How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?

Hines is a homeless puppy.

He’s an 18 week old black Labrador retriever mix who lives in a small cage. He doesn’t have the luxury of running freely outside when he wants to.

He doesn’t have an owner or anyone to love him.

He isn’t a “man’s best friend”.

The only company Hines knows is the other barking dogs in the cages around him.Hines’s brother, Duncan, was one of the lucky ones. A week earlier, he was adopted. The people took his brother away and left Hines alone without a friend.

This is the life of a puppy in the Humane Shelter. This is a life that many animals who are just like Hines share.

Many dogs like Hines live at Four Footed Friends, a local no-kill shelter that gives temporary homes to dogs and cats.

The Four Footed Friends organization (FFF) began in March of 1982 in Blairsville, Pa.

It originally only kept cats. They were located in a trailer because of small funding, until finally they expanded.

The Four Footed Friends shelter takes pride in the way they treat their animals.

Each dog has their own large cage with volunteers constantly checking the water supply and food supply and keeping the cages clean.

The cats have an enormous room complete with scratching posts, chairs, beds and even a television playing The Lion King.

FFF is a no-kill shelter, which means they will keep their animals until they are adopted.

The Humane Society unfortunately does not have the room to do this or the funds.

The Humane Society is funded by the county. They are required to take in every dog they find, averaging to about 15 to 20 dogs per week.

“They used to do it that if a dog wasn’t adopted within three days, they would euthanize him,” says Connie Cramer, a manager of FFF. “Now, they only euthanize 80 percent. And that’s because the dogs are sick and could infect other dogs or they’ve gotten hit by a car and there isn’t anything left to do.”

The prices in FFF and the Humane Society are more affordable and reasonable than most pet stores, says Cramer.

The adoption fee for cats is 80 dollars and the fee for dogs is 100 dollars.

Most of these animals have been spayed or neutered and most have received their shots.

Many of these dogs are also already housebroken.

“People usually do not want to adopt because they want a certain kind of dog,” Cramer says. “Most people want purebreds, but they don’t realize that many shelters in fact do have these purebreds.”

So far in 2008, FFF in Indiana has given homes to 97 dogs. Since FFF was founded, they have given homes to nearly 2,700 dogs and cats.

Hines has a dream to be apart of that number.

For information on how to adopt Hines or any of his friends, please visit:

Indiana County Humane Society

Four Footed Friends