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Happy Tails

The happiest part of our work is seeing the love between people and their pets, and knowing a pet has made it home. "Happy Tails" is where we try to share that feeling, because these "tails" wouldn't have happy endings without you. Whether you're an adopter, donor, volunteer, sponsor, social media follower, or friend, thank you for helping to put smiles on faces.

Please enjoy photos of adopted dogs, cats, and small animals, happy in their homes, as well as the profile photos of pets who have recently been adopted. Thank you for being a part of our pet-loving community.

If you've adopted from CCHS and would like to tell us about how your cat, dog, or critter is doing, we would love to hear your own "happy tail"! Whether you adopted one week or one decade ago, your pet is an important part of your story, and ours.

Share an adoption update with our team, and we may publish it here, on social media, or in newsletters. We may also post them in the shelter, or as updates for our staff and volunteers. We're looking forward to seeing our friends again, happy at home (and we know you have the pictures to prove it!).

Pixel (Castiel)

We love getting updates, especially when families really take the time to share how a pet is doing. Recently, we got a really good look into how Pixel (we called him "Castiel" here) is settling in and joining his family. It was such a thoughtful and thorough response that we wanted to share it all with you! His adopters shared their stories in Spanish, and we've published them here as written.

If you don't speak Spanish, and you don't have a preferred translator, we would encourage you to read this PDF of their submission, translated by Google.

What drew you to your pet, at the shelter or online?
Que era pequeñito

Describe your pet's behavior when they first came home:
Al principio estaba un poco tímido

How have they grown?
Para el refugio, su nombre es Castiel, pero para nosotros, es Pixel. Nuestro bebé canino ya hace pipi encima de los tapetes de pañal. Estoy tratando de crear una rutina para que después de ciertas actividades él busque el pañal solito.

What are some of their favorite things?
Le gusta sentarse encima de las refilas de la calefacción porque siempre está saliendo aire calientito por allí. También me he dado cuenta que le gusta verse en el espejo, aunque al principio se asustaba, ahora le gusta porque él piensa que está jugando con otro perrito, cuando en realidad es su propio reflejo.

What sort of adventures have they been having with you?
Mi bebé canino aprendió a subir las escaleras del departamento al tercer día. Me sorprendió mucho verlo arriba. Por ahora el solo se sabe subir, aún no ha aprendido a bajar, por lo que lo tengo que bajar cargadito.

What has your adopted pet taught you about animals?

Que los animales son una bendición, que necesitan mucho amor, respeto, paciencia y protección.
La Familia de Pixel

Is there anything you want to share with our team?
Mis más sinceros agradecimientos a todos quienes forman parte del refugio, porque me han entregado lo más lindo que tengo junto a mi.

Lennox (PJ) and Sadie (Nessie)

It's always a comfort to know about a pet's happy life in their home, and the "happy tails" that their families can share about them, even in grief. Over the holidays, we also received the news of some of our adoption alums passing away. While these moments are sad, we know that pets have an immeasurable impact on our lives and hearts, and we at CCHS are so happy to have been a part of these stories:

Lennox

Lennox (at CCHS we called her "PJ") was adopted in 2016 and lived almost ten years with her loving adoptive family. When they shared the news about her passing, her family said, "I'm ever grateful for you guys bringing her to me...She was one of the best parts of my life".

Her family gave her a life of adventure, moving to different states and traveling across the country, and we know the family who had to relinquish her would be happy to hear it! When she was first brought to the shelter, Lennox's relinquisher told us she would thrive in a home that lets her be "an independent lady", and she found that independence and adventure in her adoption.

This snuggly tortie will be missed by all the family and friends she made in her travels.

Sadie

When they shared her passing, her family wrote, "from the moment we met Sadie she was very attached to us and just wanted affection." And for over ten years, they gave her a life of love. Sadie ("Nessie" at the shelter) enjoyed car rides, trips to the park, and games of ball with her family. Opportunities that she could never have had in the shelter, or on the streets, where she had been found by animal control before coming to CCHS.

Her family also shared that "[Sadie taught us that] every animal deserves love, and they become part of your family." And we couldn't agree more. Sadie is very missed.

Thank you to both of these families, for giving each of these pets such wonderful, happy lives.

Pepper Ann

When Pepper Ann (just "Pepper" at the shelter) was adopted in March 2013, it was due to her "big smile, and great style" according to her family. They sent a copy of her original CCHS profile photo, and a video of her from this summer.

Almost 13 years later, she is still rocking her signature look and greeting everyone with a sunny welcome. "We call [bandanas] her 'jewelry,' and whenever we change it she runs to show everyone in the house," they shared. "She is the best girl, and I'm grateful for her, every day. Thank you!"

What a lovely lady!

Want to see more pets at home? We'll update this page periodically, with new photos and stories. You can also catch an occasional "happy tail" on our Facebook or Instagram.

Plus, our monthly donors receive even more happy dogs, cats, or critters to their inboxes every month, to thank them for their support!

!Notes about Happy Tails Formatting!

This section is not visible on the page and is for our reference only. Each pet's feature should be formatted differently within their own story, to keep visual interest on the page and keep it from appearing repetitive. However, the overall formatting of the page should remain consistent, as described below.

On this page, please do not post photos with human faces, !!especially children!!

Here, we refer to the pet owners only as "the family", "the adopters", and "the relinquishers". Keep it plural, even if the adopter reached out as a single. Please don't use names.

Videos can be added by uploading them to Canva and embedding them with an iframe. Please ensure you either mute the audio, or listen to it thoroughly, all the way through, to ensure there is no revealing information, swearing, inflammatory opinions, etc. from any humans present.

Lines should be added before every pet name. Do not end the page with a line.

Paragraph Block. Style is Large Text (underlined)

Photos and text about the pet's story, in any grid or layout you think looks good. In terms of formatting, try to switch it up visually, story to story, if you can.

If the pet was renamed, the title of the section should be "Current Name (Original Name)". In the copy, the first time they're named write it as: Name at Home ("Name at shelter" at the shelter) or (here he was called "Name at Shelter"), etc, and then moving forward, only refer to them by their new name. If quoting a volunteer or staff favorite write up that uses the shelter name, replace it with [Name at Home]. If quoting the family do not refer to the pet by their shelter name, even if it's the first mention of their name in the text. UNLESS you are directly quoting the family

For example:

Penny (Mrs. Lincoln)

Penny ("Mrs. Lincoln" at the shelter) was a volunteer favorite. Here's what Volunteer had to say about her: "I always look forward to coming to see [Penny] during my shifts!" At the shelter, Penny loved playing with her mouse toys, and she still does. Her adopters said "We loved Mrs. Lincoln immediately and couldn't wait to get her home. We call her Penny now..." etc

If the story features multiple pets, it should also include the shelter names (when applicable), and should not use an ampersand.

For example:

Georgia and Peach (Carolina)

"Georgia and Peach are the lights of my life," wrote their adopters. At the shelter, Peach (then called "Carolina") and Georgia.... etc