Finding homes for the puppies

We worry a bit (OK, a lot) about finding good homes for all these puppies. We'll put up signs at area animal hospitals and we'll offer them in the Wal-Mart parking lot (where many kittens and puppies are given away), but 11 is a lot of puppies. Our local animal shelter is always embroiled in (negative) controversy, but I suppose the leftovers could go there.

Part of the challenge is that the yellow pages of our small-town phone directory are so unhelpful. When we first moved here and I was having trouble finding the necessities in our new community (anything from takeout pizza to dry cleaners), I asked a coworker how to find merchants and services when they're not listed in the yellow pages. She explained, "Most people around here don't bother with the yellow pages. Customers already know where to go for pizza or whatever, and if they don't know the phone number, they look it up in the white pages. So just ask me if you need something; I'll tell you the best place to find it."

That's worked out OK for the most part, but while this person knows a lot, she doesn't know everything. Since living this area, I have discovered that when you need something, you must tell everyone you meet about it. They don't mind at all: they love knowing your business, and they love sharing their own intimate knowledge of this small southern town. Of course, you sacrifice your privacy, but I'm getting over that.

So, in addition to publishing this blog and telling all my friends (local and out-of-town), coworkers (local) and relatives (out-of-town) about the puppies, I have also told casual acquaintances and perfect strangers. I've told the barristas at the coffee shop, the support staff at my dentist's & chiropractor's offices, my acupuncturist, my massage therapist, my aerobics instructor, my hairdresser's mother, most of the physical therapists at Baptist Rehab, and more, and this strategy may eventually pay off.

Last week one of my coworkers told me about a local woman (I think she went to school with this girl's sister, or something like that) who is very involved in animal rescue and takes animals to a no-kill shelter in Clarksville, TN (nowhere near us, but it's good to know about). And I actually know this animal rescue woman. Well, not exactly, but close enough. She is married to my dentist's son (also a dentist), so I know exactly where to go for her contact information.