E. D. Lynn Olenik notes, “Many college students are drawn to helping animals and love to spend time with them – and this event makes a great study break! We also know that social media is a powerful tool for spreading an important message. As young adults become more active in animal welfare, we can use their savvy to help save many lives, and engage them for the future sustainability of our mission.”

Students interested in participating should contact leann@hawspets.org or kaitlin@hawspets.org.

HAWS is seeking nominations for the 2nd Annual Diana Boettcher Youth Community Kindness Award. This award is in memory of Diana Boettcher, a longtime resident of Lac La Belle who cared equally for the animals and people in her neighborhood throughout her life.

The Diana Boettcher Award seeks to honor a single young individual who exemplifies kindness to animals in their community. This kindness may take action through volunteering, promoting awareness or other acts of humane animal treatment.

The honoree will be selected by a panel of HAWS’ employees and friends. Selection will be based on the nominee’s commitment to animal welfare through public service and community life.

Nominees must be 18 years or younger. Family, friends, community members and teachers are allowed to nominate deserving youth; in addition, students may also nominate themselves. If chosen, the recipient must be available to accept the award at the Friends of HAWS’ 29th Annual Pet Walkathon on May 5th, 2012 at Sussex Village Park.

Applications must include the nominee’s name, birth date, school and an essay (not to exceed 500 words) explaining their commitment to animals in their community.

All applications must be received at HAWS by April 9th and can be emailed to kaitlin@hawspets.org or mailed to HAWS, Attn: Kaitlin Daugherty, PO Box 834, Waukesha, WI 53187-0834.

At HAWS, we won't give up on a pet: Meet MacKenzie the cat!! This beautiful shorthaired girl is a 6-year-old brown tabby with orange coloring. She's a love - our volunteers call her the "purrfect" pal - who is affectionate, playful and "kneads" whomever she's with! Maybe you need her in your life?

MacKenzie has patiently been waiting for a new home. In fact, she's been waiting for her new home since July '11!!! She's spent some time in our adoption program at the Petco store in Waukesha, but now she's back at HAWS, lounging in our foyer window cat condos.

We love having her at HAWS, but we'd love even more for her to land in a forever home with a comfy bed and sunny window.

Check out MacKenzie and all her adoptable friends at www.hawspets.org - just click on "Adopt!"

HAWS welcomes you daily for viewing and adoption. We're open Monday - Friday from 1:00 - 6:00 p.m., Saturday from 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and Sunday from Noon - 4:00 p.m.

By the way: this Sunday, 3/18, is our Annual Bunny Day at HAWS, co-hosted by the Wisconsin House Rabbit Society. And next Sunday, 3/25, is a busy HAWS day with our Extreme Makeover: HAWS Edition from noon - 4pm at the shelter and our Mobile Adoption Center's annual visit to the Milwaukee Admirals Dog Day game at 3pm! (Call Brian at 414-227-0567 to get your tickets to benefit HAWS.)

Join us - and have lots of fun while supporting the HAWS Cause!

HAWS welcomed 15 new members to our "family" on Valentine's Day, when pregnant mom Champagne gave birth to her litter of puppies.

Currently in foster care, Champagne and her brood are not only being carefully monitored as they grow, but are also working on early-stage development with our Behavior Department! You can follow their progress by reading their blog at "thevalentinepups.wordpress.com" It's updated daily because so much happens in such a short time with puppies...!

They've already reached a critical stage: it is time for socialization. One key need for this work? Names!

So it is time to "Play the Name Game" and we're asking for our community to participate and have a little fun along the way. For a $50 donation - which is being used for the puppies care - you can choose one of the 15 puppies and give it a name. These names will be used while volunteers work with the pups...and who knows: the future adopter may just keep your name of choice! (Hint, hint: make it a good one!)

All the details can be found at the pups' blog (thevalentinepups.wordpress.com), or go to HAWS' website and click on "Adopt!" and choose "How to Adopt" - the info is in the right sidebar.

Oops, it looks like there are only 14 pups left to name now...hurry so you don't miss out!

Questions? Call 262-542-8851 and ask for Kaitlin, or email her at kaitlin@hawspets.org.