Marvelous Melvin is a 5 year-old cat that has been at the shelter for just over one month.

The orange cat came in as an owner-surrender as his previous family was moving and unable to take pets to their new home, Mike Oiler, who has tended to the shelter’s cats for eight years, said.

Assistant Director of the Animal Shelter Society, Russ Denny said Oiler is very dedicated to the cats in the facility and can tell a person all the information they need to know about a particular cat off the top of his head.

When he began working with the shelter, Oiler said cats used to stay for about 14 to 16 months before they would get adopted. Today, Oiler said the cats that stay at the shelter the longest are typically there for four to six weeks.

Marvelous Melvin is up-to-date with his vaccinations and is available for adoption.

Events

Saturday, March 30 — Steve Foreman, Zanesville City Councilman and Assistant Superintendent of Zanesville City Schools, is having a book signing event at the Animal Shelter from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Foreman recently wrote a children’s book about a three-legged cat that was adopted from the shelter.

In accordance with Foreman’s book signing, the shelter will be offering a special on cat adoption fees all day Saturday. Anyone that adopts a cat on Saturday will pay $33 in adoption fees and receive a free bag of cat food.

Pre-purchased books may be brought in for signing or books can be purchased at the event. A portion of the proceeds from books purchased during the event will be donated back to the shelter. Cookies and punch will be available at the event.

There are currently about 50 cats available for adoption at the Animal Shelter.

Summer Jam, June 1 — Summer Jam is a large, family-friendly and dog-friendly event. The event is free and open to the public. There will be a variety or activities and vendors at the event.

Last year, the Animal Shelter brought it’s pet ID machine for owners to purchase identification tags for their pets. Vet technicians also offered low-cost micro-chipping services to people who did not have their dogs and cats micro-chipped.

“We always, always strongly recommend that (pet IDs),” Murray said as it’s one of the best precautions to take in case a pet becomes lost.

Murray said both of those services will be available at Summer Jam again for the 2019 event.

Many animal-related vendors will be present, as well as food trucks and activities like a celebrity dunk tank. Participating celebrities will be announced at a later date.

The annual Dog and Jog event happened last weekend on Saturday, March 23. This is the third year the Animal Shelter Society has benefited from the Zane State hosted event.

Murray said, in the past, about 50 percent of participants brought their dogs, whereas this year many more people were accompanied by their furry friends.

The first place finisher of the run was an 11 year-old girl who ran solo and the third place finisher was a runner accompanied by his dog.

Looking for fosters and volunteers

The shelter is always accepting of volunteer help, but there’s an extra push to get some more fosters and volunteers to help the animals.

There is a need for a variety of fosters including people who are willing to foster a mother cat or dog and their babies until the babies are old enough to be brought into the shelter.

In addition to fosters, the shelter is looking for some specialty volunteers to help train dogs with behavioral issues.

“Maybe you have a dog that’s a little nippy and, you know, and it’s for us we don’t want to adopt it out being that way,” Murray said. “We’d like to have a foster or a volunteer that comes in … that’s had some training and works with that dog to help curve that bad behavior.”

Not only do the dogs receive the benefits from interacting and socializing with volunteers and fosters, the person volunteering their time also reaps the benefit.

“Anytime you’re involved with a pet, there’s science that shows that you have a healthier lifestyle,” Murray said. “You’re getting more exercise. You’re having some responsibility so your stress level and those kind of things go down. And ultimately, at the end of the day, you may have helped save a dog’s life or an animal’s life.”

Fostering the pet partnered with a specialized volunteer is not required but is possible.

The training involved with becoming a specialized volunteer will begin in the next couple of months, although the time frame is not definitive as of the time of publication.

“Anything we can do that helps our animals get socialized is a wonderful thing, and gets them adopted quicker,” Murray said.

Anyone interested in volunteering — as a volunteer or a specialized volunteer — or fostering animals can call and or visit the shelter and speak with Jody Murray, Russ Denny or Brianna Bice, or send an email to Murray at assi@rrohio.com.