Mutts Rule

WALLA WALLA - After Lucy's passing early last week, we were keen on getting another dog but decided to look into adopting one instead of going to a breeder. That was after we had briefly considered the idea of getting a Lakeland Terrier (a cross between Lucy's breed, an Airdale, and our other dog, Snowy, a Fox Terrier) and found out the closest Lakeland Terrier breeder is well past Boise and charges $1,200 for a puppy. $1,200!?! You gotta be kidding me!

Hey, we thought, there are far too many unwanted mutts in the world already, so why not see if we can find one we like and help support the work of animal shelters.

Lucy had been a purebred with papers. At the time we got her, we were set on getting a dog of her breed because she was hypoallergenic and we knew she'd be good with Niko. He was just five then.

This time, with Niko being 12, we still needed a hypoallergenic dog Karen could handle, but we weren't as particular about the breed. So we checked the Web site of the Blue Mountain Humane Society - something we recommend to anyone in the Touchet Valley who wants to get a pet and can afford to make the long-term commitment. Or check in with Marilyn Stellwagen's Black Dog Rescue at Waitsburg Hardware & Mercantile. She and her volunteers place about 100 animals per year with households that want them. "Think of adopting an animal first," Sara Archer, executive director for the Blue Mountain Humane Society, recommends to pet lovers. Those who can't afford to own an animal or whose home is too small for one but still want a fix, "just come in and take a dog for a walk. Any contact is good." On the organization's Web site, one little dog caught our attention right away: Princess Leia, a pug-terrier mix. Nice and small. We were already partial to terriers, and we have close friends with a pug, so we knew their temperament. Karen pointed out another dog in the "adoptable dogs" column: Wizard, a more undefined looking terrier mix whose picture didn't float my boat, but there was only one way to be sure.

So we headed down to the shelter with Niko. We badly needed a doggie fix, even if neither prospect would work out. We had never been to the rescue center before. We were impressed. Even before we reached the front door, we were greeted by a small platoon of mostly young volunteers walking and playing with dogs. The shelter has a full-time staff of six, part-time staff of seven and 120 active volunteers who perform chores from walking, feeding, bathing, grooming and off-site adoption promotions (at such large stores like Petco) besides a number of office tasks like mailing, tracking reports of missing pets and washing the windows.

The center on East George Street, built seven years ago through a capital campaign and some long-term financing, is large and well thought-out. One side of the building is set aside for intake, the other for adoption, so the staff can observe and possibly treat incoming animals before they're made available to new homes.

The adoption area is very accessible, promoting easy contact between the animals and their prospective new "parents." The rooms for male and female cats almost feel like living rooms. It's easy to hang out with the felines and lose track of time. But we weren't there for the cats. Before we made it to the dog kennel, we learned that Princess had been picked up that morning for a home trial. We were out of luck. But Karen still wanted to see Wizard. Her instinct was right about him. His Web site picture did a poor job marketing his star quality. He was an immediate hit with all three of us. Wizard is a two-year-old, 15-pound terrier mix with probably a good dose of Jack Russell crossed with a somewhat mellower breed we haven't identified yet. He's brown with gray whiskers and white "socks" on each paw. He has a very lively, affectionate personality.

Voila, we were in business, and so was the shelter, which places 700 - 800 "companion animals" per year - about 400 dogs and 350 cats. Summer is a particularly busy time, and the bad economy has prompted a lot of households to give up their companions whose food and vet bills can add up. "There are more evictions, more job losses and so more 'owner surrenders,'" Archer said about pet owners who come into the shelter to give up their animals for adoption. "There's more need to rehome pets. We're buried." Sadly, not everyone chooses to pay the intake fee, and many pets are found as strays, still the largest population at the shelter. Some owners will drive north to the Waitsburg area to abandon their animals, which is how they end up in Stellwagen's care. Waitsburg and Dayton each have a contract with the Blue Mountain Humane Society to take up to 10 strays a year. That still leaves many other unwanted animals homeless. "A lot of dogs are dumped here," Stellwagen explained. "We know because we'll inevitably get a (anonymous) call a few days later from someone who wants to see if their animals made it into our store and how they're doing." Of the 526 animals the Blue Mountain Humane Society took in the first half of this year, 170 were reported found and returned to their owners, 208 were adopted, 53 were deemed unadoptable (beyond a certain time period) and 140 were transferred to shelters in bigger metropolitan areas where there is room for the pets and more demand for adoptions.

Archer and Stellwagen try to help encourage cash-strapped owners to keep their pets by providing food and medical care with community donations. The medical care is generously subsidized by veterinarians such as Kennie Reeves in Dayton and Charles Acock in Walla Walla. "We've been doing a lot of immunizations," said Stellwagen, whose cash jar on the counter is the main source of income for such care.

Back at the Humane Society, we signed Wizard out for a home trial. But before we left we discovered someone had brought in a litter of Labradoodle puppies (a cross between Standard Poodle and a Black Lab) and we found one of the male puppies with its black wavy coat absolutely irresistible.

While we were introduced to the pup, a staff member alerted us to the shelter's "special" through August: adopt one, get one free. How could we turn that down? To make this long story short, we decided to keep Wizard. He already feels like he's been here forever. And we're picking the puppy up on Wednesday after his operation. For more information, call Black Dog Rescue at 509-337-6671 or the Blue Mountain Humane Society at 509-529-5188 or visit: www.bluemountainhumane.org