Staff Spotlight:
Christy Ubelaker

Christy, with Flower

Christy Ubelaker takes special care as she shaves some fur off of a little male pup. Her surgery prep routine flows as if she has been doing it forever. Under the bright lights she clips his nails, makes sure there is no bleeding and picks out the best air-tube to insert. Christy carefully carries him to the surgical table; he is ready to be neutered and he is in experienced hands.

“The good thing about my job is knowing that every day I make a difference,” Christy says. And, the difference that she makes is evident. Christy has worked here at the shelter since March and says that she really “enjoys shelter medicine.” When asked why she chose our shelter to work at, Christy is clear on how she made her decision. “[HSGKC] just seemed like a really good organization for both people and animals. They just help. So, that’s why.”

It is easy to see Christy’s love of animals and her commitment to bettering their lives not only at the shelter clinic but at home, as well. “I always had pets growing up,” Christy says, “and, I have four dogs now: Bella, Trucker, Tweak and Bogo.”

When she isn’t lending a healing hand at the shelter clinic, Christy spends her time with her children: Gage, Payton, Hayden and Hayley. She enjoys taking time to go to live music events and has recently taken up roller-derby, a sport that might at first seem at odds with her caring nature. “I like it because it’s competitive but it’s also a community of people,” says Christy who goes by the name of Rabid E Anne when she laces up.

With everything considered, the shelter clinic is lucky to have Christy Ubelaker here to provide the best veterinary care possible. And, in the event of a mass roller-derby jam, we should be glad that Christy will have our back.

Any time of year is the perfect time to support the HSGKC by adopting the shelter! Through your care and donations, the HSGKC is able to continually fulfill our mission of being a no-kill shelter and offering preventative vet care for low-income pet owners. You can adopt the shelter as an individual or make it a group effort!

Cory Johnson, who just celebrated his eighth birthday, sponsored the shelter by using his own birthday party as an “adopt the shelter” event! Cory asked all of his friends to bring donations for the shelter pets in lieu of birthday gifts for him. What an amazingly generous donation from such a young philanthropist!

Any and all donations make a difference. From dog toys to monetary gifts we appreciate them all. If you are interested in making a donation, adopting the shelter like Cory or volunteering contact Jo.

We need your help to provide our callers top-notch customer service. If you can help at the front desk during the week to answer the phone, transfer calls and pull messages, please contact Jo. Special thanks to volunteers Heather Riley and Karen Klein that have already jumped in to help.

Come to Sydney's Pet Spa's Barktober Bash on October 24 and enjoy fun activities like caricatures, pet psychic, pet photography, costume contests, silent auction, giveaways and more! The winner of the Pet Costume Contest will receive 2 roundtrip tickets to NYC with hotel and tickets for the Westminster Dog Show.

KSHB Action News Chief Meteorologist Gary Lezak will emcee the event and Jason Anderson with Sports Radio 810 will host a live remote.

All proceeds benefit The Humane Society of Greater KC. Call Sydney's Pet Spa at 913-239-0110 for more info.

Come out to the shelter from 1-4 pm on October 31 for the annual Open House and Pet Reunion Party. Adopted pets and their families will be returning for a visit and to show off their best Halloween costumes! The costume contest is at 2 pm. If you bring a toy for a shelter pet, you and your pet can pose for a Fall themed photo for free!

There are six volunteer positions that the shelter needs filled for the Open House and Pet Reunion Party. If you are available on October 31 from 12-4 pm and would like to be a part of seeing the fruits of our labor-- loving families for our much-loved animals!-- please sign up to volunteer.

Additionally, if you would like to bring snacks to share with our guests, we would love to have them! There will be plenty of former adopters coming and we could really use some refreshments for them.

If you would like to volunteer your time or your culinary skills, please contact Jo.

Uh oh! We are in some serious need of toilet paper here at the shelter. As you know, we go through a lot of paper goods here and we could sure use some stocking up. Please bring in a few rolls next time you stop by the shelter.

For a list of other items and services we need, please check out our Sit Up and Beg Wish List. All of these items go to helping our cause become more successful and our animals’ lives become more enjoyable.

Do you know any high traffic areas where a HSGKC donation box would be beneficial? Boxes can stay for anywhere from 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months to 2 years! Ideal areas include hair salons, small retailers, grocers and schools. If you are interested in hosting a HSGKC donation box, please contact Robin.

We've Been Adopted!
We're excited to share the news that some of our pets have recently found their forever homes:

Blue, Cricket, Ethan, Francine,

Maribel, Mookie & Princess (together!), Shasta, Susie... and several more!