SPCA Hosts 'St. Pitty's' Weekend

The SPCA in Annapolis is hosting a pit bull adoption event in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

You can celebrate St. Patrick's Day this weekend by adopting a pit bull for free. The SPCA of Anne Arundel County, located in Annapolis, is hosting "St. Pitty's Weekend" March 15-17. During the event, pit bulls can be adopted free of charge to approved owners. "We have a number of pit bulls right now, and we have been looking for a really good way to advertise them," said volunteer coordinator Kim Teter. "We have a lot of really good pit bulls here, and St. Patrick's Day—St. Pitty's day kind of worked." Those interested in adopting can print an application from the SPCA website and fill it out ahead of time, or they can simply head to the Annapolis location to take a look. The SPCA of Anne Arundel County is located at 1815 Bay Ridge Ave. …

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No Room at the Inn: SPCA Turns Away Cats

For the first time, the SPCA of Anne Arundel County has such an overflow of cats and kittens that it has created a waiting list.

Spring has arrived and with it comes baby animals. In the case of the SPCA of Anne Arundel County, that means lots of kittens. The number of cats and kittens at the shelter has grown to more than 250, and SPCA employee Jenell Maunder said employees created a waiting list for people looking to surrender their cat or kitten. The waiting list just started, but Maunder anticipates it could grow because right now is just the beginning of "kitten season"—the time when most kittens are dropped off to her shelter. "How long they have to wait will really depends on when we have space open," Maunder said. Maunder advised that people with litters of kittens wait until they are 8 weeks old before bringing them to a shelter because they cannot be …

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Dana Disborough

11:44 am on Monday, June 11, 2012

I adopted an adult female cat 2.5 years ago and she's been the best cat I could ever ask for. I strongly encourage looking at adult cats as options, if possible. I'm sorry to hear that there are too many felines at the SPCA right now. I've known this has been an increasing challenge and I wish there was a magic (and quick) answer to fix this...   more ›

Get Involved with Anne Arundel County SPCA

One of the largest and oldest animal welfare organizations in the county is seeking volunteers.

If you need a reason to get involved with the SPCA of Anne Arundel County, Volunteer and Foster Coordinator Kim Teter has the perfect answer. “Where else can you go where 70 different dogs get beyond excited just because you’re there,” said Teter. To coincide with National Volunteer Week, Patch has been writing about various organizations in Anne Arundel County that are seeking volunteers. The SPCA of Anne Arundel County, at 1815 Bay Ridge Ave. in Annapolis, is one of those groups. “People love the greeting their pet gives them when they come home. Here that reaction is tripled or more,” Teter said. While Teter discussed ways people can get involved, she showed off various pets, all of whom she knew by name. And each was happy to see her…

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Michelle W

11:24 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012

There are dog meat FARMS in Korea and lots of other countries - get online and sign a petition against this! It's horrific.   more ›

Grab & Go Kids Planner

Spring Has Sprung Some Fun

Try something different this week a dock-jumping competition.

We've assembled a weekly calendar of kid-friendly activities and new places to try out with children. Each week, we'll give you the info on the five best family activities or events for the week. We know you're busy, so we're happy to do the research and find the best things to do and places to go, both locally and within reasonable driving distance. Look for the kids’ planner each week, and help us build the planner with your own suggestions and tips—just add them to the comment box. Even if you disagree with our picks, let us know. We want to hear from you.

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The Athletic Annapolitan

Walk for Fitness and a Good Cause

Make your walks more fun through organized walks for charity.

There is a secret that many daily walkers won’t tell you. You may hear how much we love walking. You may see us out there almost every day covering the mile. But what you don’t see is the struggle. We don’t always want to walk. We don’t always wake up ready to lace up our shoes and head out the door. More often than most of us would like to admit, fitting our daily walk in is a chore. Often we look for tricks to fall back on. We walk different routes. We change our pace, throwing some fast miles in with some slow. I have even known walkers who add odd jumps, skips and hops into the middle of their run just to make the walk more enticing. One of my favorite ways to stay motivated is to schedule the workouts to coincide with an organized …

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Grab and Go Kids Planner

Have Fun With Your Kids and the Pets This Week

Catch the Creek Critters class at Chesapeake Children's Museum and then get your pet ready to pose for a photo with the Easter Bunny at the SPCA.

We've assembled a weekly calendar of kid-friendly activities and new places to try out with children. Each week, we'll give you the info on the five best family activities or events for the week. We know you're busy, so we're happy to do the research and find the best things to do and places to go, both locally and within reasonable driving distance. Look for the kids’ planner each week, and help us build the planner with your own suggestions and tips — just add them to the comment box. Even if you disagree with our picks, let us know. We want to hear from you! Creek Critters Why: Enjoy learning about the local natural environment with your children. Explore what animals live in the woodlands and creek surrounding the museum. Open to …

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Patch Whiz Kid

Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Amelia Avis

In between adding to her ever-growing list of instruments she can play, Amelia squeezes as many activities as she can.

Whiz Kid's Name and Age: Amelia Avis, 13. Whiz Kid's School: Bates Middle School. Whiz Kid's Accomplishments: Amelia has been on the honor roll throughout middle school and is in the wind ensemble with the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra and the school jazz band. She and her friends have also organized bake sales to benefit the library and the Anne Arundel County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Success: Amelia is in eighth grade and is nurturing a love of music, which she expresses by playing the tenor sax, clarinet and piano. She’s even recently picked up playing the guitar. She also is learning to express her creativity through digital art, along with a growing talent for drawing. Amelia still manages to study …

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Patch Picks

Patch Picks: Great Non-Profit Organizations in Annapolis

Annapolis is full of dedicated volunteers and organizations with varied interests.

Below are our Patch Picks for 5 great non-profits in and around Annapolis. There are many more wonderful organizations in the community, so for a more thorough list of non-profits in the area, check out our directory. Who: SPCA of Anne Arundel County What: According to its website, “the SPCA of Anne Arundel County is the largest and oldest animal welfare organization in Anne Arundel County.” Why Donate: “The mission of the SPCA shall be to serve as the leading private nonprofit organization within Anne Arundel County which exists to protect animals from acts of cruelty and neglect.” In short, donate to help those that can’t help themselves. Who: Historic Annapolis Foundation What: Since its establishment in 1952, “this organization has …

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Week in Review: No More Pole, Benevolent Little Girls, Environmental Concerns on Riva Road and, of course, Traffic Concerns

Here's a wrap up of some of the stories you may have missed this week.

Patch articles always stay on the site, even when they're not posted as a top story, so we encourage you to explore and read some of the older articles if you're new to Greater Annapolis Patch. If you'd like to know more about how to use the Patch site, click here. And to ensure you don't miss anything, we'll try to do reviews every week to point out stories of interest you may have missed. Remember that you can sign up to receive daily or weekly updates from Patch. We're also active on Facebook and Twitter, too. Rosie Baganz of Edgewater and Chloe Speciale of Annapolis, both third graders at the Key School, took a different approach to celebrating their birthdays. They joined forces and asked not for the latest trendy gift, instead they …

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