By Lynn Sanders
Sanders is the vice president, Humane Society Of Central Alabama

The Humane Society of Central Alabama (HSCA) Adoptable Dog Program at the Selma Animal Shelter continues to be a success.

We love when families come in and say” I want to meet the dog that was in the paper,” or “Do you still have the dog we saw the picture of at the library?”

So many great dogs have found homes because of the many businesses that allow us to promote the dogs in their establishments either in person or in pictures. This Saturday, Aug. 1, is the first Saturday and the shelter will be open from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. to give people an extra day to come meet the animals.

Because of the continued success of the program, we are now excited to announce something extra we are eligible to add to our Adoptable Dog Program.

Every dog adopted will now have 30 days of free pet insurance through Pet First.

HSCA is now partnering with Selma’s Perfect Pals, a program that vets and promotes the cats for adoption through the shelter. Because of this partnership, each cat adopted will also qualify for the free 30 days of Pet Insurance.

We are looking into improving two of the outside run areas to give the dogs more things to do while outside and give people an outside area to visit with the dogs.

This would be a great area for people not ready or able to have a dog right now to enjoy spending time playing with the dogs. The inside cat room is already a great place for people that want to come and visit with the cats.

We are also looking at ways to offer an inside area for the dogs and people to visit when the weather is not suitable for outside time.

We are hoping to offer this opportunity to local nursing homes once the areas are ready.

If you would like to volunteer with one of these programs, we like to match your skills to the needed area.

Maybe you are a whiz on the computer, or take great pictures, like to walk dogs, or sit and play with cats, kittens and small dogs. Maybe you are a great fund raiser and have lots of great ideas.

You may be someone with a little extra time and could go around to the local business and keep the flyers updated.

There are so many opportunities to help the dogs and cats.

Of course donations for vet care, leashes and collars and training items are always needed.

To volunteer, contact me at 431-0476.

Donations to the programs can be made at Selma Animal Hospital on Cahaba Road, or mailed to HSCA P.O. Box 511, Selma Alabama, 36702.