This week’s dog is Shelly, a sweet adult pit bull/bulldog mix with some superpowers that have gotten her into a bit of a sticky situation at the shelter where’s she currently residing.

For example, Shelly can scale kennel walls in a single bound, which is fascinating to watch, but not so much if you’re looking for a nice, well behaved doggie to take home with you. Some of Shelly’s friends at the shelter have tried to explain to her that if an adopter wants a pet that can climb walls, they’d adopt a cat, not a dog – unfortunately, Shelly still thinks her kennel hijinks are entertaining. What this means for Shelly is that she needs to leave the shelter as soon as possible, so read on to find out more about what makes Shelly so special and worth saving today!

Shelly was found running loose in a junkyard, and the junkyard owner was nice enough to take care of her for a few days, in the hopes that her owners would come looking for her. Unfortunately, Shelly’s owners never came, and he was forced to bring Shelly to the shelter. At the shelter, Shelly is a staff and volunteer favorite because she is “near perfect”: friendly, gentle, and eager to please, knows “sit”, “down”, “paw” and “no”, walks GREAT on the leash, is crate trained and loves to just snuggle up next to you to escape the loud shelter for a bit. Being that she is very eager to please, it is very easy to train her and makes her simply a joy to be around.

She seems to like being around other dogs, and when she met another female dog that made it very clear she was not interested in playing with her, Shelly backed off appropriately and left the other dog alone. As far as our feline friends, Shelly did show some interest in cats during her cat test, so she would need to be retested with cats before she can go home with one.

Unfortunately, while Shelly’s an absolute doll once she’s outside, she does not like living in her kennel, and she’s becoming sad and stressed, and expresses her frustration in her kennel by jumping and barking. Shelly’s behavior in her kennel causes adopters to pass her by, and because she is less adoptable as a result of her kennel behavior, Shelly’s time is limited.

Now it is time for her to find her home for the holidays. Shelly’s adoption fee right now is only $20, and that includes her spay surgery, microchipping, and vaccinations – small price to pay for years of unconditional love! This is a wonderful opportunity to change an animal’s whole world for the better – please email Shelly’s pen pal at: lulu_todorov@hotmail.com to learn more about her, or stop by the shelter to meet Super Shelly today! The shelter is located at 111 W. Hunting Park Avenue. Phone: 267-385-3800.

The Rotunda (4014 Walnut Street) is hosting Go West! Craft Fest’s Holiday show this Saturday, Dec. 3 from 11:00 a.m. – 5 p.m. Forty artisans will present their handmade creations, including unique, affordable jewelry and ornaments, art originals and reproductions, ceramics, and cozy hand-stitched woolens. There will also be an opportunity to buy children’s toys and clothes, soaps, candles and special holiday gifts for those you love. Everything is made locally.

For the entire list of crafty vendors and their profiles go to: gowestcraftfest.blogspot.com.

Reader Susan would like to thank everyone who helped her find temporary foster homes for her cats after a devastating house fire in September. Two of her cats still need temporary foster care. Here’s what Susan wrote us in an email:

“A couple of months ago, some friends had posted a note for me on West Philly Local after we suffered a terrible house fire over at Springfield and St. Bernard. It was a call for help placing my cats who had survived the fire (sadly, we lost a third recently due to complications from the event) in temporary foster homes. The response was wonderful: I managed to place 8 cats in 8 separate foster homes: a minor miracle for anyone who has ever tried to find foster homes for animals. It was a huge relief for me, amid all the chaos and grief and stress surrounding the fire and the ensuing issues.

Needless to say, our house is nowhere near on the schedule for reconstruction originally given to us by the contractors (wrangling with the insurance and mortgage companies mostly to blame). As a result, I am now faced with needing to find new foster homes for two cats within the next week or so (of course, our house is nowhere near the completion date that the contractors originally gave us), and was wondering if you might know of any folks who would be willing to take a cat in for something like 4-6 weeks.

Habib, a 13-year-old neutered fat “creamsicle” cat (I call him that because he is orange and white), is very funny, friendly, and talkative, and his current foster parents love him, but have obligations to be away come mid-December and cannot continue to care for him. Martini is an orange tabby, neutered, about 6 years old, but FeLV positive. He has NEVER exhibited any signs of illness (he was minutes away from euthanasia as a tiny kitten in the ER at the Penn Vet Hospital, where I worked, when I whisked him home), so he appears to be a carrier of the virus, but it would be best for him to be in a home without other cats, or perhaps other cats who also have tested positive. Currently, he is sequestered in one room in a neighbor’s house (due to other resident cats), and cries a lot, and is very lonely. It breaks my heart. He is a true people cat and seems very depressed without human companionship.”

To contact Susan please email: susaniris[at]msn.com or call 215-435-5273.

 
The AIDS Library of Philadelphia, the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania and West Philly Local collaborated to revive this image from the early days of AIDS cultural activism. In recognition of World AIDS Day, the over 25 million people who have died from AIDS, and the 30,000 Philadelphians living with HIV, we encourage you to get tested today.

2012 marks the 25^th Anniversary of the AIDS Library – the only lending library devoted to HIV/AIDS in the United States. A part of Philadelphia FIGHT and located at 1233 Locust Street, more information about the AIDS Library and HIV testing can be found at www.fight.org.

Free screenings of Untitled, a 60-minute film on the history of the AIDS Crisis, will be held at the ICA from 11 a.m – 5 p.m., every hour on the hour, throughout the day today. The ICA is located at 118 South 36^th Street.  For more information, visit www.icaphila.org.