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Feature
The Calvert County Times
Thursday, December 6, 2018
A Look Inside the Linda L. Kelley Animal Shelter
Find a Four-Legged Friend for the Holidays
By Dick Myers
Editor
There’s a new place in Calvert County
to shop for the perfect family gift for the
holidays – the Linda L. Kelley Animal
Shelter. The new county shelter has been
open for a month and the state-of-the-art
facility is in the process of completing
its staffing.
A couple of provisos about animals
as gifts. It is never a good idea to give
one as a gift unless the person or persons
receiving it are part of the selection pro-
cess. The animal-human bond is a very
personal one. What appeals to the gift
giver may not appeal to the gift receiv-
er. The best adoptions are generally the
ones that are love at first sight for both
the human and the animal.
The second caution is that things in
most households can get pretty hectic
the closer one gets to the actual day. It is
far better to introduce new pets into the
household in time for them to settle in
and get used to the family before Christ-
mas present wrappings get flung every-
where and shouts of joy could be misun-
derstood by the newcomer.
All of that having been said, this is the
perfect time to take the entire family,
adults and children, to the new shelter to
see if there might be a potential new ad-
dition there just waiting for you. And it’s
always a good idea if you already have
pets at home to take them with you for a
meet and greet.
The new shelter is ideally laid out with
a special meet and greet room and enclo-
sures so window shoppers can get a good
view of what’s available. The dog cages
are even encased behind walls with wide
windows to blunt the barking but not
hide the view.
One of the rooms is set aside for vol-
unteers. A volunteer coordinator has
been hired and training is about to com-
mence. Anyone interested in volunteer-
ing, which would be a good gift from
yourself to yourself and the community,
can sign up online.
This page is replete with adoptables,
including a pig that is housed in the shel-
ter’s barn. The pig, one of the shelter’s
first tenants, would have delighted the
late Linda Kelley, a long-time country
commissioner with a passion for ani-
mals, particularly pot-bellied pigs.
This is an especially good time to be
adopting a cat, since the shelter has in-
stituted a 50-percent-off policy for cats
during the holidays.
To see the shelter’s adoptables or to
find out more about it go to: https://cal-
vertcountyanimalshelter.com//
The shelter is at 5055 Hallowing Point
Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678. Call
410-535-7387.
Hours are: Monday (Closed for Adop-
tion); Tuesday and Thursday: 10 a.m. - 6
p.m.; Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday:
10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
[email protected]