Potomac Almanac

Potomac — Tippy was a black and white cat who the Montgomery County Humane Society estimated to be either eight or nine years old when he arrived there. Since he was far removed from being a kitten, Tippy didn't fit the profile of a traditionally adoptable animal.

But his personality charmed the MCHS employees.

"He was such a great cat that he was allowed to wander," said Howard White, director of external affairs for MCHS. "He sort of became the mascot of the place and had the run of everything. We all fell in love with Tippy."

White said that the Humane Society's CEO wanted to adopt Tippy, and had convinced her husband to come meet the cat. By the time the couple arrived at the shelter so that she could introduce her husband to Tippy, he had already been adopted.

"People don't always stop to think, 'Maybe my lifestyle will be better with an older, more sedate cat than a kitten," White said. "In some ways, Tippy was the least likely to be adopted and in some ways he was the best one to adopt."

The MCHS had previously been responsible for the county's animal shelter, but that partnership ended in March. Now, the MCHS is primarily concentrating on placing dogs and cats with families, although White said that the group does occasionally take in other small furries, such as rabbits.

According to the Humane Society of the United States 2013 Annual Report, 118,328 animals were cared for last year by the Humane Society and its affiliates, through disaster relief, cruelty interventions, wildlife rehab centers and more. But that number doesn't count the local rescue groups around the country who work to protect, shelter, and rehabilitate animals and adopt them out to homes, including many in the southern Maryland area.

PetConnect, a group based in Potomac, is a mixed-breed rescue group who, like MCHS, focuses on dogs and cats. PetConnect's mission, according to Director of Operations Catherine Edwards, is to pull animals from shelters where they are in danger of being euthanized.

"We started as a grassroots effort in 2005," said Edwards. "We helped with Hurricane Katrina efforts, and we pull from local shelters as well as other states."

MCHS has a no-kill philosophy, according to White. He says that the Humane Society works with other shelters and groups in the area, taking dogs and cats that the other shelters don't have space for and placing them into adoptive families or foster homes. MCHS currently has between 18 and 20 staff members and is looking for volunteers to foster animals.

"Spring means kittens and puppies," White said. "People don't have their cats fixed, and suddenly as a result, you have a litter of kittens and you don't know what to do with them. We would really love people who are willing to take them while we look for forever homes."

PetConnect has a foster program as well, but four years ago, the group was given a five-acre farm by an anonymous benefactor. The farm, Muddy Paws Farm in Mount Airy, is home to many of the dogs that PetConnect takes in.

"We have seven to 12 dogs up there, on constant rotation," Edwards said. She said that the Muddy Paws caretaker, Tammy Mathis, has experience as a vet tech, and several area high school students with an interest in a veterinary career volunteer at the farm each summer.

PetConnect is 100 percent donation driven, according to Edwards. The group doesn't receive any funding from the government, and Edwards said that veterinary bills are its biggest expense. She said that PetConnect rescued a shih tzu named Buzz from a high kill animal shelter. When Buzz started coughing, Mathis took him to the vet, where he was diagnosed with an upper respiratory cough and was given an antibiotic. Over the period of a couple of days, Buzz's cough developed into pneumonia, which required critical care. Buzz's vet bills added up to about $3,500. Edwards said that Buzz is now on the road to recovery and to being adopted by a family.

Edwards said that PetConnect pulled about 750 animals to safety last year, including adopting out 448 dogs and 221 cats.

According to White, MCHS tries to set up rabies clinics in economically disadvantaged areas of Montgomery County at least once a month, and they try to host microchip clinics once a month as well.

"Everybody should have vaccines. Everybody should have microchips," White said. "Microchips are like magic. If your dog or cat goes missing, the shelter can contact you."

Both MCHS and PetConnect claim that they are in need of volunteers to foster animals.

"The more fosters we have, the more animals can be saved," Edwards said. "If we work together, we can do more than anyone working individually."

For more information or to volunteer with the Montgomery County Humane Society, visit mchumane.org or call 240-252-2555.

For more information or to volunteer with PetConnect, visit petconnectrescue.org or call 1-877-838-9171.