Fall 2014 Newsletter of the

A REGULAR PUBLICATION

DEDICATED TO GIVING

ANIMALS A VOICE IN

THE SAN JACINTO VALLEY AND

SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES.

Adoption Update

Officers Bob Duistermars

Board Chairman

Wayne Disher

Board Vice-Chairman

Pam Stull

Secretary Daniel Goodrich

Treasurer Connie Hall

Immediate past-Chairman

Jeff Sheppard

Chief Executive Officer

Directors Sherry Cinnamon Virginia Figueredo Denise Glass Shannon Ortiz

Jenny Stauts Jacque Wigle

Managing Staff Jeff Sheppard

Chief Executive Officer Lori Neddermann

Vice President of Operations

John Ambris

Finance Director

Julio De La Cruz

Shelter Manager Armida Garcia

Clinic Manager Daryl Hitchcock

Animal Control Manager

Elizabeth and Lloyd Johnson adopt-

ed this little guy from the Ramona

Humane Society on 8/3/14. From

the moment Peyton entered his new

forever home, he was made a “star”.

The Johnson’s created “official”

adoption notices and sent them out

to their friends and family. We were

lucky to get one too. As Elizabeth

told us, “In our household it isn't

JUST a dog or cat... the adopted ani-

mal becomes our forever 4 legged

kid.” The Johnson household

praised several of our staff members

for the spectacular help they got

You can always find us online at www.ramonahumanesociety.org.

If you adopted an animal from the Ramona

Humane Society, please let us know how they

are doing! We just might feature them in our

next newsletter.

690 Humane Way San Jacinto, CA 92582 (951) 654-8002 Website: www.ramonahumanesociety.org

Meet Peyton

Non-profit Org.

U.S. Postage

Paid Permit #20

San Jacinto, Ca

BANDIT’S STORYBANDIT’S STORY

Birthday video creates a star!Birthday video creates a star!

14TH ANNUAL OKTOBERF14TH ANNUAL OKTOBERFESTEST

Event to feature $25 adoptionsEvent to feature $25 adoptions

TROUPER WALKSTROUPER WALKS

“Wishlist” donations raise money “Wishlist” donations raise money

for expensive surgery.for expensive surgery.

TESS TESS -- A LOVE STORYA LOVE STORY

Adopted 14 years ago and still Adopted 14 years ago and still

sharing the love.sharing the love.

...and much more inside!...and much more inside!

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Recommended resource links:

when they were deciding which of

our pups to take. Rescue and/or

adoption is the only way the John-

son household goes. Like Peyton is

doing for the Johnsons, rescued

animals bring such joy to our lives.

In addition to the photo you see

above, you may have seen a few

others on our RHS Facebook page.

This is one photogenic dog, and

we’re glad we keep seeing so much

of him! Keep sending us those pic-

tures and we’ll keep sharing them.

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Peyton Johnson, adopted 8/3/14

Search for one of our adoptableSearch for one of our adoptable pets by scanning this code now.pets by scanning this code now.

On the cover...

Our shelter is located at 690 Humane Way in San Jacinto Shelter and Kennel hours for adoptions are: Monday through Thursdays, and Saturdays from 10-4pm. Fridays and Sundays from 10-3pm. Phone: 951-654-8002 Animal Control is located at 438 S. State St., San Jacinto Animal Control hours are: Monday through Friday 8-5pm Phone: 951-487-6565 Like us on: Online: www.ramonahumanesociety.org

We are continually humbled by the generosity of our communi-ty. When that generosity in-cludes local grade school stu-dents, well we are left speech-less. The students at Hemet’s Little Lake Elementary School collected nearly $200 during their Pennies for the Pound campaign in June. The money was immediately put to use.

Shop for the animals

On Saturday Oct. 18th we will hold our 14th annual Oktoberfest fundraiser and adoption event at the Ra-mona Humane Society at 690 Humane Way in San Jacinto. All pet adoptions will be $25! You don’t hold an event for 14 straight years without it becoming one of the valley’s premiere Fall events. Nearly 4000 people attended the event last year and more than 200 were adopted. There are fun games and enter-tainment for the family, good food, and a festival atmosphere. Come on out and see what all the barking’s about!

Little Lake Elementary School Students Raise Funds for Shelter We asked students and facul-ty if they’d like the money they raised to be used to help our Wishlist dog Trouper get surgery to repair his legs and allow him to walk again. They agreed, and we are hap-py to report that Trouper had his surgery, and was adopted by a wonderful family.

Trouper Walks!

Trouper after surgery

Trouper was just five months old when a Good Samaritan found him struggling to use his legs on the side of the road. Most likely, Trouper had been hit by a car and left to die. Our vets took xrays and evaluated him. They were astonished at the severity of the poor dog’s injuries. Trouper could not use his rear legs and had learned to hobble around on his front legs—but not without pain. The miracu-lous thing was that Trouper still LOVED peo-ple. Anyone who approached him got licks and tail wags. Although his pain management and eventual surgery to repair him would cost sever-al thousand dollars, our staff decided to proceed knowing that the prospects of this loving dog being adopted once he recovered were quite good. We used our website’s “WISHLIST” program to ask our generous community for do-nations to get Trouper his surgery. It worked! Within no time, we had received the requisite funds to pay for Trouper’s surgery. We are ec-static to report that Trouper is doing GREAT now. One leg had to be amputated, but it cer-tainly doesn’t slow this guy down! We are also happy to report that Trouper was adopted. He has even gone to the Hemet Public Library as an RHS ambassador. Thank you everyone!

Wishlist pup gets his wish… and a family! Owner thankful for dog adopted 14 years ago at RHS

Our cover boys were chosen by our Face-book fans out of six possible choices. The picture shows Mark Rothrock from Twentynine Palms and Bandit, a German Shorthaired Pointer his wife adopted for him from our shelter. The “surprise” was captured on an amazing video we posted on Facebook that went viral. Read more about Bandit’s story in this issue.

14th Annual adoption event takes place Saturday, Oct. 18th from 9am—4pm Trouper before surgery

Approximately 4000 people joined the fun last year

There is always fun for the whole family

Jump house and face painting

All dog adoptions $25

All cat adoptions $25

Tess—A Love Story

We love to receive reports from folks

who’ve adopted animals from RHS on

how their animals are doing. We were

awestruck to hear from one such person

who had adopted one of our animals 14

years ago! Dana Demarce had seen

Tess’s photo in the newspaper as being

available for adoption. On a whim, she

visited the shelter and now, 14 years

later, Dana can-

not imagine life

without Tess. The border collie—now 16

yrs old— is slowing down but Dana keeps

her comfortable with regular acupuncture

and lots of love. Dana, who—along with

Tess’s motherly care—has fostered about

150 underage kittens. Dana recalls one

episode where she had left Tess with a

litter of new born kittens in the bathroom

while she went to get feeding bottles.

When Dana returned to the bathroom,

Tess had gathered all the kittens into a comfortable pile on a tow-

el, laying next to them to keep them warm. Tess loves visiting

neighbors and going on car rides, and is still known to watch over

cats in Dana’s care. Watching Tess age is hard for Dana. The

boundless energy of her youth has passed, her beautiful face has

greyed. Dana misses their long walks. But as Dana says, Tess is

“a quirky...head-tilting, bat eared bundle of joy. And every single

day I'm grateful she is

mine. Every day is a gift.”

Well said, Dana… and

thank you for providing a

great home for Tess.

Tess likes to nap

Tess protects her cats

Tess lost her best canine friend a while back, but still

has Dana!

We need SPONSORS!! Call (951) 654-8002f

THANK YOU TO OUR CURRENT OKTOBERFEST 2014 SPONSORS:

Trouper loves the kids of Little Lake Elementary

Soboba Tribe Diesel Tech

tainly be adopted by then. Unbe-knownst to Mark, Jamie had a plan. The next day, she asked her boss if she could leave work early so she could sneak down to the shelter to adopt the dog for Mark’s birthday present. The plan was in motion, but as Jamie got to the shelter, another family was looking at the dog. Her heart sank. While she was happy the dog was going to be adopted she was sad Mark wouldn’t get it. But the stars had other plans. The fam-ily decided to adopt another dog, and Jamie was able to adopt him. The dog—named Bandit—came home to surprise Mark. In a stroke of genius, Jamie decided to videotape the surprise on her smart phone. She sent the video to us and we shared it on our Fa-cebook page The Internet explod-ed! Within days the video had been seen by tens of thousands of people, many of which left com-ments ranging from “That totally

It was one of those cases where the stars were aligned to make something happen. And no matter what obsta-cles were thrown into the mix, noth-ing could prevent the inevitable. This story starts at a Ramona Humane So-ciety Board meeting. After the meet-ing concluded, our shelter CEO Jeff Sheppard took another board member to see a young beautiful German Shorthaired Pointer who was in the adoption kennels. The board member couldn’t understand why the pup wasn’t adopted yet, so snapped a pic-ture (see above) placing it on the RHS Facebook page. Within hours, the picture had hundreds of “likes” and promises from people to come and see the dog. Out in Twentynine Palms, Mark Rothrock (a U.S. Air Force service member) and his wife Jamie couldn’t stop talking about the dog and had decided to come to the shelter on the following weekend to see it—but feared the dog would cer-

The picture that started it all

If you have not checked out our Ramona Humane Society Wishlist on our web page, you’re missing a pretty amazing tool we have used a number of times to get our com-munity support in times of need. One such case occurred early last month when Blue, a Labrador mix

who had a severe and painful eye condition in which the eyelid folds in on itself. It was very irri-tating to her and we knew the op-eration to fix the problem would involve a specialist and be very costly. We used our Wishlist to put a plea out to our community, and the donations started coming in. Within a week, we had re-ceived the necessary funds to cov-er her surgery. After surgery, Blue recovered at the shelter where she finally found her forev-er family. We received word from Blue’s family and are happy to report she is no longer in pain,

and that she is loving her new

Mark meets Bandit in first embrace

Stray dog gets expensive surgery thanks to donors

Bandit & Mark: A match created by the stars

Birthday surprise goes viral

Bandit’s Story —Boy Meets Dog

made me cry!” and “That’s the hap-piest thing I’ve seen in a long time”. The video opens with Mark, just home from base, opening a birthday present from Jamie and suddenly discovering a box of Milk Bones. “WHAT!?!?!?” he incredulously explains. Jamie is giggling in the background and can barely contain her delight. Mark, realizing she’s successfully adopted the dog he’d been wishing for, says “Where?....where, where where?” and he is filmed rushing down the hall. He opens the door to find Bandit in his kennel. Hands cover-ing his mouth in joy, Mark intro-duces himself to Bandit, “hey bud-dy” and slowly opens the kennel. For three seconds, Bandit holds judgment, but as Mark holds out his arms, Bandit’s tail wags vigorously back and forth and the two em-brace. From that moment on, the family has been inseparable. Jamie sent along the other pictures you see here, including the photo you see on our cover—which our Facebook readers selected from five others as their favorite. Bandit, Jamie, and Mark, thank you for sharing your story with us. And we hope you will continue to let us know how Bandit is getting along.

Blue wears protective collar to heal

Clinic Manager reaches 20 year milestone!

life. She recently attended dog train-ing classes and re-ceived top honors as a graduate of the program. We are frequently adding “wishes” to our Wishlist online, and in fact you’ll see several other Wish-list success stories covered here in our newsletter. Please, when you’re online next, visit www.ramonahumanesociety.org, click to see our current “wishes”, and help out even more needy animals.

Trinket after surgery. She’s already enjoying a pain free life Trinket was a stray kitten who was brought to the shelter recently. She was pretty banged up. The shelter staff cleaned her up and immediately she started purring. But they realized something was still not right. Trinket had trouble using her front leg. The shelter vets determined the poor thing suf-fered a severe break and nerve damage. Alt-hough making Trinket better would be ex-pensive, we knew that our community of cat lovers would come through. We asked for help on our shelter Wishlist online and in less than four hours we had covered her surgery costs. Trinket is happy and soon off to a new forever home.

Stray kitten gets wish to walk

Trinket is Saved Jethro the Basset Hound finds angels DO exist

Dog Meets His Angels

Blue Gets Surgery

By all accounts, Jethro the Basset Hound should not be

alive. A stray who had wandered out into traffic and was hit

by a truck. He was unable to move as oncoming traffic sped

by. His first angel, Dani Quaid rushed to his aid. She was

opening up Exstatic Hair Salon on State and Ramona when

all of a sudden heard brakes squeaking, a small bang then a

loud howl. Jethro was laying in the road. She quickly ran

into the street into oncoming traffic and redirected the cars

so Jethro wouldn't get hit again. The dog “seemed to be in a

lot of pain so without moving him around too much, I

picked him up out of the street and brought him over to the

grass and into the shade” Dani said. She gave him some wa-

ter and helped calm him down so he wouldn't go into shock.

That’s when a second angel passed by. A young man

stopped and was able to take Jethro to the Ramona Humane

Society to get the help he needed. The RHS angels sprang

into action, immediately getting him pain medication and

rest. The vets checked him over and saw the situation was

serious with a broken pelvis and broken leg. Repair would

be expensive. That’s where our online angels came into

play. The shelter posted a plea on our shelter Wishlist and

on Facebook. We received dona-

tions from around the U.S. and

were able to cover most of the

cost of Jethro’s surgery. We are

looking for a permanent home for

him now, but we are certain it

won’t be long before this guy gets

a home.

Blue is happy now!

Jethro after his accident

RHS Pets Get Around! We are always amazed to hear how far our pets travel after they are adopted or rescued. We had a cat recently fly out to a beautiful new home in Idaho

and we recently heard from Aly-sha MacDonald who adopted Rusty last year and is now in Alberta Canada where Rusty plays all day with his canine friends & forever family.

Alysha MacDonald and Rusty in the beautiful woods of Alberta, Canada

Thank you to all the friends and family who remember loved ones by donating to the Ramona Humane Society. If

you would like to honor the life of a loved one or family pet, consider a donation to the Ramona Humane Society

and help homeless animals in our community. Contact the shelter for more information.

Bud & Sami Bob & Peggy Horn Buddy Patricia McKevitt Magoo Diane Meidinger Chelser & Clarmaine Ann Godbout Ringo, Tillie, Reo & Lucy Janie Hovious

In Memory of People Ramona Wright The Wright Family Marcella Hill Pauline Fluent Al Swallow Janis Swallow Tom & Marilyn Lanoue George & Margaret Lunsford Bret Williams Dianne Jackson Bob Knight Betty Fetchko Pearl Morvay Ruth Morvay Roger Brown Melba Brown Eric Medlan Edward Batoe Robert May Linda Hunter Donna Barlow Sharil Barlow Art & Beth Diane Meidinger Jackie Schroder Ruth Baker Lenard Reppart J.R. & Anna Copper

In Honor of Pets Savannah Fran Davis Benji Louise Palmer Oliver, Mary Catherine & Coco J.M Swallow Smokey The Rapp Family Tina & Boydie Janie Houvious Brittany Umberto & Jodee Lopez Taffy Martha Reiman All of our Dogs Ann Copeland Fritz, Soozee, Willie & Atticus Jan Ritt Reverend Mel Ryman Patricia McKevitt

Adoption Success Story

Last summer, Lindsey Contreras adopted Mickey, a 3 month old male black kitten who had suffered some major trauma on the streets as a stray. He was being slowly nursed back to health by our staff, but it was clear Mickey had been very sick and his prospect for adoption seemed slim. Additionally, black cats and dogs are the hardest to adopt. Lindsey told us, “I didn’t know what I was looking for when I went in, but one of your lovely staffers recommended him to me when I asked her if she had any favorites. Boy am I glad I asked!” Mickey has been a perfect addition to the Contreras home, and

although there was an adjustment pe-riod, he and their 8 year old cat are now quite fond of each other. Lind-sey says Mickey is playful, curious, loving, and very friendly. Everyone who meets him loves him almost in-stantly and she loves coming home and getting his welcoming me-ows. The Contreras family is so im-pressed with how patient and playful Mickey was when meeting their niec-es (1 and 2 years old). Even when they played a little too rough, Mickey never scratched or bit them—which reminds us to tell you all that you should always keep a close eye on children when they are playing with your pets. Coach them on how to be gentle and careful to avoid any bites or scratches. Mickey loves to play fetch and wrestle with his stuffed ani-mals, which—according to Lindsey—totally satiates their need for a dog! Thanks for treating Mickey so well.

City Employee’s Dog Sends

“Thank You” Letter

out of my crate. I also have a sis-

ter, Derby, who I like to cruise

around with. She found our family

through RHS in 2009 and is pretty

much showing me the ropes. Most

days we hang out making sure the

property we live on is clear of

squirrels and rabbits. It's a pretty

busy life, but luckily I get plenty of

rest. Just wanted to let you know I

appreciate you helping me find my

family. I can't remember what it

was like without them. You do

good work! Thanks for giving me

a second chance! Sincerely, Rawly

Jensen.

What a terrific letter, and we are

overjoyed you have such a spec-

tacular family. Keep in touch

buddy...and tell your mom thank

you for teaching you to write!

In Memory of Pets Max Larry Jernegan Oscar Grace Andrews Shad, Todd, K.D., Precious, Oxide & Buddy Debi Lara Butch & Susie Jane Gibbons Amber Miriam Miller Pita & Lil Peet Andy & Johanna Wymaster Pussy Cat Hannah Rita Buchta Little Red & Spencer Lee Tana Stackle Bounder, Blue, Dylan & Spencer Elaine Brown Millie Carol Moon Bosco & Daisy Mitzi Albright My Girl April Fay Kroening Patty, Matty & Clarence Susan Bentley Sydney, Persephone, Zoe & Honey Kathy Dean Kitty & Angel Linda Smith Pepper & Laddie Judy Helberg Shannon Sandra Cotcamo Hanna Treasure Farm Dino, Sammy & Molly Joanne Roland

We always love to hear how our adopted animals are doing in their new forever homes. But we normally hear from the hu-mans not the pets! We received this delightful letter from Rawly Jensen who was adopted last November by Kristen Parinsky Jensen who is the City of Hemet Public Works Director. We thought we’d share Rawly’s letter with you:

Dear Ramona Humane-Society,

My name is Rawly and I got a

great family last November

while black Friday shopping. I

thought I'd share some pictures

from our adventures over the

last few months. I found my

people at Petsmart and they

looked at me so lovingly I

couldn't say no when they invit-

ed me home. I got to ride home

in the back seat, with Amanda

who's super cool and LOVES to

let me practice getting in and

Feebe, a long time shelter baby who be-longed to our shelter CEO Jeff Shepperd passed away last month. She was an angel and loved peo-ple so much. We miss you Feebe.

Rawly Jensen, RHS alum who has learned to write us a letter

Rawly Jensen and his human sister Amanda going home on the day he was adopted at RHS’s PetSmart Adoption center.

Rawly shares his sister’s bed.

Stray kitten finds purr-fect home

Little Mickey enjoying the sun

RHS Increasing Presence on Facebook benefits that social networks bring. Over the last few years, the growth of social media sites like Face-book, Twitter, Instagram and Pin-terest have skyrocketed with no signs of slowing down. With that in mind, we began paying more attention to posting rescues, adop-tion pleas, interactive games, vide-

Smart businesses today need to take advantage of EVERY possible outlet to get the word out about their ser-vices. Humane Societies are no dif-ferent. While we have always oper-ated an efficient and content rich website—check it out online at www.ramonahumanesociety.org we have been less focused on the

os, pet information, and pet pic-tures. As a result we are nearing 5000 fans and our posts are being shared and read by tens of thou-sands of people! We encourage all in our community to find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ramona.humane.society (note the periods between the words).

Special Recognition to Stephan & Katie Wider and other Fans for recognizing RHS 45th Birthday