call our Love Hotline at 222-2111!

Then you can sing to your feline valentine…

My furry Valentine, sweet comic pal of mine
You make me smile with my heart
Your looks are laughable, so photographable
Yes, you’re my favorite work of art

Is your greeting never bleak?
It’s me you always seek
When you meow, it’s never weak
It’s from the heart!

So don’t change your fur for me
Come here and purr for me
say furry Valentine, stay!
Each day is Valentine’s day

Leash = Safe = Happy!

How do pets with homes end up at Stafford Animal Shelter? Any loose pet is at risk of being in an accident – or causing one – and being a nuisance in the community. For this reason dogs are not allowed off leash except in designated dog park areas in the City of Livingston and fines may be levied for failure to restrain.

However, contrary to common belief, animal control officers do not pick up any loose dog or cat they come across. They don’t have the resources to “catch” or “arrest” the many pets at large and their role is limited to responding to citizens’ complaints or removing pets from harm’s way. Their function is to protect public health and safety, minimize human/animal conflicts, promote responsible pet ownership and humane animal treatment, and respond to animals in danger.

While reclaiming pets brought to the Shelter may be inconvenient, surely it’s preferable to them being injured or killed while at large. Every time a pet is unrestrained the life and death roulette begins: is this the time they are in – or cause – an accident? For instance, statistically ‘outdoor’ cats live half as long as cats kept indoors (and they are at risk not just from accidents, but from diseases and other animals.) Local animal control officers pick up an average of three dead pets a week from Livingston streets and there are even more in Park County. While it’s tragic when an animal is hurt, many don’t consider the greater tragedy of people killed avoiding hitting roaming pets.

Another factor that few acknowledge is that, while our pets may behave well at home, we neither know nor see what they do when they roam – whether getting into garbage cans, defecating on public walkways and private property, conflict with other pets or wildlife, creating traffic hazards, or threatening a person – pets’ behavior away from home is often quite different, and problematic, compared to their behavior at home. Unfortunately, people are often embarrassed that their animals are at large or a nuisance and automatically deflect the blame onto someone else. 

A majority of pets are brought into the Shelter not by animal control officers but citizens – sanctioned by law to do so – concerned about an at-large animal’s safety or as a last resort with nuisance or abandoned animals. If the animal has a collar, current identification chip or tags then the owners can be immediately notified. If not, the Shelter has to rely on owners contacting the Shelter and identify their pet. Tragically, few look for their missing cats; 10% of the cats brought in as strays were reclaimed last year compared to 80% of the stray dogs being reclaimed.

Another misconception about reclaiming a pet is that Stafford Animal Shelter sets the fees. Reclaim fees are set by the City and County and the Shelter only receives a percentage of these fees. The sooner a pet is reclaimed, the less the boarding fee will be. If an animal is brought in from the City of Livingston, it is $15 to pick up a pet plus $10 per day and the Park County fees are $16.50 per day plus boarding fees.

By law, an animal becomes the property of the Shelter within five days so they can be adopted rather than housed indefinitely. If a stray isn’t reclaimed early on, it can be readopted but the Shelter has to comply with minimum legal requirements including the owner getting the pet’s rabies shot from a veterinarian, landlord permission if renting, and any regional laws capping the number of pets per household. The only reason a pet would be euthanized is if they are a definite danger to the community or suffering from an untreatable illness. Stafford Animal Shelter does not euthanize for length of stay; breed; disability; age; expensive medical needs; dog, cat or livestock aggression; or even overcrowded conditions.

Did you know that the dog and cat licensing fees in the City of Livingston are crucial in funding an Animal Control Officer position as well as supporting the volunteer-based low-income spay/neuter and immunization clinics and vouchers in Livingston? The primary reason for licensing is the ability to notify owners as soon as possible of lost pets and secondarily as documented proof of current rabies shots (if the animal is in a confrontation it avoids expensive isolation as well as an untreatable disease.) Additionally, having a cap on the number of pets per household and higher fees for unspayed or neutered pets (equivalent to a business license since the person is in the business of breeding pets) gives the City the ability to respond to nuisance and abandoned animal complaints and hoarding situations.

Unfortunately, there are no such pet laws in the County which leads to a number of unresolved – and increasing – problems. Allowed to have unlimited pets, hoarders frequently move to the County and create expensive, inhumane public health and safety problems. Without basic pet laws, incidents of nuisance animals, breeding cat colonies and animals suffering in inhumane conditions or abandoned escalate unchecked. Problematically, without an animal-related income stream from licensing, the County has no budget to fund a dedicated Animal Control Officer to respond to these problems.

If you live in Park or Sweetgrass County, please talk to your commissioners about the importance of basic licensing requirements and the ensuing benefits of a funded Animal Control Officer able to enforce nuisance, breeding colony, and inhumane animal situations. 

To prevent pets from being brought to the Shelter: neuter or spay, assure they always have identification tags or chips, and keep them safely contained so that their – and the public’s – wellbeing is not compromised.

Scarlett gives check to Executive Director Vicki Blakeman

Stafford Animal Shelter salutes Scarlett Saile and her friend Samantha Nelson for raising $100 for our homeless pets by selling hot chocolate in the cold wind outside of Albertson’s for two days in December. That’s hard work and we so appreciate their efforts and great generosity. We are very inspired by the passion and creativity of the young philanthropists who support the Shelter. Thanks Scarlett and Samantha!

Kayce and Farrari

ps. The spelling of her name changed because I was adopted also, and my biological family’s last name is Farrar. So now she is even closer in my heart! She shares something special with me, and found a forever family too!

2 year old Sage

4 year old Ema

Patty Martin of Paradise Valley has been the Guardian Angel and Matchmaker for dozens of hard to place or long stay pets since 2009 at Stafford Animal Shelter. Blind Ema and her guide daughter Sage are her current project. About once a month, Patty will contact the Shelter to ask who has special needs, who’s been at the Shelter longest – basically who needs her help the most. She then advertises regionally about the chosen pet, takes all inquiries about them, screens the homes – sometimes even delivering the pet – and pays their adoption fee. If the first home doesn’t work out, she’ll keep trying until a forever home can be found; in one case it took six homes to find the right fit! Since Stafford Shelter does not euthanize for length of stay, age or medical needs – many of the pets she has placed may very well still be at the Shelter waiting for homes if not for Patty’s good work. Stafford Animal Shelter – and the many pets she’s placed – are SO grateful for her hard work. Read the current Bozeman Chronicle article and see the video here! You can help by making a donation to the “Patty Placement Fund” to help place special needs pets in the future.