Twas the night before Christmas
Twas the night before Christmas and all through CHS
The kitties were tidy… The puppies? A MESS!
The bunnies were nibbling on lettuce and hay
While the birds in the flight deck flapped and twittered away
The hammies were nestled all snug in their beds
While visions of yogurt treats danced in their heads
The adoptions staff closed up the place for the night
Making sure each sweet pet was tucked in safe and right
When up from the office arose such a clatter
Gary the cat was as mad as a hatter
“Stuff a POOCH PAD?!” he cried as he stomped past the vents
He was sure those darn dogs would steal all of the presents
Past all the cubicles he flew like a flash
He hacked the computers and looked through the cache
Gary searched through the Facebook and read all the emails
He dug through the photos and tried to find details
“The cats deserve gifties” Gary thought from his palace
Then he got an idea just dripping with malice.
“I’ll steal all the presents from those mean greedy hounds”
“I’ll hide them all somewhere, those gifts I’ll impound!”
Gary cackled and purred as he plotted his plot
He imagined the dogs waking up all distraught
“The kitties!” he thought “Will be merry indeed!”
“But to make this all happen I must act with speed”
He snuck through the hallways and gathered some bags
But when he got to the door, his plan hit some snags
“LOCKED!” Gary grumbled as he rattled the handle
He wished that the door could be struck by a vandal
But Gary was always a determined cat
No locked door would stop him, and that would be that
He looked round the office with determined intent
And that is when Gary remembered the vents
He unscrewed the screws and pulled back the cover
And crept through the ducts to remain undiscovered
He snuck past admissions and through the vet clinic
“Bah Humbug to holidays!” thought Gary the cynic
Gary trekked through the ducts leaving fur in his wake
He kept up his speed – no time for a break!
He ran through each tunnel and left behind sheddings
He jogged with no clue as to where he was treading
At last Gary reached his goal destination
Then crashed through the screen that provided filtration
He ran through adoptions, his face filled with glee
“I’ll get gifts for all felines… especially ME!”
Gary peered in the pooch pads to find all the gifts
He looked and he scrambled… he jumped, scratched and sniffed!
He snuck round the corners and stared down the halls
He inspected each doorway and even the walls.
Then finally he found it, the room filled with loot!
“AH HA!” cried the cat “It was worth the commute!”
Gary leapt for the handle and swung open the door
And was astonished to find he could not see the floor!
There were boxes of goodies, too much to behold
There were bags full of food, and treats wrapped in gold
There were stuffies and catnip and big fluffy beds
Gary had not forseen such a bountiful spread
There was plenty! Enough for pets all to share!
Gary flopped on a soft poofy bed like a chair
He thought of the pooches, tucked in safe and warm
And that was enough to make Gary reform
“There are gifties for all here” Gary thought as he sat
“There are gifties for bunnies, birds, doggies and cats”
“But who gave these gifties? Who brought us so much?”
“They deserve lots of thank mews and smooches and such”
Gary sat and he wondered, he thought and he pondered
Then he got up and wondered and thought while he wandered
He walked past the bunnies who quietly slept
He walked past the tanks where the turtles were kept
He crept through adoptions and eyed all the cats
He checked out the fittings for each feline flat
Each kitty had bedding and lots of fun toys
And each flat was themed for a girl or a boy
Gary slunk to the pooch pad with feelings of shame
Now his plot to steal presents just seemed rather lame
There were plenty of presents, each shiny and new
A flood of new gifties from a generous crew
As he headed back home he thought of the stuff
And coated the ducts in a pound of his fluff
Back in his office, Gary could not believe
That he ever could possibly be so naïve
Gary drafted a letter to send to reporters
To say thank you to all of our awesome supporters
You make CHS a great place to be
Thanks to you there’ll be gifts for pets under our tree
Your generous gifts will make all the pets merry
We may even see a small smile from Gary
A safe home for all pets would surely be great
But thanks to you they’ll be presents for all as they wait.
So as we head into Christmas, a great festive season
We have to point out that you guys are the reason
We can house every critter, the old and the new
And for that we must give you a big huge THANK YOU!!!!!
So to all our supporters, the big and the small
THANK YOU for this wonderful holiday haul
But more than that THANK YOU for all that you do
You inspire us daily, this much is true.
***
From all of us at Calgary Humane Society (including Gary) to all of you, our awesome supporters, THANK YOU for another amazing year of our “Stuff a Pooch Pad” campaign. We are not even at the finish line yet and we are already amazed at how generous everyone has been! Thank you for making the holiday season brighter for all of the pets that are still waiting at CHS for their “purr-fect” family.