Metro Animal Services - Puyallup Shelter

I spent a couple hours again this morning at the Metro Animal Services shelter located in Puyallup. The shelter is operated by the City of Sumner, although located in Puyallup and serving a total of seven communities: Algona, Bonney Lake, Edgewood, Milton, Pacific, Puyallup and Sumner. I've been volunteering there every two weeks since February. What fun! 

I'm always entertained each time I photograph these beautiful critters by the differences in personalities, the antics of the animals, and their interactions with me and the animal control officer or volunteer who helps me. This morning, one of the cats who'd already had his picture taken by another volunteer was in a cage behind me. As I was taking photos, he insisted on reaching out to pat me on the back. What a ham! He just wanted to be in the spotlight once again.

This time of year there are lots of kittens at the shelter, some still too young to be adopted. Since it was raining, I photographed two of the dogs in the laundry room where a momma cat and her kittens were being housed. I didn't know they were there because the cage was covered and behind me. I had scouted the squeaky toys they have on hand to see what I could use to interest the dogs and when I knelt down to take photos, heard mewing and thought that somehow I'd triggered a squeaky toy that sounded like a kitten. Not! The dogs figured it out much before I did and wanted to investigate for themselves, but as they headed for the cat cage, momma cat reached out a clawed paw to let them know they'd better back off.

Hans, the St Bernard, was photographed outside. He's a gentle giant, but we didn't want to chance a meeting between him, momma cat and her kittens. It's so nice when a dog actually responds to commands like sit, stay, and come. He did that very well. The promise of treats helped too. :-)

If you want to see these guys and many more, the shelter is located at 1200 39th Ave SE, Puyallup, WA 98374. The shelter is open Monday - Friday 10 am to 5 pm, Saturday 10 am to 4 pm and closed on Sunday. You can call 253-841-5595 for more information.