Cat rescuer and Upper School history teacher Emily Metz recently saved a kitten stuck in a tree.
“I saw [the kitten], and it was up a tree across a 12-foot concrete drainage ditch in my neighbor’s yard, and I couldn’t reach it,” Metz said. “I called the Germantown [police] … [and] they decided to go around the block to my neighbor’s house, go through their backyard and the kitten jumped right into the cop’s arms.”
Once the kitten was in safe hands, Metz searched for the perfect home for it. Freshman MG Jones took in the kitten with open arms, giving it a loving family.
Memphis is home to many different people with diverse backgrounds, but there is another group that can also be considered Memphians: pets.
Of the 84 St. Mary’s students who responded to a survey, 97.3% said they own a pet. Out of these students, 82.7% own one or more dogs, while 40.7% own one or more cats.
According to a study conducted by The University of New Mexico, levels of dopamine, a hormone that results in feelings of pleasure, satisfaction and motivation, as well as serotonin, which plays a part in increasing satisfaction and happiness, are raised by playing with a cat or a dog.
Jones found her pet from the kindness of Metz, but there are many other ways Memphians give animals in the community loving homes.
Finding a friend
For Carmen McGhee, fostering was the right choice.
Fostering provides temporary housing for animals awaiting adoption. Animal shelters and facilities such as Memphis Animal Services and the Memphis Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County look for families and individuals who enjoy helping animals and having an animal companion but may not be exactly committed or able to own a pet long-term.
But in McGhee’s case, Moose became a permanent addition.
“We fostered for a little bit, and we ended up adopting him,” she said. “I feel like he’s become kind of our dog, and he just kinda fits our family super well.”
Memphis Animal Services and the Humane Society also take in rescue animals — animals that do not have homes.
At the Humane Society specifically, anyone looking to adopt an animal is required to have a screening done to gauge if the home and family are a good fit for the animal.
Alternatively, buying an animal from a breeder is an option for anyone looking for a specific breed of dog or cat. Breeders selectively choose animals to produce specific breeds and traits. Freshman Zofia Ross adopted her dog Coco from a breeder and found the process simple.
“You just go on Facebook or any other social media and you can find dog breeders, get into contact with them and ask them when their next litter is,” she said.
Sophomore Esme Larschan, whose family breeds border collies, said it helps to be in the know about local breeders.
“There’s a lot of networking involved, and someone has to reach out to [us],” she said “They have to know that we’re breeding dogs, and we don’t advertise it usually, but you have to be a friend of a friend kind of thing.”
Providing for our pets
Bringing a pet home is only the first step in the pet-owning process. For dog owners, taking them outside to parks or other pet-friendly establishments is crucial in order for dogs to receive the stimulation they naturally crave.
In Memphis, there are pet-friendly green spaces including Shelby Farms Park, Overton Park, Mud Island Dog Park, The Barking Lot and Bartlett Dog Park. As for pet-friendly restaurants, Aldo’s Pizza, Central BBQ Midtown, Babalu’s Tacos and Tapas and Celtic Crossing all welcome both humans and pets.
Freshman Stella Scobey takes her dog Bruno to open green spaces and other pet-friendly areas around the city.
“We’ve taken [Bruno] to dog parks,” Scobey said. “I think he’s been to Shelby Farms. He’s been to a couple lakes.”
But not everyone believes Memphis is fit for the pets that consider it home.
Ross said she believes both East Memphis and Downtown are not safe for animals, unlike Cordova.
“In Downtown Memphis, it’s really only buildings, no grassy areas [and] a ton of traffic, same thing goes for [East] Memphis, Cordova just has a lot of grass,” she said.
Metz agrees that the city can be unsafe for animals, especially cats.
“Outside cats make me so sad. I want to take all of them and put them inside,” she said. “There are ways to make a cat very happy indoors. They do not need to be outside. Outside has cars and hawks and fleas and diseases. Keep your cats inside.”
Sophomore Jilly Ramser has concerns about the safety of her cat, Teddy.
“Teddy gets bitten up by mosquitoes a lot, and so that’s a concern, but mostly I’m just scared that he’ll get hit by a car,” she said.
From street to shelter
If an animal is hurt or lost, the Humane Society has the resources to help. The facility has already received 624 pets this year, in a variety of conditions.
Joscelyne Thompson, the Intake Manager of the Humane Society, said that for the most part, the animals that are taken in are relatively healthy.
“Most of the time, a lot of the dogs we take in are in fairly good condition,” Thompson said. “There have been a few that have come in that are on the emaciated side, you can tell they haven’t had enough food.”
Dr. Kimberly Gaddis, a veterinarian at the Humane Society, often treats malnourished, injured and poorly treated animals.
“We’ve had a couple hit by cars since I’ve been here that needed immediate pain management,” she said. “Most of the time it’s some kind of trauma that we have to attend to, which is relatively common.”
Thompson said she aims to increase the Humane Society’s intake of strays.
“[The number of stray intakes] has been increasing because that’s my main goal: to take in more strays, or not just surrenders,” she said.
Upon seeing a stray, Thompson advised checking to see if the animal is lost or owned by a neighbor.
“Typically, if there’s a stray in your neighborhood it’s not actually a stray,” she said. “People have a tendency of just letting their dog wander. Have them scanned for a microchip.”
If the animal is not owned, Thompson recommends taking the animal to a local municipal shelter.
Or try Metz’s approach by asking everyone if they have room for a furry family member.
“I immediately started texting everybody I could think of,” Metz said, “Every person I walked by I was like, ‘Do you want a kitten? Do you want a kitten? Do you want a kitten?’ and MG said ‘Yes!’”
Farah Arshad contributed to the reporting on this story.
