Leon County Humane Society, Tallahassee FL

Submit your Purple Paw Award Nominations Today!

Each year the Leon County Humane Society recognizes community members or animals that have shown courage and bravery in the face of adversity or go above and beyond to promote animal well being in Leon County. If you know someone that fits this description, we want to applaud them!

Purple Paw Award nominations must be received by Friday, September 28, 2007, at 5:00 p.m. Winners will be announced at the 8th annual Fur Ball on October 13, 2007. Good luck to all nominees!
Click here for the NOMINATION APPLICATION

2006 Purple Paw Award Recipients

JOHN DAWSON and TAMMY OSBORN, STAR98 Radio
The John and Tammy Morning Show on STAR98 is one of Tallahassee’s most popular radio shows. It is easy to see why when you tune in and listen. John and Tammy truly care about their community and especially homeless animals. Every Friday for the past three years, they have hosted Furry Friends Friday, a promotional spot that features LCHS pets. Hundreds of animals have found their forever homes with the help of John and Tammy! STAR98 has also designated LCHS as the beneficiary of a portion of the funds raised at Dog-O-Ween for the past three years. Tammy is an honorary board member of the LCHS as well. John and Tammy have gone above and beyond for companion animals. We thank them for all they have done and continue to do for the animals!

PAM HOUMERE
Pam Houmere has been active in animal rescue in the Tallahassee area for almost three decades. She has worked diligently to promote animal well-being through rescue efforts involving horses, cats, and wildlife, but her true passion is dogs of every size and shape. With her husband, Bill Armstrong, she founded a local Rottweiler rescue organization and has worked to dispel myths about her beloved breed. She has been a Leon County Humane Society foster parent for 28 years and has always been there for the dogs that are difficult to deal with and hard to place into a new home. Pam was recently featured in Ken Foster’s book, The Dogs Who Found Me, and the stories he tells illustrate just how far she will go to help an animal. Pam is always eager to teach others and goes above and beyond for dogs in desperate need. The Leon County Humane Society and the community as a whole are fortunate to have her.

DOROTHY "DOT" PENTON, Animal Control Officer
Animal Control Officer Dorothy Penton works to promote animal welfare in Leon County on a daily basis through her job. Be it through education or enforcement, she is constantly encouraging pet owners to secure and care for their animals. On February 22, 2006, Dorothy responded to a call from a distraught family whose pet Basset Hound had entered a culvert and could not get out. Dorothy crawled into the culvert to try and free the pet. Unable to reach the dog due to the culvert’s size and length, she was forced back out. However, she was able to determine the location of the pet, so that a section of pipe could be cut near the dog without endangering the dog. Once the section was cut the dog was able to advance to the opening and was safely plucked from the culvert by its grateful owner. Dorothy is known for her “can do” attitude and for helping those in need, human or animal.

JACKIE BLUE, Canine Survivor
“We have a badly wounded dog here who needs some special help.” That was the message last June that sent the LCHS foster parent who specializes in dachshunds hurrying to the local shelter. An immediate vet visit confirmed the worst: deep, painful burns caused by a hot or caustic substance. Soon Jackie Blue looked like his name should be “Franken-Doxie” with surgical staples running the length of his back – which if you are a dachshund is a really long scar! Despite obvious pain and fear, he cooperated patiently with weeks of medical treatment. In a loving foster home with his doxie sisters and brother to play with, the haunted look in his eyes began to fade. FAST FORWARD TO TODAY: Jackie is living happily ever after in a permanent home of his own. His foster mom says, “If you didn’t see the scar, you might never guess what this little guy has been through.” He’s an amazing dog and a testimony to the resilient good nature of our four-legged companions.

2005 Purple Paw Award Recipients

Roy Lain
Jody Ellis
and Emmy the cat
Emmy, a new momma cat, delivered a litter of kittens a few days
before Hurricane Katrina destroyed their hometown Waveland, Mississippi.

2004 Purple Paw Award Recipients

NORTH FLORIDA ANIMAL HOSPITAL (NFAH) has been owned by Dr. George Simmons since 1989, and has always been a friend to LCHS. NFAH is known as the top orthopedic specialist in town. Over the years NFAH has provided medical treatment to a variety of LCHS animals for free or at reduced rates. NFAH has always seen the importance of contributing to the community by providing free spay and neutering to animals adopted from the Tallahassee Leon Animal Service Center. Dr. Simmons served on the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Animal Service Center for several years, and currently Dr. Lynn Hagood, serves on that committee. NFAH has always supported the Humane Society in every endeavor.

ALAN COX, Principal Chiles High School Governor Lawton Chiles mandated in 1994 that all Florida counties were required to accommodate animals in emergency events. Alan Cox, Principal of Chiles High, did just that when he allowed Chiles High School to be the pet accessible shelter in our community during Hurricane Frances. LCHS thanks Alan Cox for his decision to work with the Red Cross to enable Chiles High School to serve as a pet friendly shelter in our area during Hurricane Frances. We sincerely thank him for being a forward thinker in a time when school administration can be perceived as bureaucratic. As the capital city of Florida, we should be leading the efforts to partner in ways that ultimately saves more human lives. By offering a pet friendly shelter, many who would not have evacuated because of their pets, sought shelter as they should. According to Alan Cox, an animal owner himself, he would not want to leave his dog, Barney, home should he find himself in an emergency evacuation. LCHS applauds Mr. Cox for understanding the plight faced by pet owners and his decision to do something about it!

JUDITH GOYETTE of OIL-DRI CORPORTATION OF AMERICA Judith Goyette's company Oil-Dri Corporation of America, a manufacturer of cat litter, went above and beyond the call of duty when it generously agreed to donate 56 tons of Jonny Cat and Cat's Pride brand cat litter to the LCHS. This incredible donation consists of 11,268 bags of cat litter valued at $22,500! LCHS has already delivered over 12 tons of cat litter to the Tallahassee-Leon Community Animal Service Center. Additional recipients of free cat litter include Wakulla County Animal Shelter, Gadsden County Humane Society, Jefferson County Humane Society, Elder Care Services, St. Francis Wildlife, Extended Circle animal Haven, Big Dog Rescue, Goose Creek Wildlife, as well as others.

ROMEO is a two year old neutered male flat coated retriever/lab mix, who sadly spent the first years of his life chained to a tree in his owner's backyard. He frequently did without food or water, and when he was fed his chain would often become so badly tangled that he couldn't reach his bowl to eat. He was filthy, hungry, and had no shelter during cold winters or summer's heat and thunderstorms. LCHS rescued Romeo and provided him with a home for over seven months. While at LCHS, we learned that Romeo is both friendly and intelligent.He is so smart that when he did not have a human to play with, he would drop a ball from the top steps of the LCHS deck, let it roll down, retrieve it, then repeat this game over and over. Unfortunately, Romeo developed food aggression because of his past abuse and could not be fed in the presence of other animals. He was also, understandably, terrified of thunderstorms. But, all that changed when he was adopted by Carol Skuthan. He is no longer cold, tired, hungry, thirsty or dirty. Although LCHS provided Romeo with a safe place to live, food to eat and toys to play with, Carol has given this special needs animal something LCHS hopes for all its fosters, A HOME OF HIS OWN!

PRESLEY f/k/a SUNNY Sunny, renamed Presley by his adoptive owner Sandra Garber, because as she said he just looks like a Presley, is a big, beautiful, loving long-haired orange neutered male tabby who arrived at LCHS from the Jefferson County Humane Society. Outwardly, he looked and acted perfectly healthy, but during his physical exam, by Tim Mountain, DVM, a past Purple Paw winner himself, it was discovered Sunny had a significant heart murmur. Several things could have been the cause and Sunny's treatment and prognosis depended on an accurate diagnosis. North Florida Animal Hospital, luckily had the equipment to perform a cardiac ultrasound. The ultrasound could see Sunny's heart as it worked, and the murmur was due to a thickened heart muscle, which if untreated could lead to premature death. Medication was recommended, and with proper daily medication, Sunny's outlook was-well-sunny! That is until the day Sandra decided to adopt him. Suddenly Sunny's life became positively glowing! Not only did he get a new home to roam and play in, but he received a much more fitting name for such a handsome and regal feline.

2003 Purple Paw Award Recipients

Otfried "Reed" Guhrt, a Tallahassee veterinarian who has volunteered both his time (after hours and otherwise) and skills (spaying and neutering, giving shots, providing emergency care) to help the humane society's foster animals (including turtles, ferrets and other exotic pets) without charge or at reduced rates.

Matthew J. Aresco, a graduate student at Florida State University who has saved turtles and other creatures from being killed by cars on U.S. Highway 27 while trying to cross from Lake Jackson to Little Lake Jackson. Aresco installed and continues to maintain a barrier fence that diverts the animals to a culvert. For more about this compassion-in-action project and the effort under way to create a permanent ecopassage, see www.lakejacksonturtles.org

Jane Holmes-Cain, a humane society volunteer responsible for keeping countless Tallahassee dogs clean. In 1997, Holmes-Cain became the society's official Dog Wash Coordinator, and she's been organizing dog-wash fund-raisers - and washing people's pooches - ever since.

Steve and Ruth Ann Recla, a Tallahassee couple who rescued two abandoned, malnourished, 4-month-old pups. They used their vacation money to nurture the animals, suffering from internal injuries, back to health. "They were just little skeletons with fur," Ruth Ann said. The dogs, Jake and Cody (whose front leg was amputated) now live with the Reclas, their two cats and one other pet pooch.

Southeast K-9 Search and Rescue, Inc., a nonprofit group of volunteers who locate missing persons and, occasionally, lost pets. The unit recently found a lost dog that had been hit by a car and wandered into the woods near its home.

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