Maybe Oreo’s people fell in love with the barely-more-than-a-kitten cat. Maybe they didn’t think about the fact that they rented. Maybe they thought that Oreo was so little, so quiet, and so sweet that the no-pets rule wouldn’t apply. Maybe they knew that they could always get rid of Oreo if necessary. Of course, Oreo didn’t know any of that.

Oreo believed that she had a forever home and family. The spayed tuxedo formed her image of a safe, happy world. That image didn’t include a lonely room, a place where scary dogs bark just a wall away.

This little girl is wide-eyed, baffled, and afraid. The only times that Oreo feels better is when someone is petting her, reminding her how life used to feel.

Click here to see a current list of animals held at the Grant County Animal Shelter.

Four-month-old, frost-colored Fog fades into the soft white background of her photo.  But little Fog, who’s spayed, wouldn’t do so well at fading into an outdoor background.  That could cost Fog her life if she tried to survive outside.  White animals are rare because it isn’t a safe color to wear.  They’re easier for predators to spot, from the ground or from the air.

So, Fog needs to be an always-indoor kitten.  Of course, anyone who adopts Fog should have intended that already.  After all, this kitten is pure elegance and sophistication on four dainty paws.  Fog is meant to be pampered.

In return, Fog will both decorate and add love to a home.  Fog’s vulnerable, but she isn’t weak when it comes to loving.

Click here to see a current list of animals held at the Grant County Animal Shelter.

Eleven-month-old Scout is a medium-sized boy who just wants to have fun.  That shows in the cute, white and bronze, neutered, housebroken, curled-tail-wagging pup’s expressive ears.  When Scout sees someone who might play or go for a walk, those ears go up in excited anticipation, a lot like airplane flaps.

And Scout considers every human, children and adults, and other dogs, as potential playmates, someone to entertain.  However, cats aren’t at all amused by Scout.  The pup tends to chase them.  Scout needs to be in a cat-free home.

Yet, any cat-free home would be happier with Scout living there.  He’s a charming, well-behaved boy with only one thing wrong in his life.  Despite learning every important doggy lesson and offering unconditional love, Scout’s homeless.

Click here to see a current list of animals held at the Grant County Animal Shelter.

Sugar’s people must have had to push hard and harshly to get her away from their car.  Sugar’s only goal is to be close to someone, to touch a friend and be petted.  She must have been held and loved as a kitten, because Sugar prefers people over her own kind.  Sugar wouldn’t have voluntarily left her humans.

But Sugar’s people didn’t give her any choice.  They abandoned her at a gas station, an environment where Sugar was completely unequipped to survive.  She didn’t know about dodging cars.  Sugar didn’t even suspect that not every human loves cats.

Luckily, Sugar approached a human who did love cats.  She delivered Sugar, who’s now spayed and vaccinated, to the shelter.  There Sugar’s safe, but longing for love.

Click here to see a current list of animals held at the Grant County Animal Shelter.

Droger hopes that someone remembers what it feels like to be the last one chosen for the ball team.  The alert, hopeful, eight-week-old tabby is the tiny leftover.  Droger doesn’t know where his littermates went.  He only knows that other kittens relegated to the shelter came with sisters or brothers.  They aren’t as alone as he is.

Maybe that’s why Droger watches visitors so intently.  He toddles as close as he can get to the people.  Droger would meow to them, to attract attention, but he knows that his voice is very little, nearly useless, just like he feels.

The last ones chosen are the most grateful to be included.  Droger would never forget being unwanted and alone.  He’d never forget to show his love.

Click here to see a current list of animals held at the Grant County Animal Shelter.