11/10/2025
Humane Society of Elmore County News – 10 Nov ‘25
It is amazing that it seems we were all just complaining about the unending heat, and now we have freeze warnings this week! AND Thanksgiving is only three weeks away! Where, oh where does the time go? All of this means that if you are planning on traveling for Thanksgiving, we sure hope you have made pet care arrangements for your pets as most kennels, veterinarians & pet sitters may already be booked for the holiday.
For those utilizing a pet sitter please make sure they not only care about your pet, but that they are reliable and can reach you in the event of an emergency. We know of far too many instances where the pet sitter never actually checked on the pet, or the pet got loose on day one and the pet sitter not only never looked for it, also never notified their area Shelter or the owner. So please pick your in-home pet sitter carefully.
To help keep your pet safe at home with a pet sitter, leave printed instructions for your pet’s care and emergency contact info for you or someone else if you will be out of contact. Ensure your pet sitter knows how to contact your Veterinarian and that you have worked out any potential emergency veterinary payment issues with your pet sitter or your Vet. Giving some written instructions as to lifesaving extent and credit card limits to your Veterinarian can also help immensely in the event time is critical and you cannot be reached. Having a rabies tag, custom ID Tag (we can make those at our shelter in a few minutes for $10) or microchip can get your pet reunited quickly and having a good photo of your pet(s) on your phone greatly helps if you need to post about a lost pet or show people proof that a found pet is yours.
Make sure gates are LOCKED as better for your pet sitter to have a bit of inconvenience going through the house or garage than not securely closing a gate. And do some ‘pet proofing’ of your house and yard for those things that may get a bored pet into trouble.
Make sure you have plenty of pet food on hand and put extra, large water containers full of water inside and outside your house ‘just in case.’ If your pet is on any medications make sure to have enough on hand so they don’t run out in the middle of your vacation or ‘beyond’ as never know when a flight delay, or car trouble, or illness might change your ‘getting home’ plans.
If your pet is outside, make a plan with your pet sitter if the temperatures drop to dangerous lows to ensure your pet’s safety and that its water supply does not freeze.
In the event your pet escapes while you are gone, impress on your pet sitter the importance of reporting the missing pet immediately! If here in Elmore County call us at 334-567-3377, email us at [email protected] and post pics of your lost pet to “Lost & Found PETS in Elmore County Alabama and any number of Lost & Found Pet pages for our tri-county area. Make sure to post a phone number in your post as it is very frustrating to have a lost or found pet and get no response to your Facebook post. Many a lost pet has been brought to our shelter the same day it got out, yet the owner waited days or more to ever contact us. Nothing we love doing more than reuniting lost pets with their owners.
Taking extra care to find a reliable pet sitter and seeing to the details noted above will not only help keep your pet safe at home while you are gone but will help you relax a bit more since you won’t be worried about your beloved pet(s).
