Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning. Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest today is Christian Marshall. She's Marketing and Communications coordinator
at the Connecticut Humane Society. Hi.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hi, good morning, Alison.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
I'm great.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
How are you fantastic?
Speaker 1 (00:15):
You've got to be my favorite guest ever. I'm so excited.
So you're from the Connecticut Humane Society. Let people know
what the mission is for those who really don't know
about it.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
So, the Connecticut Humane Society was founded in eighteen eighty
one by Gertrude oh Lewis. She was seventeen at the time,
and the mission was to help all animals. Right now,
one of our missions is to keep pets in homes
with their families. So we have incredible programs that I'll
be happy to list for you today and just incredible
ways that we are sticking to our mission.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
You brought a nice little baby. I call them babies
today for babies. You brought Rue in tell us about Rue.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Rue is a two and a half year old male
guinea pig, orange and white. He is a very chunky
and cuddly guinea pig. He's very calm sitting here on
his yellow blanket.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
I can see his little face looking through.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
He hears it's talking about him. He's like, okay, is
it my turn? Is it my turn?
Speaker 1 (01:17):
So Rue came to the Connecticut U Maine Society. How
what happened?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Well, his owner unfortunately fell on hard times and wanted
Rue to have the best care possible. So Ru came
to the Connecticut Humane Society earlier this month.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
What does he eat?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
So? Guinea pigs love to eat their vegetables, So you
can have fresh celery, you can have fresh carrots at CHS.
We actually have a garden outside and our shelter manager
will take the vegetables and we'll feed them to the
guinea pigs.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
How smart is that?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Isn't that incredible?
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Who thought of that? Wow?
Speaker 2 (01:51):
That's a great, excellent team.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Let's talk more about real Yes, what kind of home
would be good for him?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Rue will be great in any type of home. He'll
do well with male guinea pigs as he is not neutered,
so it's best if he's kept away from female guinea
pigs at this time. But he would also be a
great companion for a first time pet owner. Guinea pigs
are quite easy to take care of.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
I think every child should have a pet, honestly, And
I heard a priest say once that every single person
should have a pet because it doesn't make them selfish,
it teaches them how to care for something else. So,
as you said, it's not a high maintenance pet to have.
So if parents were thinking this would be good for
my child, this would be great.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yes, it would be. A roo would be an excellent
first time pet. Ru loves to snuggle to you, right
up on your chest.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
So my children had guinea pigs, They had snakes, they
had everything you could possibly think of in the world.
For people who don't know, though, what do you do
for a guinea pig? Where do they sleep? How do
they eat? All of that stuff?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Right? So, guinea pigs can be in an enclosure with
care fresh betting. They have their own plastic igloos that
they love to hang out in. Guinea Pigs also popcorn
when they're happy, so it's kind of like a jump
and they also give these cute little squeals when they're
happy as well, so they'll do well with all of
(03:15):
those things. And of course plenty of guinea pig treats.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
And again he can't be around any girls because they multiply.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yes, and quickly.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
What is their lifespan?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Like guinea pigs can live anywhere from six months to
five years.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
If you have like a male guinea pig and he
needs a companion, this would be perfect absolutely. How do
people find out more about him or get to see
him or adopt him?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Right? So you can learn more about ru at ct
humane dot org slash adopt great and there you'll find
all of the adoption benefits and fees for adopting your
first pet.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
So you have an event coming up on January twenty ninth.
It's a virtual trivia night.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yes, super excited. It's one of our pet Talks of
the month, put together by our wonderful community outreach team.
So it's a pet talk virtual trivia night, and that
takes place on Wednesday, January twenty ninth from seven to
eight thirty pm. It's for all ages. Everyone's welcome and
how does that work?
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Do they go to the website when it's virtual?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
So it's virtual and you can learn more about it
at ctthumane dot org slash Trivia Night And it's through
zoom as well, and so all of the questions will
be sent ahead of time as far as I know.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
But it's not on Facebook or any other social media.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
You'd have to buy tickets and all.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Of the proceeds would benefit the Humane Society.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
All of the proceeds would support the pets.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Tell me about the programs that you have.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
So we have incredible community outreach programs. We have our
Pet food Pantry, which keeps pets in homes as well.
Sometimes owners might have a difficult time with providing for
their pet and so they would reach out to the
Connecticut Humane Society and we would provide them with different
types of food as part of that program.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
At the food pantry. Is it for cats and dogs? Yes? Okay, absolutely?
And where is that located?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
So it's located at any of our three locations and
you would have to sign up for it on our website.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
What are those three locations.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Newington, Waterford, and Westport.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
You have more programs, a youth program, oh, so many things.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
So many different programs with so many different benefits. So
our Patch program benefits the Girl Scouts as well. So
if your Girl Scout troupe is looking to be involved
with the Connecticut Humane Society, that's another great way and
that can also be found on our website.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
And then they get the patch. Yeah, that is a
great idea that.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I loved being a girl Scout and you would get
a patch.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
So and then we have adult programs as well.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yes, from our pet talks, which are educational. Each month
there is a different pet talk. So we've had pet
talks from understanding your dog's body language to rabbit care
one oh one things like that.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, I never even thought about rabbits. So we have
guinea pigs, cats, dogs, rabbits, ferrets, birds, and I think
it's great that we're teaching people not to be afraid
and how to handle things well, you know, for their benefits.
Of course, tell me some success stories that you've had.
I've heard about people adopting and the dog living fifteen
(06:27):
to twenty years old and just bringing them joy in
their life for the both of them.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Right. So, one of my favorite success stories is Pepa.
She is a Salt and Pepa dog pitbull and she
is the sweetest girl. She was in the shelter for
one hundred and thirty two days. Our wonderful medical team
worked with her for her allergies, and she was able
(06:54):
to go on TV for all of these different you know, promotions,
and she was just so cute. She did an excellent
she would wear her sweater and we recently did a
real over Christmas that's on our social media page where
she put her own ornament on the tree. And the
most satisfying thing that I was able to witness was
(07:14):
when she was adopted on New Year's Eve.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
I remember talking about her on air. I remember telling
people to go to our website. So yeah, by the way,
if you go to the River one five nine or
any iHeart station actually in Connecticut, we have our Connecticut
Humane Society's Adoptable Pet of the Week. We do it
every single week. So yeah, that must have just melted
your heart.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
It was so beautiful. She was adopted by these wonderful
young men, and she was so happy, And the picture
is actually on our Instagram and Facebook page as well,
and she was just thrilled to go home.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
There are so many different animals on the website right
now who need adoption. Absolutely again, it's Connecticut Humane dot
org slash adopt, but just go to Connecticut Humane dot
org and you'll see everything there. There's so many other
things for us to talk about. How can people help.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
You can help by donating. We have a wish list online.
It's ct humane dot org slash wish list wish l
I s T. You can also give a monetary donation
and you can learn more about that at ct humane
dot org slash donate.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
And there's different ways to donate.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Absolutely, we have supply drives as well. In the summer.
If you'd like to do something fun for the kids,
we have a lemonade stand. So we've had plenty of
children sign up to do a lemonade stand. They've received
their little banners and logos from us and stickers and
they've raised money two hundred, three hundred, four hundred dollars
(08:49):
for the.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Pets and it goes a long long way.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Every donation goes a long way for a pet and need.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
And the gratification these children must feel knowing that they're
doing good. Those are some good parents.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Absolutely, not only great parents, but great children. Yeah, because
they understand the importance of loving an animal and companionship
and some even have animals that they adopted from us,
and they just want to pay it forward.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Yes, what a great idea. So they make their own lemonade.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Yes, they do make their own lemonade.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Well, I didn't know, because you supply the other things.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
For it, right, right, We supply the stickers and different
decorations for it, but they make their own lemonade.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
How awesome? Are there any other events that people can do?
Speaker 2 (09:32):
But yes, if you'd like to join with your organization,
we have corporate engagement programs and that's always great. You
come in, you get a tour, and you also are
able to help the pets by either painting cards, creating
snuffle mats, different activities like that, just for a few hours.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
I'm sorry, what is that matt.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Called snuffle mats? So it's a type of dog enrichment
where it's like a soft fleece blanket and it goes
into something that looks like a square. I don't know
how to explain it further. And you have to thread
the you have to cut the fleece pieces just right,
and then you tie them into the square and then
(10:14):
you once it's completed, you put treats in it, and
a puppy or a dog that needs to be mentally,
you know, just occupied. They'll sniff through to get to
the treats.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
So tell me, how are you able to detach?
Speaker 2 (10:30):
I don't think it's about detachment. I think It's about
knowing that every pet has their own journey and their
own person waiting for them, and you're helping them on
that journey along the way. Like Pepa that I just mentioned.
I've spent so much time with Pepa. I enjoyed my
time with her. She's so sweet and smart and funny.
(10:51):
But I knew that she had her people waiting for her.
It was just a matter of time.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
I love that. Just to go back to donations for
a moment my aunt someday when the Good Lord calls
her to heaven, everything is going to the Humane Society.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Oh, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Well, I'm saying that because people can do that. Like
I think about what can I do with what I
have here on earth? You know, how can I give
it to something good? You can donate it to the
Humane Society.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Hi, Rue. Oh he's so handsome and you're so sweet
with him.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
He's very handsome, he's.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
So calm, he's beautiful. I'm Alison de Merz, and Rue
is here today, our beautiful two and a half year
old guinea pig, and I'm speaking with Christian Marshall. She's
the marketing and communications coordinator at the Connecticut Humane Society again.
You can go to Ctthumane dot org. They have their
(11:45):
virtual event, It's Trivia Night on January twenty ninth. Definitely
check out our adoptable Pet of the Week at the
riverwe oh five nine dot com and community access in
all of our other iHeart stations. Christian, thank you so
much for being here, for bringing this precious fur baby.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Thank you for having us