Dear Santa,

We’ve never written a letter before but a few of the old-timers in the shelter who used to have families, said they remembered that their little people would write letters to you at this time of year. They would ask you for games and toys and help for their friends and family and you would deliver these gifts all in one night - kinda like the biggest game of fetch ever.

We know that things have been a bit ruff at the Kingston Humane Society lately. All our humans are still wearing those funny things over their nose and mouth. At first, we thought everybody had become veterinarians and it scared us a bit. In fact, one of us might’ve even peed a little bit (sorry Wylie, we know you’re usually okay until you get outside, but we have to be honest with Santa). Anyway, once we realized it was just our regular people underneath the funny face covering, we felt bad for them. How would they be able to eat treats with that thing over their mouths? So, since the world has been a bit of a dog’s breakfast – by the way, all the dogs in here think that’s a good thing, the cats not so much - we thought we’d get together and come up with a list to see if you could bring a few things that might help.

First – we’d all like cookies. Not the kind made just for us. Those are good but we want to be able to share them with our people. They feed us and walk us, care for us and pat us. They say things like, “you’re such a good boy” or “what a good girl.” They brush us when our fur is matted, they give us medicine when things hurt. Sometimes they trick us by putting the medicine in a hot dog or by wrapping it in cheese. We pretend that we don’t like it but we really just want more hotdogs and cheese. Wylie thinks we shouldn’t admit to the hotdog and cheese thing. We had a discussion and decided to include it because we have to tell the truth or we won’t get the cookies, and lately the place where we live has been so full that our people are really tired and sad. We want to cheer them up and since we know how happy we are when we get cookies, we think cookies will give them a reason to smile. We love it when our people smile.
Second – we’d like room. We’re not really sure what “room” is but our people are saddest when they don’t have “room.” We hear them talking to each other saying things like, “I wish we had more room for all these animals,” and “If we just had a bit more room, the animals would be happier.” So, please bring us room.
Third – and this one went to a vote - please bring cat nip. The dogs have no idea what cat nip is but apparently the cats absolutely drool over it. They’re the ones that insisted on a vote and they always outnumber the dogs in here, so please bring us cat nip and if dog nip exists, might as well throw in some of that too.
Fourth – time. Along with room, that’s the thing our people wish they had the most – more time. They pat us and walk us but when we have to go back to the kennel, they always say they wish they had more time with us. We’re not sure how much time will fit in that thing you use to carry the toys but please bring all the time you can handle.
Finally – and this is a big one - we’d like you to bring us homes. Some of the old-timers who’ve had homes tell us it’s the most amazing place. They say a home is like a giant kennel that has an upstairs and a downstairs, an outside and an inside and room to sleep, play, eat and sleep some more. In fact, Kia, who has been here since last January, used to live in a home until her humans couldn’t care for her anymore. She said that in a home, if you’re good, you can share something called a “bed” with your humans. Kia said they actually sleep right beside you with lots of blankets on a giant soft cushiony thing. That’s so much better than being alone in the kennel when the lights go out. This building is old and creaky and honestly Santa, we’re pretty brave animals but come midnight when it’s windy or cold we all get a little frightened and a lot lonely. Sometimes we just lie in the corner and wait for our people to come back in the morning. Kia says that in a home, when you’re afraid or lonely, you can just cuddle up beside your people and they’ll pat you and tell you everything’s alright. If that’s what a home is then we definitely all want homes.
So, that’s our list Santa. We know it’s a lot and we wouldn’t ask if we really didn’t need it. We live in a place where our people love us so much but with nearly 300 cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs and rats, in a pretty small, pretty old building, life can be a bit sad and all we really want is for everybody to be happy. We promise we’ll sit, stay and be good (even Wylie) until you can stop by.
Until then, Merry Christmas from all the animals and the people at the Kingston Humane Society.

Sincerely,

All us dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and rats.