montgomery-county-humane-society

Lucky Valentines

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 19:54:34 GMT

Valentine’s Day is always a good time to reflect on the love in our lives.

But animal people like us are truly lucky – in addition to the people we love and who love us, we also give and receive love from the wonderful furry, feathered or scaled friends we’ve invited into our lives. Only we know how special that love can be. It’s rewarding, mutual, unconditional, and forever. And that’s something to celebrate!

Those of us who live with dogs know that their love is right there, in the open, all the time. They’re thrilled every time we walk in the door, every time we reach for the leash, every time we toss their favorite ball. Pure joy, all the time – up for whatever we’re up for, whenever we’re up for it. What better way to show their love than to appreciate us every minute of every day? We’re lucky.

Cats are more circumspect, but their love is just as real. I’m a lifetime cat owner, but I’m rarely greeted at the door by a show of overwhelming joy. Instead, they show up eventually, one by one, rub against my legs, chirp. Mostly, they want their dinner. But later, it’s the begging to be picked up, the circling for a game of toy-toss on the stairs, the strategic competition for space on my lap, or the simple head-butt when I least expect it that says ‘I love you’. Lucky, indeed.

While we celebrate this week with cards and candy and dinners, let’s also pause for a moment to hug our furry (or feathered, or scaled) Valentines, and appreciate what they give us every day – love that is real, profound and forever, and that makes life better every day.

Yes, we’re the lucky Valentines.

In Our Hearts Forever

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 15:52:24 GMT

A memorial to Shadow the Office Cat

Everyone who has loved a pet knows the feeling. Something happens to its health, slowly or suddenly, and they are faced with agonizing decisions about how best to help them. Sometimes, that help involves the awful finality of saying goodbye.

We receive calls from pet owners who are agonizing over this very situation and potential decision.

We listen, we understand their pain, and we try to help them process what they’re feeling and facing as compassionately as we can. While we can’t really give advice, we know that sometimes a grieving pet owner simply wants to talk, or make peace with a decision that, perhaps along with their veterinarian’s recommendation, they believe they need to make.

Here at MCHS, we recently experienced such a loss of our own. Our dear Shadow, a feisty black cat who was returned to us for the fifth time in the fall of 2024, became our office cat. He didn’t take to everyone, but those who understood him enjoyed his quirky company, his opinions, and his reprisals if we violated one of his funny little rules. He lived in my office, away from the other cats (whom he wouldn’t tolerate), and he was content here. Shadow and I became co-pilots in the business of managing the humane society.

But now nearly ten years old, Shadow’s health issues gradually became worse, despite a regimen of medications, food and supplements. And suddenly, on January 23, his condition took a turn for the worst. He spent Friday night in the hospital, but he didn’t respond to their emergency treatments. As his official owner (I adopted him on Christmas Day, 2024), I was suddenly and unexpectedly faced with that devastating, heartbreaking decision.

Almost as bad as the decision I had to make was finding a way to tell the MCHS team about our mutual loss. It was so sudden. And through many tears, I crafted a text message. The responses came immediately, heartbroken replies, broken heart emogies, and shared memories of Shadow. Then came the photos. Everyone had photos of Shadow. It was wonderful to see them, and to be reminded of how much he meant to us all.

And when we posted Shadow’s memorial on social media, our extended MCHS family responded with such heartwarming messages of sympathy. It was another beautiful reminder that we all love these wonderful animals, and that sometimes, even we at MCHS grieve a personal loss.

We’re all in this animal-loving world together. Thank you for sharing the journey with us.

The Challenges of Snow

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 19:21:50 GMT

We were hit with a snowstorm more than a week ago, and it’s still with us.

I’ve lived my whole life in the DC area, and I’ve seen some snows, of course. But this one has really been a challenge.

In this area, we haven’t dealt with a significant snow in a few years, and our typical temperatures melt it pretty quickly.
So this snow’s accumulation, its ice-layer-on-top-of-snow-layer, and the prolonged freezing temperatures, all make it different and more challenging in many ways.

Driving to work, I’ve dealt with the sudden disappearing lanes, the folks bundled up and waiting for a bus by standing in a busy lane of traffic, and the glaciers flying off the tops of nearby trucks. But I am most struck by the dogs and their owners just trying to take walks in this altered universe.

The dogs I’ve seen in my travels look – I don’t know – concerned? What on Earth happened to their yards, their neighborhoods, their walking routes, their favorite smells, and their go-to lampposts? They’re out on their walks, many sporting coats, sweaters and booties, navigating the new world of narrow or un-shoveled sidewalks, four-foot, icy mountains at crosswalks, and detours everywhere.

I haven’t noticed much wildlife since the snow, so I assume they have their own ways of coping, but I did see a young squirrel run across the road, only to face an ice mountain on the other side. I stopped and waited while it got up the nerve to jump onto the mountain and continue on its way.

Watching the animal world deal with the snow is a reminder that what happens in the world happens to us all. As this winter proceeds, and as spring eventually comes, we’re in good company.